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In This Article Expand or collapse the "in this article" section Islamophobia

Introduction, general overviews.

• Historical Foundations
• Islamophobia and Racism
• Gendered Islamophobia
• Islamophobia and the War on Terror
• Islamophobia and the Media
• Global Islamophobia

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Islamophobia by Todd Green LAST REVIEWED: 27 October 2021 LAST MODIFIED: 27 October 2021 DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780195390155-0285

Islamophobia refers to the fear of and hostility toward Muslims and Islam that is driven by racism and that leads to exclusionary, discriminatory, and violent actions targeting Muslims and those perceived as Muslim. Although the word “Islamophobia” entered widespread public and political discourse only in the late 1990s, hostility toward Islam and Muslims in the West dates back to the Middle Ages. With the 9/11 attacks, “Islamophobia” became the primary designation for the prejudice experienced by Muslim minority populations in Western nations. The post-9/11 era witnessed the significant rise and expansion of the academic study of Islamophobia. Islamophobia studies is often conflated with Islamic studies, even though the former is focused not so much on the analysis of Islamic texts, traditions, histories, or rituals as it is on the religious, social, cultural, historical, and political factors that give rise to anti-Muslim racism and discrimination. This entry focuses primarily on academic studies of Islamophobia in North American and European contexts, though the last section bears witness to the growing attention scholars are paying to the global dimensions of Islamophobia.

Elahi and Khan 2017 explores the origins and main contours of modern Islamophobia in Britain, expanding on the original Runnymede Report from 1997 that introduced the term “Islamophobia” into widespread public and political discourse. Allen 2010 , Bazian 2019 , and Said 1978 address theories, concepts, and/or methodologies undergirding the academic study of Islamophobia. Cesari 2011 , The Bridge Initiative , Green 2019 , and Zempi and Awan 2019 offer broad introductions to and comparisons of Islamophobia in Europe and the United States. Beydoun 2018 introduces the legal and political dimensions of Islamophobia in America, while Bayrakli and Hafez 2015 – and Taras 2012 focus on Islamophobia in diverse European contexts.

Allen, Chris. Islamophobia . London: Routledge, 2010.

A theoretical introduction to the concept of Islamophobia, accompanied by a critique of the essentialized definition employed by the Runnymede Trust’s original 1997 report on Islamophobia.

Bayrakli, Enes, and Farid Hafez, eds. European Islamophobia Report . 2015–.

An annual report published by the Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA) that tracks the state of anti-Muslim sentiment and discrimination in over thirty European countries.

Bazian, Hatem. “Islamophobia: An Introduction to the Academic Field, Methods, and Approaches.” In Islamophobia and Psychiatry . Edited by H. Steven Moffic, John Peteet, Ahmed Zakaria, and Rania Awaad, 19–31. Cham, Switzerland: Springer, 2019.

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-00512-2_2

Introduces the broader themes and methodologies found in the emerging academic field of Islamophobia studies.

Beydoun, Khaled A. American Islamophobia: Understanding the Roots and Rise of Fear . Oakland: University of California Press, 2018.

DOI: 10.1525/9780520970007

While the book struggles to acknowledge and engage with many of the seminal studies on the structural and systemic manifestations of Islamophobia, it nonetheless offers important perspectives on and analyses of the legal and political forces driving Islamophobia in the United States.

The Bridge Initiative .

An online research project based at Georgetown University that offers educational resources, original research, and scholarly commentary on anti-Muslim bias and discrimination. Includes concise and accessible fact sheets on prominent anti-Muslim individuals and organizations in Europe and North America.

Cesari, Jocelyn. “Islamophobia in the West: A Comparison between Europe and the United States.” In Islamophobia: The Challenge of Pluralism in the 21st Century . Edited by John L. Esposito and Ibrahim Kalin, 21–43. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011.

A concise essay that broadly compares the ways that Islamophobia manifests itself in Europe versus the United States, with a particular emphasis on the political, cultural, and religious challenges facing European Muslims.

Elahi, Farah, and Omar Khan, eds. Islamophobia: Still a Challenge for Us All . London: Runnymede, 2017.

Updated study of Islamophobia in Britain by the Runnymede Trust, covering a wide range of topics including the impact of Islamophobia on British Muslims in relation to employment, hate crimes, counterterrorism, and health. The original 1997 study signaled the introduction of the term “Islamophobia” into the larger public and political discourse in Britain and eventually in other Western nations.

Green, Todd H. The Fear of Islam: An Introduction to Islamophobia in the West . 2d ed. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2019.

DOI: 10.2307/j.ctvcb5c4r

Comprehensive survey of the historical roots and contemporary manifestations of Islamophobia in Europe and the United States. Offers introductions to many of the most common themes addressed in the study of Islamophobia. Helpful starting point for scholars and students new to the subject.

Said, Edward W. Orientalism . New York: Vintage, 1978.

Groundbreaking study that deconstructs Western assumptions and stereotypes about the “Orient” (the Middle East and North Africa). Maintains that Western discourse about Muslims and Arabs in the 19th and 20th centuries reflects colonial interests and power. Said’s book provides the theoretical and analytical framework for a large number of academic studies of Islamophobia.

Taras, Raymond. Xenophobia and Islamophobia in Europe . Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2012.

A broad survey of anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant attitudes in Western Europe, with in-depth case studies of France and Germany.

Zempi, Irene, and Imran Awan, eds. The Routledge International Handbook of Islamophobia . London: Routledge, 2019.

A multidisciplinary collection of essays introducing various facets of Islamophobia. Focuses mostly on Europe and North America.

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Islamophobia

Psychologists are studying the impact of anti-Muslim sentiment and exploring ways to prevent it

By Rebecca A. Clay

April 2017, Vol 48, No. 4

Print version: page 34

• Belief Systems and Religion
• Racism, Bias, and Discrimination
• Race and Ethnicity

When President Donald Trump first tried to stop citizens from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States, he cited the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks as his rationale. Yet none of the men behind those attacks hailed from these countries. In fact, a Cato Institute analysis shows that between 1975 and 2015 no one from these countries killed a single American in a U.S. terrorist attack.

Unfortunately, equating Muslims with terrorists has become disturbingly common in American society—and the consequences can be violent. According to a Federal Bureau of Investigation report released in November, the number of assaults, attacks on mosques and other hate crimes against Muslims in 2015 was higher than at any other time except the immediate aftermath of Sept. 11. In 2015, there were 257 anti-Muslim incidents, up from 154 in 2014—a 67 percent increase. In 2001, 481 incidents were reported.

And these aren't isolated incidents, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. In a report released in February, the center noted the dramatic growth of organized anti-Muslim hate groups, with the number of such groups jumping from 34 in 2015 to 101 in 2016—a 197 percent increase.

Psychologists are responding to this growing tide of Islamophobia. They're working to overcome obstacles to researching this vulnerable population (see sidebar on page 38) and documenting the impact anti-Muslim bias is having on Muslim Americans. They're also creating interventions designed to help ensure Muslim Americans receive the mental health treatment they need and working to reduce societal prejudice of all kinds.

