Muslim organizations in Malaysia launch campaign to combat Islamophobia

A number of Muslim organizations based in Malaysia have initiated a campaign to combat Islamophobia in the world.

The Malaysia Consultative Council of Islamic Organizations, Alliance of World Masjid in Defense of Islam, and Secretariat for Ulama Assembly of Asia, in a joint letter announced the launch of the campaign.

The text of the letter is as follows:

“Today, we are launching an initiative to address the issue of Islamophobia. The aim of the campaign is to address the trend of a subtle and overt effort by certain quarters to spread and promote hate crimes and micro-aggressions against Muslims globally.

We are deeply concerned that Islam and Muslims have been targeted in certain countries leading to communal clashes and prolonged conflicts.

The prejudices towards Islam and Muslims are pervasive even by certain governments, which tend to embrace an attitude of suspicion towards Islam.

We recognize the danger of a deliberate campaign, especially by the West, to create a negative narration against Islam and Muslims.

In 2015, Islamophobia reportedly increased by 200 per cent in the United Kingdom, and anti-Muslim attacks in the United States grew by 78 per cent.

Islamophobia is defined as “unfounded hostility towards Islam”. This includes “unfair discrimination against Muslim individuals and communities” and the exclusion of Muslims from political and social affairs.

There is an urgent need to implement a global action to counter increasing acts of violence against Muslims and Muslim communities around the world.

The growing Muslim presence in the world has been perceived as a danger and under the pretext of freedom of speech and allegations of Islamic extremism, Muslims are targeted by the governments and the media too.

We call on all Muslim leaders at every level (politicians, intellectuals and scholars, professionals and journalists) to combat this long-standing fear and contempt. This is a global challenge and needs a global movement to address it.

We call for the government of Malaysia to seriously look into the Islamophobic trend that is fuelling negative prejudices and perceptions towards Islam.

We will organize high-impact campaigns by mobilizing non-governmental organizations, scholars, media and governmental agencies to reach out to the masses in correcting the Islamophobic influences.