Index IntroductionIslamophobia and American PoliticsTerrorism and IslamophobiaIslamophobia and the Mistreatment of MuslimsConclusionIntroductionIslamophobia is a growing predicament around the world. Although many associate the rise of Islamophobia with the terrorist attacks of September 11, it existed well before the event and has continued to grow. Islamophobia is a political agenda fabricated by politicians who exploit the fear of the ignorant to serve their political agenda. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Despite the belief that Islamophobia was formed after the September 11 terrorist attack, it existed long before in numerous countries in global history. Islamophobia was widespread during the reign of the Catholic Monarchs. Spain once had a large Muslim population originating from Granada, Spain's last Muslim stronghold. When Queen Isabella of Castile and King Ferdinand of Aragon conquered Granada from Boabdil, the last sultan of Spain, Muslims were expected to be able to practice their faith under the Treaty of Granada of 1491. However, “Archbishop Cisneros (the famous Spanish inquisitor) ordered mass conversions of… Muslims… the burning… of… a great deal of valuable knowledge written by Islamic scholars… The measures repressive measures led to revolts that ended up forcing many Muslims to choose between conversion, exile, or execution" (Ahsan 2017). Although they were presumed to practice their faith according to a treaty, Spain's Muslim population faced the dilemma of whether to convert or face exile or execution. Furthermore, thousands of crucial texts covering various topics written by Muslims were burned and destroyed. Furthermore, “Philip III expelled 300,000 descendants of the Spanish Muslim population who had converted to Christianity. “moriscos,” early 17th century” (Tremlett 2017). Although the Moriscos were forcibly converted to Christianity, Philip III expelled numerous descendants of the Muslim population in response to purists who condemned Spain for their religious minorities. Spain was finally thought to be finally pure due to ethnic cleansing. Although the Moriscos involuntarily converted to Christianity, they also eventually lost their home. The conversion and expulsion of Muslims were in fact not enough: “In 1502 the Catholic monarchs had made the practice of Islam illegal in Spain” (Ahsan 2017). This makes clear the extraordinary extent of Spanish Islamophobia, given that following the forced conversion of Muslims and thus the exile of the Moriscos from their homeland, Islam as a religion was declared illegal in Spain. Although Spanish Jews were also expelled from Spain, Judaism as a religion was not declared illegal like Islam in Spain. Islamophobia and American PoliticsIslamophobia, like xenophobia, is a growing predicament and also has deep roots in American politics. For example, “As a presidential candidate, Trump made frequent use of anti-Muslim rhetoric, saying things like, 'I think Islam hates us,' and suggesting that he was not opposed to the idea of ​​a Muslim database” (Underwood 2018 ). . Trump's use of the “Us versus Them” mentality allows him to portray Muslims (them) as enemies of Americans (us). Trump's use of this anti-Muslim rhetoric leads many to believe that Muslims are against Americans; therefore, the Americans must be cautious and prepared for their impending attacks. After taking office, Trump “signed an executive order banning entry into the United States atpeople from different Muslim-majority countries. He appointed people who espoused anti-Muslim views to key positions in the government. And he even circulated anti-Muslim videos among his tens of millions of Twitter followers” ​​(Underwood 2018). By appointing people with anti-Muslim philosophies to key positions in government, Trump gains ultimate power to pass anti-Muslim laws such as the Muslim Ban of 2017, since even those in government already espouse his beliefs. Through the circulation of anti-Muslim videos on his social media platforms, Trump is able to portray Muslims as dangerous threats to society to the millions of Americans who follow him. Considering the little to no interaction with Muslims, it is easy for Trump supporters to adopt anti-Muslim doctrine based on the videos Trump shares along with the media portraying Muslims as terrorists. Another example is: "Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson told US media that he 'would not support appointing a Muslim to be the head of this nation,' in response to a question about whether 'Islam is consistent with the Constitution.'" (Viewpoint: Islamophobia has a long history in the United States in 2015). Carson argues that Muslims should not be trusted to be in charge of America as he believed that Islam, as a religion, opposes the United States Constitution. Therefore, these types of anti-Muslim beliefs spread by politicians result in the exacerbation of Islamophobia. Islamophobia is so broad that it is heavily concentrated in US law. For example, “President Obama established this state-sponsored program called Countering Violent Extremism. As a result of this program, its surveillance of Muslim communities was actually broader and more intense than that of the Bush administration” (Underwood 2018). Although the CVE was established to counter destructive and violent doctrines held by groups or individuals, as well as to diminish the determinants that enable recruitment and radicalization by extremists, it has primarily targeted Muslim communities. This suggests that Muslims were seen as the root cause of violent crime in the United States, as observation by Muslim communities insinuated that Muslims were believed to hold violent dogma; therefore, their communities were policed ​​in order to reduce the perceived possibilities of recruitment and radicalization. Additionally, “On…April 19, 1995, the Federal Building in Oklahoma City was rocked by a bomb…media reports speculated that the culprits were 'Islamic extremists' or 'Arab radicals'…Timothy McVeigh - a white male, Christian – was… linked to the attack. There was no evidence to support the idea that Muslims had anything to do with the bombings” (Viewpoint: Islamophobia has a long history in the United States United 2015). This highlights Islamophobia in the United States before the 9/11 era. When a terrorist attack occurred in Oklahoma City, the media theorized that the perpetrator was, in fact, Muslim. of a white, Christian male. The legislation passed following this terrorist attack was discriminatory and unrelated to the proven perpetrator. For example, “The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA)… led to disparate investigations into the activity. political and social policy of American Muslims… the deportation of Muslims with connections – real or fictitious – to terrorist activities” (Viewpoint: Islamophobia has a long history in the United States in 2015). This denotes how, despite the convicted perpetrator of the crime being a