Islamophobia's impact

The hateful rhetoric toward Muslims gives people permission to be discriminatory toward them, whether overtly or more subtly, says Kevin L. Nadal, PhD, an associate professor of psychology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice at the City University of New York. In a 2015 paper in Qualitative Psychology , Nadal and co-authors describe how people with overlapping religion, gender and other demographic characteristics can become targets of what the researchers call intersectional microaggressions.

Muslims also face another form of discrimination—the assumption that they're not "real" Americans, says Nadal. "Nonwhite immigrant groups are viewed as perpetual foreigners and aliens in their own land, even though many have been in the country for several generations or view themselves as completely American," he says. The result of these negative messages is that many Muslims are in a constant state of vigilance, says Nadal.

Some may also be facing acculturative stress, "the behavioral, social and psychological change and stress that people experience when they encounter a different culture," explains Anisa N. Goforth, PhD, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Montana. She and her colleagues have found that first- and second-generation Muslim ArabAmericans ages 11 to 18 who experienced acculturative stress were more likely to be withdrawn, sad and depressed, though holding on to their religious practices helped protect them against psychological problems ( School Psychology Quarterly , 2016).

Anti-Muslim discrimination doesn't just hurt Muslims. It may also undermine U.S. employers, suggests research by Saba Rasheed Ali, PhD, a professor of counseling psychology at the University of Iowa's College of Education. In a study of more than 125 Muslim women in workplaces across the country, Ali and co-authors found that both workplace discrimination and religiosity were related to lower levels of job satisfaction. Whether women wore a hijab or not made no difference when it came to discrimination ( Journal of Employment Counseling , 2015). This workplace discrimination could have an effect on productivity, Ali speculates. "Any time someone experiences low job satisfaction, they're not as productive," she says. "When you give support to Muslim women—or any worker—you have an impact on their ability to do the job and do it well."

Taking action

Recognizing the threat that Islamophobia poses, psychologists are working to make sure Muslim Americans get the help they need. Unfortunately, Muslim Americans face several barriers to treatment, including stigma about mental health and mental health services in Muslim communities, says Phoenix-area practitioner Nafisa Sekandari, PsyD. "Some imams have said that talk therapy is incompatible with Islam, that people should just pray more," says Sekandari.

In addition, the fear of anti-Islam sentiments can keep people from reaching out to non-Muslim psychologists, Sekandari says. "I've also had several patients who have gone to non-Muslim psychologists who told them that they needed to change their religion," she says. "We need to educate non-Muslim psychologists. If you have a bias toward Islam or any religion, you need to refer people to other providers."

To counter the stigma, Sekandari, along with teacher and activist Hosai Mojaddidi, co-founded www.MentalHealth4Muslims.com in 2009. The site offers a directory of Muslim mental health practitioners around the country, as well as articles, podcasts, webinars and other resources for people seeking help.

While such interventions hold promise at the individual level, psychologists say the problem needs to be addressed on a more systemic level as well. One psychologist who is taking that kind of action is Sameera Ahmed, PhD, who directs the Family and Youth Institute in Canton, Michigan, a research and education institute specializing in the mental health needs of American Muslims.

One area the institute focuses on is the bullying of Muslim students by peers, teachers and coaches. According to a 2015 study of more than 600 Muslim students by the Council on American-Islamic Relations , more than half had experienced bullying—twice as high as the national average. And being called a terrorist, having a hijab pulled off and other acts of bullying can have a negative impact on students' academic performance, mental health and physical health, says Ahmed, citing the research on bullying in general. "There's a lot of fear," she says.

To raise awareness of the issue, Ahmed presented that research and urged schools to respond when she spoke as a panelist in two U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention -sponsored webinars in 2016—one on how educators and counselors can prevent bullying of Muslim students and another on how educators, counselors and community members can build Muslim youth's resilience.

Ahmed also holds workshops for educators, parents and others interested in Muslim youth. A priority is to alert Muslim parents—especially immigrants—that their adolescent children may be indulging in the same kinds of risky behavior as other American teens. "Oftentimes Muslim parents don't even consider that their child would be experimenting with drugs because drug use is prohibited in Islam," says Ahmed, adding that bullying and exclusion may increase the likelihood of adolescents and emerging adults engaging in risky behaviors.

The media must also change the way they depict Muslims to help prevent hate crimes, says social psychologist Muniba Saleem, PhD, an assistant professor of communication studies at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. In an article in Communications Research in 2015, Saleem and co-authors described three experiments that tested reactions to media stereotypes of Muslims. The experiments revealed that exposure to news in which Muslims are depicted as terrorists was associated with support for military action in Muslim countries as well as support for unconstitutional policy proposals, such as not allowing Muslim Americans to vote or to own guns. The researchers also found that exposure to positive depictions of Muslims, such as a news clip about Muslim Americans volunteering during the holiday season, decreased participants' view of Muslims as aggressive.

Other psychologists are developing interventions designed to fight all kinds of prejudice, including Islamo-phobia. One that has been studied specifically with anti-Muslim prejudice is the imagined contact strategy created by psychology professors Richard J. Crisp, PhD, of Aston University's Aston Business School in Birmingham and Rhiannon N. Turner, DPhil, of Queens University Belfast in the United Kingdom. The intervention is based on the idea that simply imagining a positive social interaction with a member of an outgroup—whether Muslims, people with mental illness, the obese or any other group—will lead to more positive views of that group.

"There have now been over 70 studies from independent laboratories all over the world demonstrating the positive impact mental imagery can have on intergroup attitudes," says Crisp, who reviewed the literature on imagined contact in a 2014 meta-analysis co-authored with University of Sussex psychology lecturer Eleanor Miles, PhD, in Group Processes & Intergroup Relations .

"A number of these studies have examined differences in religious beliefs as a basis for prejudice and shown that properly implemented imagery techniques can lead to a softening of such biases," Crisp says.

There's still more work to be done in understanding how imagined contact works and in identifying the conditions that enhance or hinder its effectiveness, says Crisp. But, he says, "the breadth and depth of the empirical support give us hope that mental imagery could come to play an important role in combating prejudice and discrimination."

Institute of Muslim Mental Health Offers training to help imams, community leaders and others recognize and respond to mental health problems and maintains a directory of Muslim mental health practitioners. www.muslimmentalhealth.com

Family and Youth Institute Provides cultural competency training and resources for mental health professionals. www.thefyi.org

Muslim Wellness Foundation Works to counter the stigma associated with mental illness and addiction among American Muslims. www.muslimwellness.com

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Eight ways that Islamophobia operates in everyday life

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Immigration and national identity currently are at the forefront of the public conscience. In France, the burkini ban and in the UK proposals for migration controls following the Brexit vote are dividing communities. The growing tensions mean that many ethnic and religious minority communities are increasingly experiencing racism in their everyday lives.

