Ahmed Muhammad Sharqawi, Professor of Islamic Studies in Al-Azhar University and Qassim University, EGYPT

An old American Muslim lived on a farm in the mountains of eastern Kentucky with his young grandson. Each morning Grandpa was up early sitting at the kitchen table reading his Qur’an. His grandson wanted to be just like him and tried to imitate him in every way he could.
One day the grandson asked, “Grandpa! I try to read the Qur’an just like you but I don’t understand it, and what I do understand I forget as soon as I close the book. What good does reading the Qur’an do?”
The Grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and replied, “Take this coal basket down to the river and bring me back a basket of water.”
The boy did as he was told, but all the water leaked out before he got back to the house. The grandfather laughed and said, “You’ll have to move a little faster next time,” and sent him back to the river with the basket to try again. This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before he returned home. Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was impossible to carry water in a basket, and he went to get a bucket instead.
The old man said, “I don’t want a bucket of water; I want a basket of water. You’re just not trying hard enough,” and he went out the door to watch the boy try again.
At this point, the boy knew it was impossible, but he wanted to show his grandfather that even if he ran as fast as he could, the water would leak out before he got back to the house. The boy again dipped the basket into river and ran hard, but when he reached his grandfather the basket was again empty. Out of breath, he said, “See Grandpa, it’s useless!”
“So you think it is useless?” The old man said, “Look at the basket.”
The boy looked at the basket and for the first time realized that the basket was different. It had been transformed from a dirty old coal basket and was now clean, inside and out.
“Son, that’s what happens when you read the Qur’an. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, you will be changed, inside and out. That is the work of Allah in our lives.”

The Islamphobia applied in a new version after the 60’s in Europe, has the same characteristics.
15 millions of Muslims living in Europe for long, the oppressive regimes in Islamic countries, the effective roles of Muslim countries with the increase of oil consuming, the globalization and the communication capabilities resulted by the technological improvements are the factors forming the new face of the Islamphobia and on the other hand, are improving the capacity of finding solutions for it.

