Confronting Religous Intolerance

Prof. Ali Asani
harvard Memorial Church - public address
November 8, 2003

Several weeks ago, President Summers expressed from this platform his concern for the alarming rise of anti-Semitism. I, too, have encountered what may be more accurately termed Judeophobia in society at large. I have observed the emergence of Judeophobia among fellow Muslims who, as a result of their frustrations over the current situation in the Middle East, express anger and hatred against all Jews and the Jewish faith, seeing the hidden hand of a "Jewish conspiracy" behind every event.

For me this is deeply disturbing since there is nothing in Islamic belief that legitimizes Judeophobia. On the contrary, the Quran requires - indeed demands -- that a believing Muslim accord respect to the Jews whom it categorically declares to be among the People of the Book and among the righteous. Historically, this Quranic injunction explains the greater tolerance for Jewish populations in territories under Muslim rule. I have pointed out to my Muslim friends that criticism of Israeli policies should not be associated with hatred for Jews and the Jewish faith just as criticism of Pakistan, a nation state also created in the name of religion for South Asia's Muslim minority, should not and is not viewed as criticism of the Islamic faith.

While I have spoken out against Judeophobia whenever I have encountered it, today I wish to bring to your attention another insidious phenomenon - Islamophobia. Post September 11, America has witnessed an alarming rise of expressions of hatred for Muslims, for Islam and everything Islamic. The Quran has been compared to Hitler's Mein Kampf, with the suggestion that reading it in the current context is an act of treason. Islam has been equated with Nazism and the Prophet Muhammad has been declared to be a terrorist on a prominent national TV show.

American Muslims have been declared to be trojan horses and danger to the national security and should, therefore, all be deported while the holy city of Mecca should be nuked to send a signal to all Muslims. Muslims have been likened to creatures who separate "like protozoa into cells from two to infinity." A magazine with national circulation even printed an article calling for Muslims to be buried in pigskins and lard! Such remarks may be too quickly dismissed as the rantings and ravings of individuals and not representative of national sentiments, yet these are rantings by individuals with national stature, expressed in national media, and intended to manipulate maliciously and exploit the profound ignorance and stereotypes about matters Islamic prevalent in the general American population.

In recent weeks it seems that anything can be said about Islam and Muslims, no matter how distasteful and demeaning. Muslims of America, themselves reeling from the impact of 9-11 on their communities and the resulting insecurities, find themselves a year later besieged on almost a daily basis by vicious hate speech emanating from various media targeted at them or their religious beliefs. Last week, the Canadian government issued a travel advisory for Canadian citizens of Muslim faith traveling to or through the United States, protesting the discriminatory profiling and violation of fundamental liberties experienced by Muslim Canadians.

Ironically this advisory, from our neighbor and strong ally, was issued at about the same time as the State Department began airing ads in Indonesia and other Muslim countries with the intention of promoting the image that Muslims in America practice their faith freely.

From this platform, about a year ago, I remarked that intolerant and exclusivist readings of the Quran promoted by some Muslims seeking to use the scripture to promote hegemonic goals go against the core teachings of the Islamic faith when properly understood. Such readings I submitted contradict the pluralist ethos espoused in the Quran, a scripture that recognizes plurality of human society as a sign of divine genius. As an American Muslim I feel that Quranic pluralism resonates with the pluralism that lies at the heart of American civic culture and the constitution of the United States. Today I fear, however, that pluralism, tolerance, freedom to practise one's faith openly without fear of being stigmatized, respect for difference, these fundamental American values are all under attack. There has been an ominously deafening silence from leadership at all levels of society concerning the rise of Islamophobia. This silence itself is complicit in creating an atmosphere of fear and anxiety among American Muslims.

We can no longer afford to remain silent when we encounter such bigotry; the consequences of silence are too dangerous for our nation and for the world. Certainly such silence is not very helpful in nurturing much needed understanding, goodwill and respect between America and the nations of the Muslim world. We must not surrender the public arena to the forces that seek to promote hatred and polarization amongst the various religious communities in our nation. Every Islamophobic statement, no matter how ridiculous sounding, is a deliberate attack on the pluralist fabric of our society and our shared values that demand justice, respect, tolerance, compassion for all who live in our nation. Islamophobia must be actively resisted and responded to so that such hate speech becomes totally unacceptable in our national vocabulary and our national conscience