In 2015, Islamophobia reportedly increased by 200% in the UK while anti-Muslim attacks in the US grew by 78% . The term 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.

But the term “Islamophobia” is somewhat confusing: it supports the idea that there is only one “Islam” and implies a “fear” of it. Some have argued for new, more accurate terms such as anti-Muslimism . Like the word itself, the phenomenon of Islamophobia is equally complex, and cannot be put neatly into a box. Here are some of the ways it affects everyday life.

1) It isn’t only experienced by Muslims

It is not only Muslims who are targeted by Islamophobic racism. A diverse range of people from different ethnic and religious minorities also encounter it on a daily basis , mostly as a result of people assuming that they are Muslims. Sikhs, Hindus, other south Asians, those with African heritages and even some central and eastern European migrants are all lumped into one category. This can make other religious and ethnic minorities insecure in public spaces, and in their everyday encounters with others.

2) It is shaped by geopolitics

Experiences of Islamophobia are strongly interconnected with geopolitical events such as 9/11, the 2005 London bombings , the 2013 Woolwich incident and the ongoing conflict in Syria. Research shows that experiences of racism and Islamophobia increase shortly after such events before declining gradually.

In addition, our own research has found that the reporting of such events in the mainstream media contributes to the negative stereotyping of Muslims . We interviewed young people, aged 12 to 26, who claimed that references to Muslims as “extremists” and as a “threat” to British ways of life in the media skew the public’s perception of Muslim communities – despite frequent campaigns to challenge such negative associations.

3) It ignores the diversity of Muslim communities

Islamophobia makes it appear as if “the” Muslim community lacks any internal diversity. Muslims can be of any ethnicity and have varying attitudes with regards to how and when they practise their religion. Muslims also have different attitudes to, and ideas about, issues such as feminism , gender and sexuality . To lump them all into one category is to overlook the diversity of Muslim communities.

4) It’s different for men and women

Women and men do not experience Islamophobia in the same way. Women are more likely to experience anti-Muslim sentiment , particularly if they are wearing a headscarf, hijab or burka. In fact, 61% of Islamophobic incidents reported to Tell MAMA in 2015 were against women, and 75% of these victims were visibly Muslim. For Muslim men, markers of Muslimness – such as having a beard, brown skin or wearing “Asian clothes” – increase the likelihood of them experiencing Islamophobia. Although men were less likely to experience Islamophobia than women, when they did, it was similar in nature , including verbal abuse, physical assault and threatening behaviour.

5) It can make Muslims wary of public places

Despite heavy coverage of Islamophobic attacks on public transport , our research has found that this racism is not restricted to specific places . It occurs in schools, colleges, neighbourhoods, public spaces and at airports .

Significantly, it also shapes Muslims’ mental maps of public spaces, and where they feel it is safe or unsafe for them to visit. Muslims are inclined to moderate their movements in public spaces and this at times feeds into debates about self-segregation and the accusation that Muslims are living parallel lives .

6) Attacks vary in intensity and nature

Physically aggressive forms of Islamophobia include outright extreme violence , as well as things like headscarfs being pulled off by fellow passengers on public transport. There is also name-calling, taunting, or individuals being made the subject of jokes and “banter” in public. Online Islamophobia is prevalent on social media sites, too, although such contexts also provide a space to challenge such behaviour .

The responses to these different forms of Islamophobia by those who experience it are also variable. Our research found that young people demonstrate resilience to so-called banter and name-calling. But for others, Islamophobia may mean subtle forms of avoidance and exclusion, such as being stared at, not having someone sit next to you on the bus or experiencing a general sense of social distance.

7) Islamophobia is reproduced institutionally

Government institutions can reinforce and reproduce Islamophobia through counter-terrorism initiatives , such as the UK’s Prevent strategy for schools. There are a number of concerns about the ways that educational institutions monitor and survey students who look Muslim as a result of these policies, and how this leads to Muslim students feeling increasingly monitored when on campus .

Anti-Islamic sentiment is also experienced in the workplace – 100% of participants in a small focus group recently said that they had directly experienced, witnessed, or have family members who had experienced discrimination in the workplace. Some Muslims may be reluctant to challenge such forms of discrimination as a result of what they see as aggressive secularism and feel silenced as a result.

8) Young people build new strategies

Young people have had to develop a range of strategies in order to negotiate and resist Islamophobia. Some have talked about adopting “self-securitising” techniques to mitigate against the harm of feeling “targeted”, avoiding certain spaces or conversations. Others, like Australian researcher Rhonda Itaoui have been more resistant and challenged Islamophobia through proactively speaking out against it – but not all have the confidence to do this.

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Essay on Islamophobia and Its Effects

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Thesis Statement

Introduction, causes of islamophobia, effects of islamophobia.

• Islamophobic Incidents
• Efforts Against Islamophobia

Islamophobia has directly affected young Muslims; the negative perceptions that are associated with Islam may lead to self-exclusion and exclusion, with noticeable effects on self esteem and social practices. A lot of efforts were made to control the effects that were triggered by the impact of Islamophobia.

Experts define Islamophobia as fear against, or prejudice or hate towards Islam or Muslims. (islamophobia.org) There has been an increase of the perceived trend of Islamophobia in the 2000s, that been linked to the 9/11 attacks in the USA, while on the other hand some relate it to the rapidly growing Muslim populations in the Western World, due to both immigrations and high fertility rate.

A lot of young people are negatively affected by Islamophobia. Young Muslims are directly and highly affected by it, the facts that lead to many acts of discrimination. It’s quite obvious that negative perceptions associated with Islam may lead to self-exclusion and exclusion, with noticeable effects on self esteem and social practices.

The concerns of Muslim world over the rise of Islamaphobia have become one of the major challenges of today’s world. This phenomenon is voiced very strongly in global and regional politics troubling the relationship between Islam and Western countries. Terrorism has assumed serious proportions and become major cause Muslim stereotyping in the modern world where the role of media is central. Media wars took turned for the worst since the 9/11 terrorists attacks in the US.

As a result, Muslims are subjected to different forms of discrimination inciting hatred and unrest in the society. This has been blamed on manipulation and misrepresentation of actual facts by media particularly in the North America, Britain and Europe. Media portrayal of Muslims in an offensive and denigrating manner witnessed unsettling changes on both systems making Muslims victims of terror and violence.

Media have been delegated the responsibility of shaping public opinion while covering reality at the same time, but in this case, continued attacks by a section of marginal groups by the West has fostered a culture of intolerance and misunderstanding.

Media shapes how we see the world, and by choosing negative and frightening names for people in communicating the crisis problem greatly shapes individual’s perception towards the group in question. Mirza (2009) argues that global dominance of Western media is capable of influencing people against Islam and Muslims by using the 9/11 attacks to capitalize its political campaign.

Mirza (2009) adds that the media depict Muslim what Mirza (2009) terms as “fundamentalism”, “extremism” and “racialism” (p.1). Media being the central information point represent Muslims as collective victims of terrorisms and a security threat to the Western people hence the reason for their war justification in wars tone countries.

