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Older talk is archived at Talk:Islamophobia/archive, Talk:Islamophobia/archive2 and Talk:Islamophobia/archive3

Definition of Islamophobia

- Germen

Islamophobia is any fear and/or hatred of Islam, Muslims or Islamic culture which is not warranted by objective facts.

The starting sentence as it stands is incorrect and POV. The term as it is commonly used is defined as "prejudice against Muslims". It has nothing to do with "objective facts" and the above makes implicit the POV that fear and/or hatreed of Islam can be warranted by objective facts. I propose the following sentence instead:

Islamophobia is a contemporary neologism defined as prejudice against Islam and Muslims.

If someone disagrees I ask they supply references from reputable sources that contradict the above. Axon 11:26, 15 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Of course, fear and/or hatred of Islam can be warranted by objective facts. It's an extreme POV that it cannot, and to assume that Islam does only good to civilization.

It would help the discussion and your credibility if you would get an account, log into Misplaced Pages and sign your posts. That said, you have not actually offered any reasons or evidence to contradict the statements made above, you have just made a blind assertion that it is false. I find the sentence is not self-evident and is POV and have explained my reasoning above. Please explain yours. Axon 17:32, 15 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Of course, fear and/or hatred of Islam can be warranted by objective facts. It's an extreme POV that it cannot, and to assume that Islam does only good to civilization.

1. Islam is seen as a monolithic bloc, static and unresponsive to change.

WARRANTED BY FACTS. Islam requires strictly that rules such as stoning to death not be changed.

4. Islam is seen as violent, aggressive, threatening, supportive of terrorism and engaged in a 'clash of civilisations'.

WARRANTED BY FACTS. Open your eyes and look around yourself. Differentiate between non-practising "muslims", and real muslims who follow the Qu'ran.

6. Criticisms made of the West by Islam are rejected out of hand.

WARRANTED BY FACTS, see 'Fear' in

"Muslims reaching the U.S. refuse to learn our language and take over our neighborhoods with their codes of dress and education. "

WARRANTED BY FACTS all over US and Europe. There are whole villages in Germany where they only know Turkish.

"They are strengthened demographically both by natural reproduction and by immigration, which reinforces their stubborn ethnic segregation."

HOW CAN YOU DENY THIS OBVIOUS FACT? What is the Muslim growth rate? In several countries, the formal Islamic religious heads openly encourage muslims to produce as many offspring as they can, so that they become demographically strong.

"Despite what they may say, Muslims are and have always been on a mission to conquer and kill infidels. They’ve been doing it for centuries and will continue until we’re all dead, or they’re all dead, or the world ends, whichever comes first. "

NOT ONLY SUPPORTED BY HISTORY, BUT ALSO PROUDLY CLAIMED (ATLEAST WHEN NOT ON RECORDS) BY MOST MUSLIMS.

Please tone down the shouting: apart from being incivil it does your argument no favors. The above is just a bunch of unreferenced quotes that demonstrate a particular opinion and do not represent fact: it is not self-evident fact that fear and/or hatred of Muslims can be rational or objective. It is your POV and it is contradicted by the alternative position that fear and/or hatred of anyone, nevermind Muslims, is irrational. That aside, you are side-stepping the basic thrust of my original remark: does anyone have any reputable sources or references that contradict my definition of islamophobia? Axon 17:46, 15 Jun 2005 (UTC)

No there is no definition of Islamophobia in any reputable source, so there are no references that contradict yours. Cook up whatever you want.

I have provided two references, one from a reputable online dictionary of which I doubt there is anything "cooked" about it. Is there any reason you doubt the above? If you have a contradictory definition please a reference here. Misplaced Pages is built on reference and citation (see Cite your sources). Again, if you doubt the definition please profer an alternative one with suitable citations. Otherwise, I'm not sure what you base your objection on. Axon 18:04, 15 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I have removed the disputed content in the introductionary paragraph to a special subheading "Proponents". Hope this will end the edit wars and startign a more NPOV version of this article. --Germen 15:14, 19 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I see no attempt made on this talk page to discuss your changes and your erasing of the "disputed" definition of islamophobia. I see no reason nor evidence to dispute the definition of islamophobia as above or within the article and the discussion of the entymology of the word is not appropriate for the introduction. Again, please cite your sources. Axon 16:53, 19 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Editing controversy of Yuber, Axon and Mustafaa vs Germen

OK, here is a text: Your, Mustafaa's and Yuber's version:

Islamophobia is fear and/or hatred of Islam, Muslims or Islamic culture. (1)
Islamophobia encompasses the belief that Islam promotes religious
fanaticism, violent tendencies towards non-Muslims, terrorism and rejects
concepts such as equality, tolerance, democracy and human rights. It is
viewed as a (2)  new form of racial prejudice whereby Muslims, an
ethno-religious group, not a race, (3) are nevertheless constructed as a
race. A set of negative assumptions are made of the entire group to the
detriment of members of that group. (4) How new it is, in the historic light
of The Crusades, is debatable and could be as old as the 11th or even 8th
Century AD. 
During the 1990s some sociologists and cultural analysts hypothesized that
there was a shift in forms of prejudice from ones based on skin colour to
ones based on notions of cultural superiority and otherness 
(http://en.wikipedia.org/Islamophobia#endnote_Seabrook)
(http://en.wikipedia.org/Islamophobia#endnote_Rudiger).
Others, however, disagree, and hold that modern forms of prejudice are not
substantially different from similar forms of prejudice that have existed in
many other places and times.

