The false story that went viral this week about Islam being banned in Angola raises obvious issues related to information dissemination and veracity. Yet more importantly, it highlights the continuous effects of fear mongering on the psyche of the average-Joe Muslim. Making a mountain out of a molehill of misinformation and lies in a bid to defend Islam and Muslims, no matter how well intentioned is problematic let alone irreligious on so many levels.
Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) said: “The person who spreads rumours will not enter paradise. – [Sahih Muslim] It was also narrated: “It is enough lying for a man to relay everything that he hears.”
At a minor level the usage of smartphones unintelligently and injudiciously comes to the fore. More worrying is the lack of critical analysis, including a rational organisation of thoughts and emotions; the speed at which we process and pass on information rather than knowledge; a compulsion to share without marinating or stewing on said information, for even a millisecond; and most definitely the reactive stance of many a Muslim, rather than a proactive one. This one event highlights the pervasive nature of these illnesses amidst a victim mentality.
On the other hand, responses by some non-Muslim average-Joes to the Angola claims indicate the widespread effects of Islamophobia and deliberate machinations to garble the lines between a ban on terrorism, criminality and corruption, to a ban on Islam.
Reactions to the Angola Islam ban:
“Islam can be extremely damaging to the society and civilization even where Muslims are a minority. Their communities are like holes in a submarine– they don’t have to be very large to cause large problems.”
Others, like Pamela Geller, among the more notorious propagandising Islamophobes in the world, reacted more pragmatically, albeit with similar Islamophobic and alarmist propaganda:
"I doubted the accuracy of this report from the beginning, and sure enough, it turns out to be false. That is all to the good — banning an entire belief system would just embroil Angola in an ongoing resistance and would become a serious human rights issue. Banning Islam in particular would engulf it in a more energetic jihad than is being waged against it now. And no one who is committed to the freedom of conscience can support such a ban, although the Angolans and everyone else are certainly within their rights to ban and work against elements of Sharia (or any other system) that contradict universal principles of human rights."
Islamophobia, an exaggerated fear, hatred, and hostility toward Islam and Muslims that is perpetuated by negative stereotypes resulting in bias, discrimination, and the marginalisation and exclusion of Muslims from social, political, and civic life, existed in premise before the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, but it has increased in frequency and notoriety during the past decade.
Islamophobia has made some Muslims apologists and weak. It has made others more radicalised and hostile. An important tool in countering any propaganda is a holistic education regarding the sociology and the intellectual, political, moral, and theological components of Islam. Now, more than ever, the adage stands true that Allah will be known by the Believers, not the Book. If we want people to form a fair perception about Islam and dispel alarmist stereotypes imposed on to public opinion by media machinations, we need break out of isolation. Isolation and non-participation at a micro and macro level creates a schism wherein the value and beauty of Islam, is hidden by Muslims at work. It is alarming to no end when those very Muslims at work are being self-duped to forwarding unverified rumours.
Radio Islam Programming
2013.11.26
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