The Islamic World has to study this threat widely and produce the constructive and long lasting solutions.
On December 7, 2004, speaking in the Conference of “the Struggle with Islamphobia: the Education of Tolerance and Understanding” in the United Nations, Mr. Kofi Annan, the Secretary General of the UN stated: “The strategy striving with Islamphobia must be based on the education. The education must cover not only the knowledge of Islam but also, the knowledge of all other religions and traditions; so by this way the mitoses and lies be separated from the truths. We must prevent the misuse of the media and internet calling the hate but we must protect the freedom of speaking and expression. The official authorities are not to just condemn the Islamophobia but also, have to support their promises of being off the discrimination by guaranteeing required the legal applications.”
Those words are pointing the truth we support: It’s likely that one of the most important causes stirring up the Islamphobia is the “deficiency of information”. In other words, it is the result of not forming and not using the mechanisms of the “proper communication” (tabligh) and the “effective representation”.
The main paradox in Islamphobia is that so many people scaring of Islam have actually restricted knowledge about Islam. The only solution against the systematical “activities of disinformation” about the Islam applying in many countries including the Islamic countries is the “systematical activities of information”.
Regarding “the activities of information” which we call “tabligh”, the point we must not neglect is that those activities are to be not just for the non-muslims but also for the Muslims.
The way that Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) answered the question of “What is religion?” as “Addeenun Naseehah” three times, that is “Religion is advice.” shows us the way out about this issue clearly. This advice should be given through means in full accordance with necessities and unnecessities of the ummah.
Proper tabligh or information in contemporary words has three principles: 1. Tabligh that reads time well. 2. Sound and honorable tabligh. 3. Persuading and heartfelt tabligh.
Present age requires tabligh based on science and knowledge which has persuasion at heart. Impositions are the sources of prejudices, misunderstandings and misconceptions. Suspicion and anxiety result from ignorance and despotism. Islam treasures individual and bases on persuasion. As Hazret Beduizzaman, the great imam of this age stated that being superior to the civilized is achieved only by persuasion not by coercion and force used against inconsiderate fierce people. He said as follows:
“O Pious Persons! Those who follow their jobs! If you like achievement, if you want success act in accordance with the laws established on earth by Glorified Allah. Otherwise you will receive the answer of rejection with failure and ill-success.”
Knowledge gains or loses value according to its owner’s attitudes. Enlightening is the oldest and most noble mission of man. The most significant attributes of the Prophets throughout the history is the fact that they are honorable and of strong character. This is the most essential potion that makes tabligh powerful and sound.
Tabligh achieves its objective if only it is purified of all types of worldly and political aims and the facts which are conveyed are relied on and trusted in. Taking “the sake of Allah” as a base and in deeds caring about acceptance of Allah rather than the public’s not minding about the rest at all as long as He accepts and we must consider the principle” Duty of Prophets is just tabligh.” (Wama ‘alarrasooli ilal balagh) as our sole reference.
Especially present wrong tabligh methods which question even our value system by going over its objectives have exacerbated Islamophobia and urged Islamophobic attitudes rather than abating it.
There is a consequence, at the time of the deteriorating of the source of information in such an information chaos, and: “Informative Ignorance”.
Increase in the amount of complicated and incorrect information and spread of irregular information strengthen ignorance not knowledge. The only way of getting rid of this modern ignorance for today’s man is to have mechanisms and filters to distinguish information.
The communication and systematical information will be effective as long as it will be equipped with the easily understandable, convincing, acceptable, safe knowledge.
The systemically proper communication covers five topics.
1.The educated human resource
2.Effective use of communication instruments
3.The refined and satisfying publications
4.Material improvements
5.The sustainable coordination and unity.
Two Solutions for
Islamophobia: The Proper Tabligh and Effective Tamsil
The way for saving Islam from being ‘the unknown other’ is to make the communication systematized. The ‘systematical communication’ means the strong and capable communication and only by this way, ‘the deliberate ignorance’ can be removed. Unfortunately, firstly, some prejudices coming from the past and still existing in the West and also in some Muslim countries and secondly, forming the ‘the deliberate ignorance’ about Islam have become the instruments and preferences of power centers taking decisions. ‘The deliberate ignorance’ is the result of the ‘selfish ideas’ and the politic desires. So, using the communication is not enough. It has to be systematized.
The persons who will represent the Islam have to know Islam widely and also, they have to endure it and be equipped with effective blessed causes. The most effective instrument against Islamphobia and the antipathy of Islam is to raise a generation who have the knowledge of ‘solid examples’ , ‘speaking evidences’ and the principle of ‘dissembling’. Having this knowledge is one of the most important characteristics of the Prophets and especially Our Prophet’s(PBUH).
If the human resource raised with the appropriate thoughts and works, be equipped with the devotion, it will produce the fruit of strong personalities called as the ‘the pious foundation person’ in the Islamic terminology and that is the base stone of the systematical communication. In other words, they are the trained and well-educated staff.
