Stigma is a process by which the reaction of others spoils normal identity.
Erving Goffman
At the moment the world has been plunged into grave uncertainty by the novel disease of covid-19 caused by coronavirus. Having a toddler at home, we have as well decided to maintain social distance in hopes of keeping the disease at bay. Idly skimming through the news, a particular headline caught my sight, “President Trump has no qualms calling corona-virus as the Chinese-virus”. Curious as to what might have been the reaction of the world I googled the piece, and woah!!! I find dignitaries from around the world slamming Trump for his disgraceful attitude in trying to name the virus after the country from which it most likely is thought to have originated . I then read a whole length commentary by Roger Cheng in which he grills Trump for stigmatizing the Chinese people or specifically the Asian Americans, as according to him they are already facing backlash since the spread of the pandemic. This particular development has made me reflect on the stigma surrounding my religion of Islam. Is it not a fact that we Muslims to this day are branded and stigmatized as being radicals???.
Stigma surrounding religion to every extent is as important as societal stigma surrounding mental health issues or those related to certain communities, the most appropriate one being the LGBT or also racial discrimination for being black or brown. Looking back through the pages of history, there have been many instances of different races, religions and ethnic groups being stigmatised and abused for their identities. A quintessential example of religious stigma in the past times can be relocated to the holocaust. Despite the fact that Hitler wanted to purify Germany by racial cleansing, as he believed that the Jews belonged to an inferior race as opposed to the superior Aryan race, the spotlight to this day remains on the Jewish religion. After the defeat of Hitler and the end of the second world war the upliftment and revival of the Jews and their religion has been remarkable. With the birth of Israel, a new country promising the Jews a bright future ahead, any anti-semitic sentiments are considering to be neo-nazist in the view of this world. It’s almost like any antisemitic views are abhorred and considered to be homophobic. The trivia is there is Kosher meal available on the majority of international flights besides vegetarian and non-vegetarian meals— this enough tells the amount of reverence commanded by the semites.
Islamophobia on the contrary has never received the amount of abhorrence which anti-semitism has. The infamous 9/11 attacks have stigmatised Islam and have rampantly spread Islamophobia through the western world, and at an equal level in the subcontinent as well. We as Muslims are always at a subconscious level aware of our religious identity in a social setting. Our manner of dressing, our choice of halal food, above all our way of life is always under the pressure of scrutiny from our fellow humans. If a Muslim woman chooses to cover her head she is branded as being oppressed, a Muslim man’s choice of beard is frowned upon for being too extreme. Our religious choices or rather our level of devotion towards our faith has divided us in the likes of moderates or extremists, the former being a section that can be easily moulded and the latter being subjected to scorn from the society which views every bearded man and hijab clad woman to be a terror creating religious fanatic. In the Islamic religion there are only Muslims, neither moderates nor extremists.
Time and again the governments in power try hard and fast to bring about laws that are targeted towards us Muslims— the hijab ban in France, the triple talaq in India to name a few, are governmental demonstrations of inbuilt Islamophobic behaviour. Looking at the plight of refugees around the world, the Muslim face has become synonymous with that of the asylum seeker. The western media has played a crucial role in the spread of Islamophobia, but still I feel it’s a safer place to be a Muslim in the western part of the world when compared to the plight of Muslims from the orient— the Chinese Uyghurs, the Burmese Rohingya and a new addition the Indian Muslims are tormented in various ways from being subjected to ethnic cleansing to a scenario where Muslims are forced to prove their citizenship because of their choice of persuasion.
As to when a particular section of the society or a specific religion is targeted, their richer and more affluent counterparts retaliate the attacks— think of how the US of America is a home away from home to the Jews??? . This has never been the case of Muslims, where we seldom or most often never have any help from our more wealthy counterparts residing in the Middle East. They day in, day out turn a blind eye to the various atrocities on the Muslim community. Bombed in Syria, attacked in Palestine, persecuted in Burma, forced to conversion in China, victimised in India— and still the world likes to believe we are the oppressors. It’s a paradox where this ruthless world tries to portray Muslims as being the oppressive ones, where in fact we are the ones being oppressed and mercilessly tortured with no help but to bear the brunt of the stigma surrounding our faith.
My Five Pence 
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