Is there Islamophobia in Zimbabwe?

08 May, 2016 - 00:05 0 Views
Is there Islamophobia in Zimbabwe? Prayer is an important aspect in Muslim culture

The Sunday Mail

Jameel Asani
THE term “Islamophobia” could reasonably be applied to any setting in which people hate Muslims, or fear Islam.
But the word is most frequently invoked, and has its richest connotations, when it is used to describe a sentiment that flourishes in contemporary Europe and North America. (Andrew Shryock)
This short article discusses the manner in which an Islamophobic discourse produced elsewhere travels to and is received in particular contexts in Africa.
It makes specific reference to a media onslaught against Muslim in Zimbabwe. Islamophobic discourses in a Muslim minority context, such as Zimbabwe, seek to negate the political agency of Muslims by diverting attention from debates around socio-economic justice and targeting a weak, marginalised community as a potential danger and common enemy.
Muslims have lived peacefully side by side their fellow Zimbabweans from all faiths for the past 100 years, if not more. There have been inter-marriages across religious identities. The rise of Islamophobia in the West as well as that of certain Churches has seen the emergence and reproduction of the Western Islamophobic discourse in Zimbabwe.
This is very widespread on social media sites such as Facebook and Whatsapp.
Comments ranged from equating Islam and Muslims with Isis, Boko Haram and suicide bombings – negative stereotypes manufactured and reproduced by the anti-Islamic Western media.
This flies against the spirit of religious pluralism that has always existed in the country since independence. In the past year an Interfaith Dialogue has been initiated by some Churches and Muslim groups.
This is the kind of spirit that one expects to see prevailing in Zimbabwe not the generalisations and false accusations against Muslims that do not produce proof of a single Muslim individual, Muslim organisation or Muslim country that has made this offer to the Government of Zimbabwe.
The Muslim community of Zimbabwe will stand firm against any acts of Islamophobia. Muslims are part of the fabric of Zimbabwe.

Jameel Asani is a Muslim, researcher and humanitarian activist. He holds a BA (Honours) in Semitic Languages and Cultures, and a post-graduate Diploma in Advanced Social Research from the University of Johannesburg. He is a Masters candidate in the Department of Religion at the University of Zimbabwe

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