Just as the power and spread of means of communication urges Islamophobia it may offer solution potential as long as it is used in a good way. As it is the element of effective tabligh we underline it once more.
Another duty of the owners of systematic tabligh in information disorder and publication intensity is the preparation of satisfying, tested, printed and audio-visual publications devoid of extravagances directed at the cures for diseases.
The power and legitimacy of the facts also necessitate power and legitimacy of means. The rightfulness and legacy of conveyed facts does not mean one can refer any means of communication.
“Alhaqqu ya’lu wala yu’la alaih” meaning “Allah is superior to everything.” Nothing can be superior to Allah is a common principle. Ustad Bediuzzaman answers the questions, “Why is power superior to right then? Why is the follower of the truth a loser against the follower of false?” as follows:
If the follower of the truth, the follower of faith does not use right matters will be a loser against the illusion of the follower of false. Here lies the superiority of right against false. There is a reason for creation and mystery of creation. One who attains it uses a true reason.
In that case, tabligh in this time, in other words “i’la kalimatullah” is dependant upon materialistic progress. In relation to the topic, to perform a sound act of service of tabligh, it is very crucial that the Islamic countries, our people and institutions progress in terms of material things and establish powerful structures.
Lastly, the most significant must of the systematic religious communication or the roof that provides the unity of the other necessary things is a sustainable coordination and a permanent unity, the unity of Islam. Here, the unity of NGOs of the Islamic World that makes us get together has a great importance.
Some Islamophobic publishings and policies, and some important events and political games set in this sense benefits from the disconnection, the lack of coordination and cooperation, the inability to experience transfer and prejudices and enmities among Muslims.
In this conjuncture, to insist on fruitless methods, to defend the actions strengthening alignments disconnected from the spirit of union and cooperation in an obstinate and dogmatic way, to ignore the means of tabligh, being closed to the realistic understanding, is a serious disease that must to be urgently treated.
In the struggle against Islamophobia, it is indispensable must that we have to get rid of our own baseless, worthless, rootless imaginary phobias. It constitutes of the systematic religious communication in our world getting smaller that the consciousness of the unity and cooperation, shaped in the catchword “Without any doubt, the believers of Allah are brothers.”
Similarly, another matter that describes the true communication and must be the
result of it is ‘the effective representation’. ‘The problem of representation’ is one of the most vital matters of Muslims. The atony of the subject that can be clarified with chaining of ‘Individual representation’, ‘communal representation’, ‘political representation’ and ‘global representation’ both depicts Islam as aimless and encourages anti-islamic focuses who recognized this atony.
As referred a bit, increasing the right examples and to melt these examples in a pool causes to exist such communities having the capability of representing. By constituting such communities that talks about the moral values of Islam but put them into practice in daily life, we will be able to dispel the
Islamophobia and then it makes Islam a powerful centre of attraction. Anyway, All of the great religious communication and canalizing to the right way were performed in the same way we have mentioned.
“On the condition that we show the perfection of the truths of Islam in our doings in life, the members of the other religions will come to Islam in waves”
Sooner or later, the power of Communal Representation changes into political representation. Political Representation will be possible only if we are able to be successful in every area of life. Our Prophet Muhammed learn us this fact that should be shaped in the background by saying “you are governed as you live” In each corner of Islamic World, it is not possible that some ideas that are not seen in social life and that do not reflect on the mirrors of people obtain the effective representation ability.
Global representation is dependant on the formation of a mechanism that can represent Islamic societies and countries and deserve everyone’s acceptance. In this sense, the Unity of the NGOs of the Islamic World performs quite a great mission. Isn’t it clear the great steps like D-8 and The Organization of Islamic Conference pave the Islamic unity of the world pretty well? We supplicate from the mercy of Allah to lead our way in this line, to remove the internal and external detrimental obstacles and strengthen our unity and coalescence, and to compile our hearts in this tide.
These model activities are not threatening but contrarily these are needs like breathing and a starting point for the people who are crushed under the dominations of brutal power centers. For this purpose, there should be such organizations that are powerful, rightful, well-equipped and effective; and we, all have to support these endeavoring dependent on the Islamic essences and essentials.
Today, especially in the Western World, The Weakness of Muslim people are felt in any area and any time. Some groups looking for people to whom they speak, they either apply to wrong representatives or they cannot find any people or foundations or this inadequacy is to benefit of the politic actors having evil intentions.
To summarize, if right religious declaration is put into practice with an efficient representation, it unsettles the base on which Islamophobia and the anti-Islamism is founded. For this purpose, from the NGOs to the universities, from media to the politic foundations, the systematic information campaign should be accelerated and the prejudices and ignorance caused by disinformation activities should be eliminated.
We expect Allah makes us successful in terms of religious declaration and invitation, conforming to His consent.
Peace and blessings of Allah be upon you.