While politicization of how media has stereotyped the entire Muslim group, little efforts have been made to respond to new cadre of islamaphobic. Too often, we (viewers and readers) are caught in between engaging in revisionism debate of Islamic religion and the convincing media position of what would otherwise be classified as injustice.

Discrimination, Exclusion and Self-esteem

Dekker and Jolander (2009) argue that “Islam is the most anti-racist and anti- prejudicial way of life” (p.1). Politicisation of Muslim followers as terrorists has brought a very sad reality of hate and violence. It has been argued that discrimination of such groups has become a major problem on the minority in Muslim communities living in foreign countries diminishing the powerful universality of their culture.

The development of hostile relationships has been on the rise resulting to increased discrimination and social isolation among Muslims. Muslim youths on the other hand have experienced great social exclusion increasing chances of school dropouts and low performances. The European Monitoring Centre (EUMC) also reported high undesirable outcome of discrimination and violence towards Muslims to be attributed from negative mass media reports.

Many of these reports were associated with exclusion, discrimination and violence particularly in schools and in housing sectors. These unfounded hostility on Muslin followers led to one-dimensional interpretation of the Islam as ‘terrorists’ resulting to low school performances, high unemployment rate, low wages, verbal threats and physical aggression (Dekker and Jolander, 2009, p.3).

EUMC Reports

European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC) reports on the nature of discrimination against Muslim and Islamophobic incidents recorded high rates of discrimination incidents particularly in areas of employment, education and housing which it argues to be linked to Islamaphobic attitudes (Bohner, 2010, p.240).

Increased levels of Islamaphobic are represented in areas of poor housing and below average grades particularly in school going youths. In employment sector, EUMC (2004) argues that in Ireland State an increase of 7% in unemployment rates as opposed to the national average of 4 per cent as a result of low income levels. The same reports provided that European immigrants, more particularly Muslims are more likely to drop out of schools or even worse obtain lower qualifications as a result of discrimination.

In whereas religious education is involved, Imams without formal qualification with little understanding of the local social context invited to teach Muslim immigrants were likely to increase lack of understanding of Muslim religion. While on housing aspect, Muslim followers suffered greater vulnerability and insecurity in their housing status as opposed to other groups.

List of incidents described as “Islamophobic”

United kingdom.

Since the September 11 th attacks on the U.S, extremists groups have targeted Muslim communities in UK by vandalising their places of worship and intimidating their religion. For example, the Kingston Mosque was attacked by throwing bottles of beer and bacons and urinating on mosques following match against Muslim extremism (Commet, 2010, p.1).

United States

A Muslim cab driver was brutally attacked by a New York resident after professing to the Muslim religion (Siegel, 2010, p.1).

At the beginning of May, a group of unknown people attacked a mosque in Canadian City of Hamilton causing severe damages to Muslim schools and buildings which were estimated to have cost 5,000 Canadian dollars (Trend, 2010, p.1).

Efforts against Islamophobia and Conclusion

EUMC has proposed policies and measures to adequately tackle discrimination and addresses social injustice in areas of discrimination, employment opportunities and education standards that lead to social cohesion. Such strategies include;

• Implementation of legislation; EUMC proposes for specific measures to promote equality. It argues that formation of groups such as Race Equality Directive and the Employment Equality Directive will ensure minority individuals vulnerable to discrimination are aware of their rights.
• Recording and policing Islamic incidents. EUMC proposes for recording of racism incidents and encouragement of diversity police training programs.
• Implementation of social integration to ensure equal opportunities and encourage social cohesion should include Muslim representatives in policy making.
• Promotion of equal access to education and inclusion of Muslim religion in current curriculum to ensure history of minority groups are accurately represented (EUMC, 2004, p.4).

In practical efforts, Luxembourg Ministry of Education incorporated a syllabus on “Instruction religieuse et morale” which focused on Inter-faith dialogues and explains human values of non-Christian religions. Secondly, the Inter-faith dialogue known as the ‘Islamic Forums’ in the same country aimed at reducing prejudices and fears towards the Muslim community will greatly reduce Islamaphobia incidents.

Discussions on racism and Islamophobia in schools should be greatly encouraged to reflect diversity within communities. Encouraging Muslims to engage in Europe public life such as politics and social processes will greatly reduce Islamaphobic incidents. And lastly, media should validate its information to ensure its accuracy before reporting to the general public.

Bohner, G. (2001). Attitudes. Introduction to social psychology, 3 , 239-282.

Commet, S. (2010). UK: Mosque attacked by protesters against Muslim extremism . Web.

Dekker, H., & Jolanda, N. (2009). Islamophobia and its origins: A study among Dutch youth. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 20 (3), 1-31.

EUMC. (2004). Highlights of EUMC report: Muslims in the European Union: Discrimination and Islamophobia. Social Science Research , 45, 1-5.

Mirza, M. (2009). The Perception of Islam and Muslims in the Media and the Responsibility of European Muslims Towards the Media. Islamic Journal , 1, 1-4.

Siegel, E. (2010). Muslim cab driver stabbed in New York City Michael Enright arrested on hate crime charge. The Huffington Post , 1,1.

Trend. (2010). Unknown persons attacked mosque in Canada . Web.

• Implications of Inter-Religious Dialog Towards a Universal Theology of Religion
• The Impact of Scientific Revolution on Christianity
• Women in Islam: Some Rights, No Equality
• Islamophobia: Bias to Muslims and War After the 9-11 Incident
• The Islamic Religion in the United States
• The Significance of Sacred Sites in Performance Ritual
• Rise of Islam and Social Conflict in Mecca
• The Problem of Evil: Religious and Apologetic Way
• Dialogue versus Spiritual Exchange
• A World Religious Traditions Comparing
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2019, February 20). Islamophobia and Its Effects. https://ivypanda.com/essays/islamophobia/

"Islamophobia and Its Effects." IvyPanda , 20 Feb. 2019, ivypanda.com/essays/islamophobia/.

IvyPanda . (2019) 'Islamophobia and Its Effects'. 20 February.

IvyPanda . 2019. "Islamophobia and Its Effects." February 20, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/islamophobia/.

1. IvyPanda . "Islamophobia and Its Effects." February 20, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/islamophobia/.

Bibliography

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About This Lesson

This is the first lesson in a unit designed to help teachers have conversations with their students about contemporary Islamophobia in a safe, sensitive and constructive way. Use these lessons to help your students reflect on Islamophobia – how it manifests in contemporary society and its impact – and consider what needs to be done to challenge it.

This lesson, which frames the focus of the unit, explores how Islamophobia manifests in the present day, and its impact. The activities help students to understand that Islamophobia is a form of both racism and religious prejudice with deep historical roots; to learn about the history of anti-Muslim and anti-Islamic sentiment (what we call Islamophobia today); to reflect on the human cost of Islamophobia and how it impacts those who experience it; and to start thinking about the process of standing up against Islamophobia.

