Comments on: How Tarek Fatah got it wrong on both “honor” killing and domestic violence

By: A Satiric Guide to Writing About Muslims : MuslimPresence.com

A Satiric Guide to Writing About Muslims : MuslimPresence.com — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 14:39:29 +0000

[...] Tarek Fatah, whose brilliant sociological analysis of Muslim communities has been previously profiled on MMW. He always hits the nail on the head, especially during the moments of frustration and [...]

By: How to Write about Muslims (for real) at Racialicious - the intersection of race and pop culture

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 14:01:18 +0000

[...] “terrorist” are being used in relation to the recent murder of Aasiya Hassan (and see here and here for other discussions on the term “honour killing.”) Terms like these can easily be used to [...]

By: How to Write About Muslims «

How to Write About Muslims « — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 04:48:28 +0000

By: How to Write about Muslims (for real) « Muslimah Media Watch

How to Write about Muslims (for real) « Muslimah Media Watch — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 08:08:03 +0000

[...] are being used in relation to the recent murder of Aasiya Hassan (and see here and here for other discussions on the term “honour killing.”) Terms like these can easily be [...]

By: A Satiric Guide to Writing About Muslims « Muslimah Media Watch

A Satiric Guide to Writing About Muslims « Muslimah Media Watch — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 08:01:03 +0000

By: Sobia

Sobia — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 19:31:08 +0000

@ safia:

Oh dear.

Don’t pay any attention to it and keep doing what you’re doing God bless!

By: safia

safia — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 17:51:00 +0000

As someone who organized the action against the Toronto Life article and was called a Islamist as a result I really appreciate this article.

By: Krista

Krista — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 23:32:32 +0000

@ Silverarrow:
Comments like yours come up every so often on this site and others. What concerns me about what you’ve said is that it implies that Muslims in Canada can only compare our situation to that of other Muslims around the world, and not necessarily to that of other Canadians. In other words, Muslims are assumed to be more closely allied with and responsible for communities in Saudi Arabia or Egypt than with communities in Canada, even if many Canadian Muslims in fact have no ties to those countries (and very strong ties to Canada.) As members of Canadian society, even as Canadian citizens, can’t Muslims here stand up to comment on Canadian issues, without having to account for actions of other people in Muslim countries with which a whole lot of Muslim Canadians have absolutely no connection?

In addition, you’re right that there are no laws here that prevent Muslims from opening mosques or from practising Islam openly. On the other hand, a lot of communities wanting to build mosques in Canada have received huge amounts of backlash from the local communities who don’t want a mosque in their neighbourhood. And there are a whole lot of people who are afraid to dress or act in ways that explicitly mark them as Muslims, often because of racism that they have faced in the past. An absence of laws preventing free expression of religion doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone feels safe to express their religion freely.

Last, I want to reiterate Sobia’s point that there have been very real attacks on many Muslims in this country. To her list, I would add those who have been unjustly imprisoned (and even, in a couple cases, sent overseas and tortured.) Referring to Islamophobia isn’t just “playing the race card.” It’s responding to a system of oppression that is having very real effects in a lot of people’s lives.

By: Sobia

Sobia — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 21:38:32 +0000

@silverarrow:

No doubt things are better here in many respects than other places. we do have religious freedoms and yes, as Muslims, I think we do need to appreciate what we do have and the rights we do have here.

However, (I’m sure you knew there was a however coming) that does not mean things are perfect. That does not mean that racism and Islamophobia do not exist. That does not mean that we do not keep trying to make things better here. Just because things are better here than other places does not mean that we just shut up and accept whatever bad there is because it could be worse. Why not work to get rid of the Islamophobia there is.

And I would argue that those who have been physically and verbally attacked, those whose homes and places of worship have been attacked and vandalized, those who have had loved ones killed because of Islamophobia, those who have been strip searched at airports and borders, those who have been treated like criminals, would argue that things are also not that great here either.

Additionally, comparing what happens here to what happens “there” is like comparing apples to oranges. There are huge differences between the countries that are greater than culture but that feed into the cultures of today – ie economics, post-colonial politics, international racism, histories of countries etc. all have to be taken account when we speak about what happens over there. We cannot look at them through our glasses – we have to put on there glasses.

By: Silverarrow

Silverarrow — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 04:46:35 +0000

“When are we allowed to “scream Islamophobia”? When the murders of Aqsa Parvez and Homaira Rahman get sensationalized as Islamic-related incidents in order to perpetuate the hackneyed West versus East myths, are we to just shut our mouths and welcome more stereotypes and misconceptions about Islam? ”

Right. It’s so terrible for Muslims here. Muslims are so persecuted to the point where Muslims can’t open Mosques or practice the religion openly. Oh wait, sorry, I’m thinking of places like Egypt and Saudia Arabia. Christians and Jews are regularly persecuted in the Middle East, Muslims experience none of that here, but there is always the “Islamophobia” and race card to play. When in Britain, they wanted to start a task force to look into forced marriages, Muslims cried Islamophbia because they thought it would polarize the community.

Enough with this, “Muslims are such victims of stereotyping,” crap. Things are pretty good here.