Ali Kurt is the Secretary General and Turkey Representative of UNIW

Islamophobia is a dark and dirty tool of a global depression. In today’s world, when we deeply need multiculturalism, pluralism and the understanding of living together, Islamophobia is the biggest betrayal carried out against the peace of the world. Islamophobia is an obvious discrimination and violation of the human rights. Therefore, Islamophobia must be considered a crime like anti-Semitism; decisions must be taken and laws must be made against Islamophobia by national and international law mechanisms.
Our world is intentionally and deliberately desired to be transformed into a planet where the fear is dominant, security is a matter of crisis and culture of living together is declined. The hegemonic powers’ policies that are self-interested and negligent of the law and human rights threaten the peace and comfort of the mankind. The events like the occupations of Afghanistan, Iraq and Palestine, the slaughter of hundred of thousands of innocent people, the conviction of millions of Palestinians to a life of refuge, the exposition of Caucasus and Kashmiri people to dreadful cruelties for decades and their being deprived of their internationally legal rights are all the results of the same mentality. These policies, especially after the collapse of the eastern bloc, are nourished by Anti-Islamism and Islamophobia. Fear-based policies have resulted in so many tragic events; if nobody takes lessons from the past and today nobody takes the essential precautions, then the future Islamophobia may present similar outcomes.
The discriminative applications that Muslims are exposed; the verbal and physical assaults targeting at devoted individuals and groups, and prayer places; the deprivation of Muslims from their basic rights; contemptuous, unkind and insulting broadcasts and expressions on Islamic values and sacred things; the political, sociological and psychological oppressions and applications performed to prevent the implementation of religious merits; every kind of bad treatment that the Muslim is subjected to while serving or being served in the sectors of politics, education, health and business should be evaluated under the scope of Islamophobia. No one can be condemned, insulted or offended because of performing the requirements of his/her religion. No one can be inhibited from practicing his/her religion, hampered from implementing his/her choices and submitted to discrimination due to his religious way of life.
Islamophobia is a dark and dirty tool of a global depression. In today’s world, when we deeply need multiculturalism, pluralism and the understanding of living together, Islamophobia is the biggest betrayal carried out against the peace of the world. Islamophobia is an obvious discrimination and violation of the human rights. Therefore, Islamophobia must be considered a crime like anti-Semitism; decisions must be taken and laws must be made against Islamophobia by national and international law mechanisms.
In the last century, there has been a great, worldwide inclination towards religion and spirituality. Mankind has begun to eliminate the lack in his soul with the assistance of spiritual means and to question the secularization. Especially, although Islamic countries stayed undeveloped in comparison with the western countries, it scares some circles that the interest towards Islam is increasing; Islam is the fastest-growing religion and the number of devotees in the Islamic countries is rising day by day. Islamophobia is the name of the global war on Islam against spirituality and any religious values.
Media organs are used as the most effective instruments in the formation and spread of Islamophobia. Constant violent broadcasts resulting from ignorance of Islam and Muslims bring about misconceptions and misperceptions in public and this case causes Islamophobia to take roots in public. Especially, mentioning of Islam together with “terror” and “violence” and identifying Muslims and Islam with the terms such as “Islamofascism”, “fundamentalism” and “reaction” hurt public conscience deeply and cause irrecoverable damages on the souls of Muslims.
The major factors in the formation and spread of Islamophobia are media organs and programs of educational institutions as well as systematic disinformation activities implemented with various instruments.
Struggles against Islamophobia should politically, legally and economically be maintained on national and international grounds; systematically and strategically on educational grounds through professional instruments. Systematic information studies should be strengthened against systematic disinformation and manipulation activities. Our conference appreciates and supports non-Muslim ecclesiastics’ contribution to combating Islamophobia as well.
Islamic World should increase the feelings of cooperation and solidarity and put “proper presentation” and “effective representation” into practice. They should courageously make self-criticism if necessary and should bravely discuss not the values they believe in but their failure in the implementation and presentation of the values to their own people and others.
Muslim nations made political and sociological progresses whenever they live in accordance with the values of Islam and fell back whenever they got away from the values of Islam. The main causes of Islamic world’s having a life standard below the world standards are their indifference to the facts of Islam and not reflecting the essence and real aspects of it to their lives. Especially socio-economic underdevelopments of Islamic countries do the groundwork for misconception and misperception of Islam and Muslims. Besides, this case provides opportunity for Islamophobic policies, publications, and approaches. Therefore, socio-economic development progresses and development plans of the Islamic counties have a vital significance.
Our Conference condemns all kinds of anti-Islamic and Islamophobic publications, policies and events; regretfully condemns the persons and institutes using the Muslims as the instruments of political and economical interest.
Our Conference believes that Islamophobia strengthens the ‘war of civilizations’, ‘war inside the civilization’, ‘war of religions’ and similar catastrophic scenarios and thinks that all the measures must be taken for a strong presence of Muslims.
At this point, our conference desires to address at the political environs, governments, representatives of non-governmental organizations, all the religion leaders, media organs, international institutions, and international public opinion with the following title:
ISTANBUL DECLARATION
1. Combating Islamophobia is to be one of the main duties of all the people, all the institutions and all the governments for worldwide peace.
2. The national and international decision making mechanisms must know that their political plans based on Islamophobia and anti-Islamism will result in nothing beneficial but driving our planet through a sphere of chaos.
3. Islamophobic media organs, the institutions applying discrimination against Muslims, the organizations acting in Islamophobic manners are to be boycotted.
4. All kinds of lobby activities must be carried out against the decisions, policies and the laws taken and will be taken by the national and international decision making mechanisms and law-makers using the instrument of Islamophobia.
5. The multimedia products stirring up and spreading Islamophobia must be consistently boycotted.
6. In combating Islamophobia, the multimedia products must be used more efficiently, sufficient funds must be saved and the most appropriate projects must be applied.
7. We have to be the people of action, not the people of reaction. We have to plan and apply two sided proactive education activities targeting both insiders and outsiders to remove the prejudices and misunderstandings. Therefore, political, intellectual and religious leadership are notably important.
8. New institutes raising specialized people must be founded and supported for stopping Islamophobia from being a new cause of oppression against Muslims and a new but dirty key opening the evil doors.
9. In combating Islamophobia, we appreciate the activities of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and desire them to be more cooperative with all the volunteer organizations, notably UNIW. Especially, the locally leading countries of the Islamic World must act in the knowledge of their historical responsibilities.
10. Islamic all the Non-Governmental Organizations and particularly the Union of NGOs of the Islamic World must persistently and vigorously take necessary precautions on civil basis. A Monitoring Centre Committee must be established under the body of The Union of NGOs of The Islamic World (UNIW) and this committee must warn and inform international decision-making mechanisms, media organs and world public opinion with periodic reports.
11. Finally, our conference severely condemns the occupations of Iraq, Palestine, Kashmir and Caucasus at first and other unjust occupations and rejects any type of global policy based on this axis.