It is important to note that Islamophobic ideas and tropes are in wide circulation in society – they are spread on social media, in the mainstream media, and by public figures and politicians. This mainstream acceptance of Islamophobia, and the fact it spans across political and social classes, has led to it being described as a ‘dinner table prejudice’, 1 which highlights how Islamophobic ideas do not face public censure: in essence, they are not controversial to discuss at the dinner table when contentious topics are often avoided.

Given the widespread acceptance and circulation of Islamophobic ideas and views, it is vital that young people learn about this form of prejudice. Educating young people about Islamophobia – its racial and religious elements, its history and how it appears in the present day – can help them better understand how such prejudice manifests and how it can be challenged. 

We recommend that you revisit your classroom contract before teaching this lesson. If you do not have a class contract, you can use our contracting guidelines for creating a classroom contract or another procedure you have used in the past.

• 1 Stephen H. Jones and Amy Unsworth, The Dinner Table Prejudice: Islamophobia in Contemporary Britain , University of Birmingham, 27 January 2021, accessed 3 October 2022. The connection between Islamophobia and its acceptance in dinner table conversations was first made by Baroness Sayeeda Warsi in 2011, who stated that prejudice against Muslims had passed ‘the dinner table test’. ‘ Baroness Warsi says Muslim prejudice seen as normal ’, BBC News, 20 January 2011, accessed 3 October 2022.

Guiding Questions

• What is Islamophobia, and how is it visible in the world today?
• What is the impact of Islamophobia?

Learning Objectives

• Students will be able to define Islamophobia.
• Students will understand how Islamophobia is a form of both racism and religious prejudice.

What’s Included

This lesson is designed to fit into one 50-min class period and includes the following student materials:

• 1 handout (intermediate and advanced versions)
• 1 classroom-ready PowerPoint

Additional Context & Background

Islamophobia is a form of religious prejudice and racism that impacts the opportunities and treatment of Muslims living in the UK (and around the world). 

Islamophobia is driven by bigoted attitudes towards Muslims, which in the UK are widespread. In research conducted by the University of Birmingham, 25.9% of Britons surveyed about their attitudes towards ethnic and religious groups harboured negative feelings about Muslims. 1 Stephen H. Jones and Amy Unsworth, the researchers behind the report, state that these attitudes highlight both greater levels of discrimination and ‘less public sanction against openly acknowledging one’s dislike’. 2 These negative feelings can result in acts of violence and discrimination. Muslims are regularly the victims of hate crimes: in 2021–22, 42% of victims of religious hate crimes in England and Wales were Muslim (there was a 22% increase in attacks against Muslims compared with the previous year) 3 , while over 35% of mosques reported experiencing a religiously motivated attack at least once a year. 

Islamophobia, however, does not just manifest in the perspectives and actions of individuals. It is also structural, impacting Muslims’ life opportunities. As highlighted by the Muslim Council of Britain, Muslims ‘face disproportionate [and rising] levels of deprivation’ 4 : despite only making up 6.5% of the UK population, 40% of Muslims live in the country’s most deprived areas. 5 They also face discrimination in the workplace: the Runnymede Trust notes that Muslims have the ‘lowest employment rates and earnings [of] any group in Britain’ 6 , while a 2022 survey found that 69% of Muslims surveyed had experienced Islamophobia at work. 7  

Muslims are also profiled by state institutions and disproportionately targeted by counter-terrorism policies: they are stopped and searched at airports; 8 surveilled in society, 9 including in schools; 10 and, according to the Institute of Race Relations, are at greater risk of having their citizenship removed than other UK citizens. 11 Moreover, the foreign policy of Western governments, notably the UK and the US, has seen Muslim countries invaded, 12 and Muslims illegally detained without reason and without trial due to the ‘War on Terror’. 13

These systemic and governmental forms of Islamophobia highlight how it is a form of racism. 14 It exists structurally, feeding into the way in which institutions are organised, dictating the laws that are created and how they are enforced, and underpinning a social hierarchy that privileges whiteness. This systemic form of racism impacts the opportunities available to Muslims – and all minorities – in the UK, and the way that they are treated, hindering their political advancement, accumulation of wealth and social status. 

Such racism has deep roots and is deeply entwined with the religious prejudice that arose with the emergence of Islam and the Early Muslim Conquests (622–750 CE), which saw military campaigns that spread Islam from Mecca in modern-day Saudi Arabia to areas of modern-day Spain to the west and India to the east. As Muslim leaders claimed land that was part of the Christian Roman Empire and people converted to Islam, there was a backlash from the Christian Church. That said, it is important to note that, despite this conflict, there is evidence of trade and good relations between Christians and Muslims – in eighth-century England, King Offa minted an Anglo-Saxon coin that was modelled on an dinar coin made by Al-Mansur, the Caliph of Baghdad, 15 while in Spain, the ruling Muslims established working relationships with senior Christian figures. In Spain, the Muslim influence on art, culture and architecture can still be seen today.

The establishment of a Muslim ‘other’ in the minds of Christians can be traced back to the Crusades, when the Catholic Church, led by Pope Urban II, called on Christians to take up arms against Muslims, who he described as ‘pagans’, ‘the enemies of the Lord’ and ‘a despised and base race, which worships demons’. 16 While race did not exist as a concept denoting supposed biological differences, the term possessed meanings related to lineage and kinship, and its use depicted Muslims as a distinct group to Christians.

When the Crusades ended in 1291, Muslims had been established as a spiritual and cultural enemy in the mind of Christian Europe. 

As academic and writer Todd H. Green notes, 

Christians increasingly saw in Islam a formidable threat to Christianity’s claims of superiority and hegemony in Europe and beyond. Faced with the Muslim world’s competing theological claims, impressive military accomplishments, expanding empire, and superior intellectual and scientific advancements, mediaeval Christian authors responded polemically and aggressively. 17

This notion of the Muslim ‘other’ was reinforced throughout the Middle Ages with the advent of colonialism, and as a means of attacking successful, and somewhat threatening, Muslim empires. Dehumanising Muslims and depicting them as inferior thus served both theological and political ends. 

Tropes that emerged in the Middle Ages that portrayed Muslims and Islam as antagonistic to Christianity, as violent and barbaric, as oppressors of women, as monolithic and as a threat to Europe continue to circulate to this day, having been adapted to different socio-historical contexts. These tropes shape how Muslims are treated, both in European countries and elsewhere through the foreign policy of Western/European governments. 

Understanding the historical roots of Islamophobia, how it manifests in the present day and the impact it has on Muslims is vital if it is to be challenged. 

