Islamophobia in The West
Initial thoughts
Although the rise of Islamophobia in the West is based on the 9/11
events when GW Bush deliberately put Muslims on the target board, in fact, the history of Islamophobia in Europe dates back much further. It is not a new phenomenon that
Europe, which has little experience in living with people of different
languages, religions, and races, is skeptical of what is different from itself.
The murder of hundreds of thousands of people because they believed in
different sects in the Middle Ages, the murder of thousands of Jews and Roma in
World War II, and the black people who are still treated as second-class people
in America, because they are different from the white race are specific examples
of this situation. Therefore, considering the attitude of the West towards
others in the past, it will be understood that the attitude towards Muslims
today is not surprising.
The Current Scenario
Attacks against Muslims and Islam in the West are increasing day
by day. The racist rhetoric of the US President Donald Trump and the rising
far-right movements in European countries such as France, the Netherlands and
Germany constantly feeds the perception of threat against Muslims. Although it
is a sociological fact that millions of Muslims living in Western countries now
live there and will not return to their homeland, it is also clear that Western
politicians do not take many measures to prevent the separation between the
native Christian people and Muslims. Based on this, it would not be wrong to
say that the overwhelming majority of the violent movements against Muslims and the act of Islamophobia in
Europe and America were heated by Western ruling elites.
The Role of Western Politicians (An example)
The efforts of the Western political elites to bring the locals and the Muslims against each other by using various media organs have many political, psychological, economic, sociological, and historical backgrounds.
Hungarian prime minister Victor Orban's statement that the Muslim population living in Europe has increased greatly and this has resulted in the Islamization of major European cities with the decline of the Christian population shows the concern of Western leaders. Western states fear that in the future Islam will knock on their doors not only from the south, but also from the west, and even from within Europe itself. Although Orban praises the fences and police protection built to prevent Muslim refugees from entering the country, he has yet to find a method to prevent the spread of Islam in the continent. Because studies show that there is an increase in the Muslim population in the West.
Aggregate Facts and Figures
One of the reasons for this rise is that the Muslim community living in Europe and America is curious about what Islam is in the West. This interest paves the way for many people to study Islam and then to become Muslims. The number of Muslims in Europe, where around 400 thousand Muslims lived in the early 1950s, rose to 20 million in 2010, and this figure reached 25 million in 2016. Estimates indicate that by 2050 the Muslim population in the West will rise to 75.6 million. It prepares the ground for many people to study Islam and then to become Muslim.
Country-Specific Facts and Figures
Netherlands
When the number of Muslims is examined in particular countries, it
will be seen that in the Netherlands, where the far-right movements are on the
rise, the Muslim population, which was 5 thousand in 1950,
increased to 965 thousand in 2010. By 2020, it has already
crossed 1 million.
United Kingdom
It is known that Muslims are gradually increasing in England,
where similar racist and Islamophobic discourses are frequently encountered.
While the number of Muslims living in England in 1950 was 100
thousand, this number increased to 2 million 500 thousand in 2010.
It is thought that the current number of Muslims in the UK is 2 million 600
thousand in 2021.
A study conducted in the UK in 2011 showed that it is
difficult to access exact figures about individuals converting in the country,
but some findings show that more than 5 thousand people in the country
choose Islam every year, therefore 100 thousand people who convert to
Islam by converting.
France
France, which is one of the countries that occupy the world agenda
with its extreme right discourses, is faced with an increasing number of
Muslims like their peers. While the number of Muslims in France was 230
thousand in 1950, this figure reached 6 million 263 thousand
in 2010. Research shows that the rising Muslim population in France is
around 6 million 635 thousand in 2021.
In France, which has an extreme attitude towards Islam, the number
of converts in the last 25 years has doubled. Data obtained from the French
Ministry of Interior shows that around 4,000 people in the country
convert to Islam every year. However, of the estimated 6 million Muslims
in the country, 100,000 are thought to have converted. This rate was
approximately 50 thousand people in 1986. Muslim associations in
France claims that the number of individuals who converted to Islam by
converting to Islam is more than 200 thousand. The numerical
data in question make Islam the 'most chosen religion' in France.
USA
In the American continent,
nearly 200 thousand people, 150 thousand of whom are in mosques
and 20 thousand in prisons, choose Islam every year. According to 2018
data, there are more than 3 million 450 thousand Muslims in the
country. It is thought that by 2040, Islam in America will become the
second-largest religion after Christianity. In 2050, it is expected that
the number of Muslims living in the USA will increase more than twice the
current number and reach 8.1 million.
Germany
Thousands of people become Muslims in Germany every year. Today,
it is estimated that over 100 thousand people converted to Islam in
Germany. A 2007 study found that despite the negative attitude towards
Muslims in Germany, the number of native Germans converting to Islam has
quadrupled. It is known that 4 thousand people accepted Islam in Germany
between 2004-2005. Until 3 years before these dates, the number of conversions
of local citizens was 300. Going to date as old as 10 years, it will
be seen that the number of people converting in Germany is 50 per year.
It is observed that this sharp increase in the conversion rate in the country
is directly proportional to the rising extreme-right movement.
Ireland
The proportion of those who adopt Islam in western and central
Europe as well as in northwestern Europe follow an increasing trend. In Ireland, every year 500 people convert to Islam. Research conducted in 2011
claims that there were 48,131 Muslims living in Ireland and that this
figure has approached 100,000 by 2020.
Final Thoughts
It is important to see that this increase in the number of Muslims in countries where Islam is marginalized and where acts of hate against them are maximized is a bottom-up challenge in the social context. Conversion movements taking place in the West have proved wrong the European intelligentsia, who claimed that Islam is a dead religion. On the other hand, the numerical data mentioned above, which is also a result of the aforementioned reactive attitude, signal that in the future, there will be more “Islamophobic” people who love Muslims and who love Muslims rather than Islamophobic people whose voices are not so high today.
For The Last Note
Our enemy, our oppressor is not our teacher.
Our only teacher is the Prophet (PBUH) and his
companions. And they were strong in the face of oppression. They didn't
back out or bow their heads.
“Do not harm and do not be harmed. Do not oppress and do not be oppressed."
Hold on to your faith Don't let the
oppressors become our teachers.
