The United Nations has designated March 15 as the “International Day to Combat Islamophobia”. This decision was made through the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, March 15, 2022. Islamophobia is one of the global crises facing the world community, said the Chairman of the MUI, Professor Sudarnoto Abdul Hakim. Indonesia welcomes the UN's decision. Minister of Religion Yaqut Cholil Qoumas welcomed the decision and said, "All forms of Islamophobia must be fought" such as prejudice, discrimination, fear, and hatred towards Islam and Muslims. According to him, all forms of prejudice and fear can threaten harmony and harmony between religious communities.
Wave of ignorance
Islamophobia occurs because of ignorance about Islam which is exacerbated by the distortion of information created by anti-Islam groups. We must admit that in our world today there are groups of people who are anti-Islam due to their ignorance. The Islam he received was a depiction of Islam that was harsh and pro-violence, whereas Islam is not like that. This ignorance intertwined with ignorance in others, eventually causing a wave of ignorance that resulted in anti-Islam. This wave of ignorance manifested itself in various forms of anti-Islam. Some took the form of verbal and non-verbal, violent and non-violent. Verbal anti-Islam, for example, can be referred to various blatant anti-Islam narratives that are spread in cyberspace. Violent actions also occurred, for example bullying, even murder of Muslims.
Anti-Islamic actions in cartoons still exist, especially in France. Corinne Rey, a cartoonist affiliated with Charlie Hebdo recently made an anti-Islamic cartoon that in her cartoon depicted a Palestinian man chasing a rat and a cockroach, then being stopped by a woman that "it's not time to break the fast yet", and not far from there there was a hungry child watching. The cartoon is not only anti-Islam but also anti-humanity, because it is insensitive and has no conscience towards the suffering of the Palestinian people who have recently been hit by a famine due to Israeli attacks and blockades. The editor-in-chief of Liberation magazine, where Corinne Rey published her cartoon, is Dov Alvon, a former Israeli military intelligence Unit 8200. This anti-humanity attitude is intertwined with anti-Islam.
We call this anti-Islamic action due to ignorance. This means that his soul and mind are filled with the fog of fear and hatred towards Islam. This hatred is compounded by the death of conscience which causes no sensitivity at all towards the people who are victims of Israeli barbarity. The whole world knows that Israel has committed barbarity, even genocide, ethnic cleansing in Palestine.
Da'wah continues Since Islam appeared, there has been a wave of hatred against Islam. The companions of the Prophet who became victims are proof that haters of Islam have existed since the beginning. However, one thing that is important for Muslims is that, whatever happens, Islam must still be preached in the best way, with wisdom and mau'izhah hasanah or a good role model.
Not infrequently, people who were previously anti-Islam then had their hearts changed by Allah and became extraordinary supporters of Islam, for example Umar bin Khattab, who was respected and feared by the Quraysh who then converted to Islam after hearing Thaha's letter. Previously, the Prophet had prayed that Umar or Abu Jahl could strengthen Islam, as his noble prayer said, "O Allah, glorify Islam with Abul Hakam bin Hisham (Abu Jahal) or Umar bin Khattab." This means that someone who is anti-Islam must be responded to with Islamic preaching, even prayer. Regarding da'wah, Allah says, "And let there be among you a group of people who call to goodness, enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong; they are the successful ones" (Ali Imron: 104).
Very possible their hearts are frozen because of too much consumption of forbidden things, so that their hearts are no longer able to distinguish between right and wrong. This hardness of heart may also exist in the people of the Prophet Muhammad, making it difficult to accept advice and preaching. Hardness of heart and closure from the truth is only can be changed by Allah the Owner of the Heart. The task of Muslims is to spread the Islamic da'wah continuously in wise ways and good role models.
Muslim figure's view
Nahdlatul Ulama figure, KH Mustofa Bisri or Gus Mus, is of the view that the solution to Islamophobia is by overcoming religious extremism. According to him, as quoted by NU Online, fighting religious extremism is part of the struggle to realize a peaceful and just world order. For that reason, the dissemination of Ahlussunnah Waljama'ah teachings is important, in addition to the importance of consolidating scholars and various groups to neutralize extremist views (in Islam) and Islamophobia that are developing in society.
Muhammadiyah figure, Professor Dadang Kahmad said that Muhammadiyah fights Islamophobia, among others by "Da'wah bilhal through character and real contribution to the life of humanity." As quoted by Muhammadiyah.or.id, he said, "[Muhammadiyah] wants to spread progressive Islam, not what is described as Islam that returns to the past, old-fashioned, not updated, and terrorists.” Progressive Islamic preaching is a characteristic of Muhammadiyah's preaching in facing Islamophobia.
It is very possible that an anti-Islamic person will be anti-Islam all his life, but it is possible that he will change along the way. Or, even his descendants or extended family may become Muslims. History shows us that from the same descendant, a Muslim can be born. The descendants of the Mongol Genghis Khan, for example, were anti-Islamic and destroyed Baghdad, but there were also those who founded the Crimean Khanate which made Islam the basis of its leadership for almost 3.5 centuries in the eastern part of the European continent.
Therefore, the most important thing for Muslims as individuals and national and global communities is to preach Islam to the community. This preaching must be a preaching that refreshes the heart and mind, not one that shrinks the heart and mind. This preaching must be enlightening, touching the basic human soul which is innate to love fellow human beings as a manifestation of the purpose of our creation in the world. The initiative of BAZNAS RI and MUI to conduct a Safari Ramadhan with Palestinian clerics and preachers for 20 days in the holy month of Ramadhan 1445 H/2024 is strategic to bring Indonesian Muslims closer to the Palestinian people who have not only been victims of Israeli Islamophobia but also victims of genocide carried out systematically and structured.
The importance of regulation
In addition to preaching, Islamophobia needs to be faced with serious regulation. The Bridge Initiative, a Georgetown University program, periodically compiles news related to Islamophobia globally, for example the following data from the UK and India.
In the UK, the Labor Party's Minister of Justice and one of the first Muslim women elected to the House of Commons, Shabana Mahmoud warned of an "explosion" of Islamophobia if it was not reported to the police. In the UK, there has been a 365 percent increase in anti-Muslim incidents. In India, according to a report by The Economist, Indian Muslims are increasingly concerned that the newly ratified Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) could be used to challenge their own citizenship status. In Indonesia, although there are a number of figures who say "there is no Islamophobia in Indonesia", the fact is that cases of Islamophobia exist in society. Several scientific articles (for example, Rosada 2022; Apriliani 2021, and Irpan 2021) show that Islamophobia exists in this Muslim-majority country. For this reason, the encouragement of the chairman of the MUI, Professor Sudarnoto Abdul Hakim, for Indonesia to have an anti-Islamophobia law is urgent to be discussed, prepared, and even realized to protect Muslims and the Indonesian people from various actions that have the potential to disturb religious communities in Indonesia.
YANUARDI SYUKUR is an Indonesian writer who is also a lecturer, editor, researcher and speaker at various conferences and expert resource person on several Indonesian television stations and ministries. He has participated in various international programs in Malaysia, Thailand, Australia, the United States, as well as Ukraine. He is an anthropologist at Khairun University who is interested in various global issues. He is currently also active as Vice Chairman of the Islamic and Middle East Research Center (IMERC) of the University of Indonesia and is active in the Commission on Foreign Relations and International Cooperation of the Indonesian Ulama Council. E-mail: yanuardisyukur@gmail.com.
https://mui.or.id/baca/berita/gerak-kolektif-menghadapi-islamofobia
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