• 1 Jones and Unsworth, The Dinner Table Prejudice: Islamophobia in Contemporary Britain , p. 22.
• 2 Ibid., p. 23.
• 3 Hate crime, England and Wales, 2021 to 2022 , Home Office, 6 October 2022, accessed 16 December 2022.
• 4 2021 Census: As UK Population Grows, So Do British Muslim Communities , Muslim Council of Britain, 29 November 2022, accessed 16 December 2022.
• 6 Farah Elahi and Omar Khan, Islamophobia: Still a Challenge for Us All, Runnymede Trust , 2018, p. 11, accessed 16 December 2022.
• 7 Tara Walsh, ‘ Islamophobia: Muslims describe abuse suffered at work ’, BBC News , 5 July 2022, accessed 27 February 2023.
• 8 Dan Sabbagh, ‘ Detention of Muslims at UK ports and airports “structural Islamophobia”’ , The Guardian , 20 August 2019, accessed 24 January 2023.
• 9 Dianelle Dwyer, Wesley Johnson and Pa, ‘ Police apologise over CCTV in Muslim areas ’, The Independent , 30 September 2010, accessed 24 January 2023.
• 10 Diane Taylor, ‘ Boy, 11, referred to Prevent for wanting to give “alms” to the oppressed”’ , The Guardian , 27 June 2021, accessed 24 January 2023.
• 11 Frances Weber, Citizenship: From Right to Privilege, Institute of Race Relations , 11 September 2022, accessed 24 January 2023.
• 12 Since the 1990s, Western governments have engaged in the following conflicts in the Middle East: the Gulf War (1990–91); the war in Afghanistan (2001–21); the Iraq War (2003–11); Yemen (2010–15); and the war in Iraq (2013–17).
• 13 Steve Swann, ‘ Who are the Guantanamo Brits? ’, BBC News, 2 March 2017, accessed 24 January 2023.
• 14 For further information on the definition of Islamophobia, please see our note ‘Defining Islamophobia’ in our Notes to Teacher section.
• 15 Gold dinar of King Offa , The British Library.
• 16 Bongars, Gesta Dei per Francos, 1, pp. 382f., trans. in Oliver J. Thatcher and Edgar Holmes McNeal, eds, A Source Book for Medieval History (New York: Scribners, 1905), pp. 513–17.
• 17 Todd H. Green, The Fear of Islam: An Introduction to Islamophobia in the West (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2015), p. 52.

Preparing to Teach

A note to teachers.

Defining Islamophobia

Given the widespread acceptance of Islamophobia, and its detrimental impact on Muslims, it is vital to educate people about this form of hatred and what can be done to challenge it. An important step in this educational process is outlining exactly what Islamophobia is, which remains a point of contention in some areas. 

Since the term Islamophobia gained prominence at the end of the 1990s, there has been much discussion about its appropriateness for describing the discrimination faced by Muslims (and those perceived as Muslim). Detractors of the term critique it for two reasons. Firstly, they argue that focusing on Islam endangers the right to criticise and question religions, which are systems of belief and thus should be open to critique, particularly in societies that value freedom of speech. Secondly, they assert that the suffix ‘phobia’ with its suggestions of illness and/or fear is confusing to use when describing prejudice (though, in such debates, its deployment to describe other forms of discrimination, such as xenophobia and homophobia, is often ignored). 1

As Shenaz Bunglawala 2 and others 3 highlight, this focus on the appropriateness and semantics of the term can detract from the oppression faced by Muslims, and thus can divert energy away from countering it.

Acknowledging the religious element of the discrimination faced by Muslims is important. One element of Islamophobia is anti-religious prejudice, which is fuelled by bigotry and ignorance, and miseducation concerning the principles of Islam. 4 People’s misconceptions of, and hostility towards, Islam thus impact the treatment of Muslims. 5

The Runnymede Trust’s seminal 1997 report Islamophobia: A Challenge for Us All captures this interplay. Claire Alexander (in Runnymede’s subsequent 2018 report Islamophobia: Still a Challenge for Us All ) explains that the original report highlights how ‘antipathy towards Islam as a religious ideology and set of practices, and discrimination against Muslims’ are inseparable: the former leads to the latter. 6

Islamophobia, however, is not just a form of religious hatred; it is also a form of racism. 

In 2018, the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims created the following working definition of Islamophobia: 

Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness. 7

This definition of Islamophobia, however, has been criticised: some detractors state that, given its religious focus, Islamophobia cannot be a form of racism, ignoring that, as Farah Elahi and Omar Khan highlight, ‘justifying discrimination or inequality by referencing the cultural practices of minority groups is a defining characteristic of all forms of prejudice and racism’. 8 All forms of racism have a cultural element 9 and, since Nazism’s support for eugenics resulted in the Holocaust, people have sought to distance themselves from eugenics and the ‘scientific’ racism rooted in ideas of biological difference, focusing instead on cultural differences. 10

Others argue that Muslims do not constitute a race, despite the fact that race is a social construct, used to enforce hierarchies and justify oppression. While systems of racial classification often focus on appearance, thus giving physical differences significance, race is not a biological reality. 11 What Stephen H. Jones and Amy Unsworth call ‘the malleability of race’ is evidence of its invented nature; they explain how ‘[p]ast attempts to racially classify Irish people as “Iberian” act as an instructive reminder of how flexible racial thinking has often been’. 12

Furthermore, they continue, 

Islam has been, and is today, racially coded. In many countries, being Muslim is associated with ethnic group membership and skin colour. In Britain, for example, being Muslim is typically associated with being South Asian or Arab. Imagery denigrating Islam has also often utilised somatic tropes such as the ‘bulbous nose and bushy eyebrows’ familiar from the history of antisemitism in Europe. Islamophobia is a centuries-old prejudice and, as with antisemitism, it prefigured modern racism, with depictions of Muslims (or to use the time-appropriate terms, ‘Moors’, ‘Turks’ or ‘Saracens’) echoing the tropes later used to classify racial groups. … The argument that Islamophobia and racism are separate, then, involves ignorance of Europe’s history as well as its current reality. 13

Muslims were racialised for centuries before race existed as a concept. They have also been at the receiving end of what is today referred to as ‘cultural’ racism, having been attacked for their customs, practices and religion. 

Islamophobia is therefore a form of both anti-Muslim prejudice and anti-Islamic prejudice; it is a hatred borne of the racialisation of Muslims and of religious hostility. Both these forms of Islamophobia, while they may manifest separately, are connected, reinforce each other and impact the quality of life of Muslims – and those perceived as Muslim – all over the world.

