ISLAMOPHOBIA AND MUSLIM IDENTITY: A STUDY OF THE POST 9/11 SOUTH ASIAN MUSLIM MINORITY IN THE WEST

Abstract

Islamophobia existed before the September 11, 2001 events, but the intensity of violence, hate speech, and discrimination had increased subsequently after this in the West. In the light of events of 9/11 in the US and 7/7 in the UK, the implicit racism persisted substantially long afterward and the subsequent actions and reactions on the part of nation-states in the West and “terrorists” in the East gave rise to faith-hate crime. This paper discusses the concepts of Islamophobia and Muslim Identity in the British context where Islam and Muslim identity were stereotyped terrorists and extremists in media and public discourses extensively right after 9/11. Rising Islamophobia, state actions and media reactions to 9/11 have prompted changing meanings of the “good Muslim” to a stereotyped one. British-Muslims are caught in a quandary where their loyalties are questioned and polity that is still in the processes of establishing its “Englishness” from its “Britishness,” while developing Islamic political radicalism undermines the already precarious relations between British Muslims and the state.