Caucasian male, legislation passed to combat terrorist attacks such as the one that emergedit indicated a prejudice against Muslims. The AEDPA not only surveilled Muslim communities, but also subjected them to investigation and risk of deportation, regardless of whether or not they were linked to terrorist activities. Furthermore, “The United States Patriot Act permits 'enhanced surveillance procedures'… allowing for a significant delay in notice of the execution of a search and seizure warrant… This… has led to unauthorized court raids in the homes of Muslim American citizens, where government agents broke down doors, claiming to have knocked, and conducted searches without producing warrants” (Jory 2003). This reveals how Muslim Americans in the United States were vulnerable to unreasonable and unauthorized searches exposes U.S. law to violating the Fourth Amendment rights of U.S. citizens who were specifically Muslims While the Fourth Amendment guarantees that citizens shall be “secure…against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrant shall be issued, if. not for plausible cause,” the USA Patriot Act evidently violated the rights of many American Muslims (Legal Information Institute 2017). According to scholar Nathan Lean, “Islam and Muslims have become guilty until proven innocent, a reversal of the classic American legal maxim. Islam is often seen as the cause rather than the context of radicalism, extremism and terrorism. Islam as the culprit is a simple answer, simpler than considering the fundamental political issues and the grievances that resonate” (Lean 2017). This highlights how one of the most significant tenets of the American criminal justice system, that one is “Innocent until proven guilty,” simply does not apply to Muslims. Instead of being innocent until proven guilty, Muslims are immediately charged with guilt until proven innocent. This outlines how this “us versus them” mentality results in the categorization of Muslims as violent and radical individuals; therefore, they are easily reported for all terrorist acts that occur in the United States. Terrorism and Islamophobia While some Muslims may pose a threat to American security, homegrown terrorists pose the greatest risk, proving that Islamophobia is not only misleading but also falsely portrays Muslims as a great danger. to the company. A graph indicating terrorist attacks on American soil according to various groups from 1980 to 2005, Islamic extremists were involved in only 6% of terrorist attacks in the United States, while Jewish extremists were involved in 7% of terrorist attacks in America . In 2017, Donald Trump signed executive orders calling for “extreme vetting” of those from seven Muslim-majority countries. The executive order introduced a 120-day ban on refugees attempting to enter the United States, a 90-day ban on Muslim citizens from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen, and also prohibited anyone from Syria to enter the United States. . Although the order is considered an immigration ban, it was actually a Muslim ban in disguise. Although the statistics in Figure 1 demonstrate that Muslim extremists posed one of the least threats to America in terms of terrorism, they are perceived as dangers to society and are often associated with terrorism itself. Although Muslims posed less of a threat than Jewish and Latino extremists, no immigration bans were imposed in predominantly Jewish or Latino countries, afurther demonstration of the prejudices Muslims face. Writer Alex Henderson insists that neoconservatives continually attempt to paint terrorism as a vast “Islamic phenomenon” in his article “10 of the Worst Terror Attacks by Extreme Christians and Far-Right White Men.” In the article, Henderson provides a list of ten of the largest terrorist attacks that have occurred in the last thirty years in the United States, such as the Wisconsin Sikh Temple massacre that occurred on August 5, 2012, due to the fact that Sikhs were mistaken for Muslims. Given that many hate crimes against Sikhs have occurred during the post-9/11 era due to them being mistaken for Muslims, this shows that there is an increasing number of hate crimes against Muslims and many deliberately intend to harm them too. And so, it should be noted that although there have been terrorist attacks by Muslims in the United States, there have been many more by so-called Christian extremists. It should also be noted that while Muslim refugees may pose a threat in the future, they pose less of a threat than refugees of any other religion and race. Therefore, in the act of fighting Islamic terrorism, many Americans have resorted to terrorizing Muslims, which is, in fact, contradictory and should in no way continue any further. While many associate Muslims with terrorism, the Muslim community provides great help in preventing terrorist attacks. For example, “since 9/11, the Muslim-American community has helped security and law enforcement officials prevent nearly two out of five Al Qaeda terrorist plots that threatened the United States and that intelligence from the Muslim community -Americans are the main source of information." first information to the authorities on these few plots” (Islamophobia: understanding anti-Muslim sentiment in the West). This suggests that if it were not for the tips provided by Muslim-American communities, there would have been many more terrorist attacks in the United States. Many Muslims want to protect America, despite the common perception of Muslims as terrorists, since it is also their home. Although their religion divides them from others, they see no difference between themselves and their Christian counterparts as America is home to them all. Many Muslims also wish to assist law enforcement in preventing terrorist plots in the hope that one day they may be considered allies rather than enemies. Exacerbated Islamophobia poses a threat to Muslims around the world; therefore, countless Muslims are vulnerable to human rights violations. For example, although Israel is known to violate the rights of Muslims in Palestine, the United States and Israel continue to be allies. According to an Israeli professor in the latest lecture series at Columbia University, “Israeli authorities have allowed big pharmaceutical companies to experiment on Palestinian prisoners and have tested weapons on Palestinian children” (Shihadah 2019). This demonstrates the clear obstacle to human rights considering that around 5,000 tests had already been carried out on Palestinian detainees. Indeed, “the death of an Israeli detainee, Palestinian Fares Baroud, raised suspicions that he may have been a test subject as Israeli authorities refused to hand over the body” (Shihadah 2019). Baroud's family was not only deprived of the prerogative of obtaining Baroud's corpse, but was not even able to organize Baroud's burial rite. Islamophobia and the Mistreatment of Muslims Despite the significant dangers of Islamophobia and the.