• 1 Farah Elahi and Omar Khan, ‘Introduction: What is Islamophobia?’, in Islamophobia: Still a Challenge for Us All , Runnymede Trust, 2018, p. 7.
• 2 Shenaz Bunglawala, ‘What’s in a name?’, in Islamophobia: Still a Challenge for Us All , Runnymede Trust, 2018, p. 69.
• 3 Islamophobia: Still a Challenge for Us All , Runnymede Trust, 2018.
• 4 Jones and Unsworth, The Dinner Table Prejudice: Islamophobia in Contemporary Britain , p. 8.
• 5 Elahi and Khan, ‘Introduction: What is Islamophobia?’, p. 7.
• 6 Claire Alexander, ‘Raceing Islamophobia’, in Islamophobia: Still a Challenge for Us All , Runnymede Trust, 2018, p. 13.
• 7 Islamophobia Defined: The inquiry into a working definition of Islamophobia , All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims, 2018, p. 11.
• 8 Alexander, ‘Raceing Islamophobia’, p. 13.
• 9 Elahi and Khan, ‘Introduction: What is Islamophobia?’, pp. 7–8.
• 10 Jones and Unsworth, The Dinner Table Prejudice: Islamophobia in Contemporary Britain , p. 15.
• 11 See our lesson Introducing the Concept of Race as part of our unit Discussing Race and Racism in the Classroom .
• 12 Jones and Unsworth, The Dinner Table Prejudice: Islamophobia in Contemporary Britain , p. 14.
• 13 Ibid., p. 15.

The Terms ‘West’ and ‘Western’

Throughout the unit, when referring to the West and Western views, we mean countries that have cultural and ethnic similarities either by geographic origin in western Europe or through settler colonisation by Western Europeans; that share economic, social and political views and interests; and that, due to their colonial histories, have significant economic and political power. This includes the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, alongside European countries.

While there are many problems with this term, notably its colonial roots and how it places ‘the West’ in contrast to ‘the East’, it does still have widespread traction and use. Moreover, it highlights the shared culture and mindset of countries that cannot be grouped together under a geographical term or location.

Terms and Definitions for Students

As noted above, there are disagreements over the exact definition of Islamophobia. Facing History and Ourselves UK is opting to use the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on British Muslims’ working definition of Islamophobia: 

Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness. 1

This definition has been adopted by some organisations and political parties, but not others. If you would like to share other definitions with your students, you can find some here , and if you would like to discuss the lack of consensus on a definition, you can find information here . 

• Islamophobia : a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.
• The West : Countries that have cultural and ethnic similarities either by geographic origin in western Europe or through settler colonisation by Western Europeans; that share economic, social and political views and interests; and that, due to their colonial histories, have significant economic and political power. This includes the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, alongside European countries. There are many problems with this term, notably its colonial roots and how it places ‘the West’ in contrast to ‘the East’; however, it remains a quick and clear way to describe the connection between culturally similar, yet geographically separate countries. 
• Trope : A commonly shared idea, phrase or story.
• Orientalism : Western ideas about the Middle East and about East and Southeast Asia, especially ideas that are too simple or not accurate about these societies being mysterious, never changing, or not able to develop in a modern way without Western help. 2

Add these words to your Word Wall , if you are using one for this unit, and provide necessary support to help students learn these words as you teach the lesson.

• 1 Islamophobia Defined: The inquiry into a working definition of Islamophobia , p. 11.
• 2 Definition of orientalism from The Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary & Thesaurus.

The History of Islamophobia

While the term Islamophobia is relatively recent, anti-Muslim and anti-Islamic prejudice are not a recent phenomenon: they have been circulating since the emergence of Islam and were cemented by the Crusades (1096–1291). These wars and the rhetoric used by the early Christian Church in the lead up to them, painted Muslims as an inferior ‘other’, a notion that was reinforced over the  following centuries and during European colonialism. Understanding this long history is an important step in tackling present-day Islamophobia.

Interfaith Dialogue

Several Islamophobic tropes have their origins in the discriminatory behaviour of the early Christian Church and its treatment of Muslims. When teaching the reality of this difficult history, it is important students understand that a range of organisations around the world are working on creating interfaith dialogue. In the UK, these organisations include the Christian Muslim Forum , The Inter Faith Network and The Centre for Muslim–Christian Studies .

Classroom-ready PowerPoint Slides

Each lesson in this unit includes a PowerPoint of student-facing slides. The PowerPoints are intended to be used alongside, and not instead of, the lesson plans because the latter include important rationales and context that teachers should familiarise themselves with before teaching each lesson. The PowerPoints include basic content and student-facing prompts from the lesson plans but are minimally designed because we expect teachers to adapt them to fit the needs of their students and class.

Related Materials

• Slides Lesson 1 PowerPoint: Confronting Islamophobia

Save this resource for easy access later.

Lesson plans.

Reflect on Responses to Culture

Before you begin engaging with the content of the lesson, we recommend that you create a classroom contract or revisit a previously created one. You can use our contracting guidelines for creating a classroom contract or another procedure you have used in the past.

Then, explain to students that you will be exploring Islamophobia, and that you will be beginning this exploration with some reflections on how people are judged and/or treated differently on account of their cultural practices. This is because one of the manifestations of Islamophobia in society is when Muslims (or those perceived to be Muslim) are attacked due to their cultural practices.

Ask students to record their reflections on how cultural practices can impact perception and treatment from their own experiences by responding to some or all of the following questions in their journals :

• What happened?
• How did the situation make you feel?
• What, if anything, were the consequences of this judgement and/or treatment? 
• What, if anything, were the consequences of your judgement and/or actions? 

Given the personal nature of these reflections, students should be allowed to keep their responses private. However, you can ask for volunteers to share their more general observations on how people respond to the cultural practices of others, sometimes judging them and treating them differently; they can share these thoughts without having to share details of the particular incidents they recorded.

Learn About the Definition of Islamophobia

Next, inform students that they will be reflecting on what Islamophobia is and how it manifests in society. Explain that Islamophobia is a form of racial and religious prejudice and share the working definition of Islamophobia from the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on British Muslims with them: 

Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.

You might wish to explain that expressions of Muslimness can be related to appearance, and to religious and cultural practices, including the choice of names. The APPG also included the phrase ‘perceived Muslimness’ to highlight how other ethnic and religious communities are also targeted when they are perceived to be of Islamic faith – Sikhs, for example, have been attacked with Islamophobic slurs. 1  

You may also wish to explain that some people argue that Islamophobia cannot be called a type of racism because Muslims are not a race. Race, however, is a social construct that has been used to justify hierarchies and inequalities; Muslims have been racialised throughout history; and in the present day, cultural racism, in which people are discriminated against for their customs and beliefs, is a common manifestation of racism. Moreover, the term racism highlights the structural inequalities that Muslims face. This contention over the definition of Islamophobia means that it has not been accepted as a type of racism by official institutions, such as the police, which impacts people’s ability to report and fight against discrimination.

Play students the video Islamophobia: A Structural Racism in which writer, poet and educator Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan explains why Islamophobia is a form of racism. 