Chairman of Future Global Network, a network of NGOs based in Kuala Lumpur dedicated to the peaceful co-existence of humanity; actively involved in advocacy NGO by being an Exco of International Movement for a Just World, MALAYSIA EIGHTY PER CENT OF THE WORLD’S OIL & GAS RESERVES are in the Muslim world. The ‘War on Terrorism’ and hate campaign against Muslims are directed towards the “Battle for Middle East Oil.” In order to achieve direct control over the ‘Oil & Gas’ resources, the following processes were set in motion:
a) Implementation of ethnic profiling of Muslims in the West;
b) Building of political consensus against Islamic nations, tagging them as “backwards”;
c) Fostering racism and hatred against Muslims in oil-producing nations;
d) Denigrating the Islamic religion and culture.
Muslims are identified with “terrorists” and constituting a nuclear threat (which it does not possess) against the “civilized world.” In contrast the Western ‘humanitarian nuclear weapons that are accurate, safe and reliable’ will be their protector and a deterrent to the “Islamic threat”. Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has also warned that Islamophobia poses a challenge to the spirit that unites peoples across the globe.
The European Union (EU) has set to remove the derogatory terminology about Islam, “Islamic terrorism”, from its new lexicon of public communication in an effort to fight Islamophobia and to make clear that the religion was hijacked by terrorists.

THE TERM “PHOBIA”, BORROWED FROM PSYCHOLOGY,
in combination with Islam does not adequately describe the phenomena commonly understood as “Islamophobia”. As a general and non-clinical term “phobia” is indeed used to describe a dislike or aversion one may have towards certain things or situations, and it is most likely that we also use it in this sense during this conference.
However I would like to suggest that perhaps there is also room for application of the specific meaning of “phobia”, which basically describes an uncontrollable, unfounded and therefore unreasonable fear and anxiety. It is interesting to note that often childhood and traumatic experiences are seen to be the underlying causes for phobias.
False impressions and prejudices may hopefully be removed through constant and patient efforts to present the facts about Islam on a variety of platforms. Among the most essential measures will be for Muslim scholars and educators to continue explaining not only to Non-Muslims but to their Muslim audiences in particular that while any human being including a Muslim has a right to measured self-defence, there is no way to link Islam with terrorism or to legitimize terrorism from within Islam.

Assistant Director of Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, EGYPT SOME AMERICAN AND EUROPEANS POLITICIANS AND intellectuals admit this problematic. They found solution in distinguishing between what they prefer to describe as Moderate Moslem and those whom are fanatics and extremists.In some cases a call for launching a dialogue with influential Islamic groups in the Arab and Moslem countries appear to be an exit from the stalemate. Other refused such calls. Meanwhile some top American and European politicians used the term “Islamic Fascism” which practically connected in indirect way between Islam and terrorism. This diversity in tackling the relations with Moslems and Islam helped in escalating the Islamophobia among many Global Powers and cemented the negative principals of clash of civilizations instead of building more mutual understanding.

ON A NATIONAL LEVEL, COSTLY MEDIA CAMPAIGNS THAT increase awareness, knowledge, and sensitivity about Islam are required on national broadcast and cable channels.

More importantly, both domestic and foreign Muslim leaders must better articulate in the U.S. media why the Muslim world has unfavorable opinions of the United States that go beyond framing unfavorable opinions simply in terms of the Israeli/Palestinian issue or cultural/values differences between Islam and the West. Lastly, in the long-term, providing accessible alternative information source to the U.S. media about Islam and Muslims may be one of the most effective means to reduce Islamophobia. Two options come to mind. The first option is domestic English-language cable stations that provide news and/or educational content from a Muslim American perspective, such as Bridges TV. The second is international broadcasting, such as the new Al Jazeera English-language TV news service that would provide greater access and insights to the Muslim world than the U.S. media for American audiences. In both cases, domestic and foreign Muslim organizations and governments need to actively support such broadcasting efforts and their penetration of the American broadcast marketplace.
Lastly, no communication effort within the United States will be fully effective without as dedicated, independent, survey program to track trends in public opinion, benchmark campaign/program effectiveness, and explicate mechanisms of opinion formation. Such a survey research program would be modeled on the lessons outlined above and provide an invaluable resource to communication efforts within the United States.