• What did you find surprising and/or troubling about what was covered in Manzoor-Khan’s poem? 
• Why, as Manzoor-Khan highlights, is it important to understand Islamophobia as a type of racism?
• What impact does the racialisation of Muslims have on how they are treated? 
• Manzoor-Khan alludes to one of the criticisms some people have about calling Islamophobia a form of racism: it can prevent religious debate. What do you think about these criticisms?
• 1 Islamophobia Defined: The inquiry into a working definition of Islamophobia , p. 48.
• Link Islamophobia: A Structural Racism

Learn About the Past and Present of Islamophobia 

Next, distribute the appropriate version of the handout Islamophobia, its Past and its Present ( Intermediate / Advanced ) and share the following definitions with students:

• The West : Countries that have cultural and ethnic similarities either by geographic origin in western Europe or through colonisation by Western Europeans; that share economic, social and political views and interests; and that, due to their colonial histories, have significant economic and political power. This includes the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, alongside European countries.
• Orientalism : Western ideas about the Middle East and about East and Southeast Asia, especially ideas that are too simple or not accurate about these societies being mysterious, never changing, or not able to develop in a modern way without Western help. 1

Either read the text to the class, asking students to follow it, or invite students to read using one of the Read Aloud strategies. 

Next, invite them to respond to the following questions, before discussing them in pairs and then as a class.

• Is there anything you found surprising, interesting and/or troubling in the text?
• The term Islamophobia only gained widespread use at the end of the 1990s. Note down three ways that anti-Muslim and anti-Islamic sentiment has manifested throughout history? 
• What are the consequences of Islamophobia for Muslims in the present day?
• 1 Definition of orientalism from The Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary & Thesaurus.
• Handout Islamophobia, its Past and its Present (Intermediate)
• Handout Islamophobia, its Past and its Present (Advanced)

Explore Contemporary Islamophobia and its Impact 

Next, inform students that they will be thinking about the impact that Islamophobia has on those who experience it. 

Inform students that Islamophobia is connected to individual acts of hate and is structural. Muslims are regularly the victims of hate crimes: in 2021–22, 42% of victims of religious hate crimes in England and Wales were Muslim (there was a 22% increase in attacks against Muslims compared with the previous year); 1 Muslims ‘face disproportionate [and rising] levels of deprivation’: 2 despite only making up 6.5% of the UK population, 40% of Muslims live in the country’s most deprived areas; 3 and that Muslims are disproportionately targeted by counter-terrorism policies, which is evident in how frequently they are stopped and searched in airports. 4

Then, share some or all of the following experiences of Islamophobia from research conducted by the APPG on British Muslims:

‘I was stopped at Heathrow airport. The policeman said that they targeted me because of my attire. This has happened to me so many times. I cannot report it because the police do not see this as Islamophobic behaviour.’ 5

–(Muslim male, London)

‘On different occasions, I have been spat on, verbally abused, have had eggs thrown at me, physically attacked, and on one occasion someone tried urinating on my residence. I reported it to the police for the first few times, but no action was taken so after that I stopped reporting it to the police.’ 6

–(Muslim male, UK)

‘Whilst using public transport, I was receiving verbal abuse, about my appearance and dress code. As I turned I was then provoked with pieces of paper being thrown towards me, the transport was in fact surrounded with members of the public of many races yet nobody thought to end the abuse. It then came to a point where I was made to exit a couple of stops early for both mine and others’ safety.’ 7

–(Muslim student, Sheffield)

‘My daughter was attacked on the bus for wearing a headscarf. She ran off the bus and was followed and beaten up outside of my home. They were her friends but couldn’t understand why she started wearing it. I reported it to the school and only one of the pupils involved was excluded. My daughter was depressed, she feared school and never returned … the school should have supported my daughter not left her feeling isolated. I felt frustrated … children need to be educated at school to not bully and respect diversity.’ 8

–(Muslim female, Sheffield)

Next, share the following questions for students to respond to in their journals before leading a short class discussion. 

• What impact does Islamophobia have on the Muslims featured here? Consider how it impacts their feelings, behaviour, experiences, etc.
• How do you think it makes people feel if they are targeted or treated differently on account of one aspect of their identity? Explain your answer.
• How could they make it more likely that people will commit violent acts?
• What factors contribute to a climate in which perpetrators of hateful acts feel emboldened?
• 1 Hate crime, England and Wales, 2021 to 2022 .
• 2 2021 Census: As UK Population Grows, So Do British Muslim Communities .
• 4 Sabbagh, ‘ Detention of Muslims at UK ports and airports “structural Islamophobia ”’, The Guardian.
• 5 Islamophobia Defined: The inquiry into a working definition of Islamophobia , p. 49.
• 6 Ibid., p. 54.
• 7 Ibid., p. 53.
• 8 Ibid., p. 54.

Reflect on Challenging Islamophobia

Finally, invite students to reflect on the following prompts in a Think, Pair, Share :

• Why might the rights of minorities need to be protected for something to be a democracy? 
• If some people’s rights are taken away, what can this mean for the future of the rights of others?
• What does his statement suggest about the importance of standing up against discrimination?
• How is it relevant to the study of Islamophobia? 
• 1 Johnathan Freedland, ‘“ Thou shalt not be indifferent”: from Auschwitz's gate of hell, a last, desperate warning ’, The Guardian , 27 January 2020.

Extension Activities

Understand Islamic Beliefs and Traditions

Ignorance and miseducation about Islam drives bigotry and discrimination. It is, therefore, important that students learn about the beliefs and customs of Islam, so that they can challenge ignorance and they do not themselves believe falsehoods spread about Islam and Muslims. Share information from one or more of the following sources with your students: Key facts about Islam: KS3  (BBC Bitesize), GCSE Religious Studies  (BBC Bitesize), and/or Beliefs and Daily Lives of Muslims (PBS). You might also choose to share this video about the founding of Islam: How Islam Began – In Ten Minutes (True Tube).

• Link Key facts about Islam: KS3
• Link Beliefs and Daily Lives of Muslims
• Link How Islam Began – In Ten Minutes
• Link GCSE Religious Studies

Research the History of Christian–Muslim Conflict

To teach your students more about the Crusades, you might choose to share the Khan Academy’s lessons, which include videos on the Crusades: Introduction to the Crusades (7:24) . To teach your students about the Spanish Inquisition, consider sharing the video Ugly History: The Spanish Inquisition (5:41) by Kayla Wolf (TED-Ed).

• Link Introduction to the Crusades
• Link Ugly History: The Spanish Inquisition

Learn About the Islamobic Trope that Depicts Muslims as Monolithic

There are several Islamophobic tropes in circulation, some of which students will learn about in Lesson 2: Exploring Islamophobic Tropes . The trope depicting Muslims as monolithic fuels much Western Islamophobia. Viewing Muslims as the same, and as holding the same views and ideologies makes it easy to collate the actions/experiences of one Muslim as representative of all Muslims as a whole: one person’s act of violence or oppression, for example, marks everyone. To introduce students to this trope, you might wish to share the Get the Trolls Out! video Islamophobic Narratives: Monolithic (4:02).

• Lesson Exploring Islamophobic Tropes
• Link Islamophobic Narratives: Monolithic

Materials and Downloads

Quick downloads, download the files, get files via google, explore the materials, lesson 1 powerpoint: confronting islamophobia, islamophobia, its past and its present (intermediate), islamophobia, its past and its present (advanced), resources from other organisations, unit overview: discussing contemporary islamophobia in the classroom.

Exploring Islamophobic Tropes

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