Bias in bold. 1: Original research. The accepted Webster definition is:

islamophobia 

n : prejudice against Muslims; "Muslim intellectuals are afraid of growing
Islamophobia in the West" 
 According to this regular definition each negative prejudice about islam is islamophobia. 

2. "It is viewed" by who? No authors, sources mentioned. POV, .

3. Constructed as a race by who? People who are considered to be "islamophobes", such as Daniel Pipes and Robert Spencer, direct their critic at islamic ideology and thinking patterns, not at muslims as a group. Some Muslims themselves construct a Muslim "race", in accordance to the Sunnah and the sahih hadith: they consider there to be is only one nationality: the Ummah, which transcends current nationality. 4. The Crusades are represented here as a manifestation of islamophobia, which is original research and not in accordance to historic information. The main motivation for the Crusades was to re-enable pilgrimage and to recapture Christian holy places which were conquered by Muslims some five (!) centuries earlier. When the Crusades were islamophobia indeed, the logical course of action would have been an expedition to Mecca in order to destroy the Kaäba.

I have cited my sources. So please cooperate in making this article more NPOV --Germen 09:22, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Germen, I see, once again, after getting blocked after the last edit war, you are carrying out large scale modifications to the article without even bothering to discuss them properly on this talk page first. Since you are new to Misplaced Pages I will attempt to explain some of the rules and regulations that ensure the smooth running of editing on controversial topics:

• Whilst it is true that Misplaced Pages encourages you to Be Bold it also encourages you to don't be reckless.
• all non-trivial edits (such as your increasingly elaborate and radical alterations) should not be marked as Minor edits.
• Do not make lots of edits all at the same time because these will just end up getting reverted. Editors don't have the time to go through lots of changes and review and will rather revert all an editor's changes if they see POV in one or two changes.

That is not true, I did discuss these edits on the talk page as you have seen. In contrary to this, your, Mustafaa's, Yubers reverts were not motivated--Germen 10:42, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I disagree: you did not discuss many of the last few changes you have made (for example, in the history section). If you have explained these changes please highlight where you have explained them on this talk page. You certainly have not explained your changes before and we were all perfectly within our rights to reverts your unexplaind, controversial and uncommented changes. Please read the policy guidelines I have linked to. You should also indent your responses and there is absolutely no need to bold your remarks. Axon 11:07, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

My changes have been commented i.e. here, so what you say is not according to fact. Indentation OK. I see a need, be bold :)--Germen 12:20, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

No, they have not, germen. You only discussed (but did not wait for a reply) to altering the definition of islamophobia. Your other changes are only now being discussed because I am making the attempt to do so. You are certainly not putting appropriate comments on your edits and you are still marking major changes as minor! Please desist or you edits will be reverted. Axon 13:14, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

• Do not change the order of the comments on the talk page: most editors check the bottom of the page first rather than the start so if you want to give precedence to a dicussion it is advisable to keep it at the bottom of the page where the most current discussion is ongoing.

Not logical. People start to read at the top. --Germen 10:42, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

It may not seem logical to you, but nevertheless, this is how things should be done for clarity on Misplaced Pages. Axon 11:07, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

• Finally, ensure all you remarks are properly signed on the talk page here.

OK--Germen 10:42, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

To summarise my opinion of your edits:

• Again, this change should never have been marked as a minor edit. You have been warned about marking your edits as minor on numerous occasions so you really should know better. What is more, you have redefined islamophobia without discussion on this page, added some highly controversial remarks about who defines islamophobia how (without citing your sources), placed controversial text in the introduction and used weasel words to basically give precedence to the opinions of those who dismiss islamophobia and more properly belong in the criticism section of this article.

This accusations have no base. The statements in the first paragraph were highly controversial and I have marked them as such. There is no general agreement on this statements, while the author states it as such. Of course I will make this clear. This is not weasel wording, is is unmasking bias. --Germen 10:42, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

You have to be clearer than this: what statements are you referring to here?Axon 11:07, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

See my comments before, on top of (now) section 1.1 where I discuss the bias of the introduction. --Germen 12:20, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

• Inexplicable: you do not place comments within an article.

At least you do read the article. My points in the Talk Page gets unaddressed. --Germen 10:42, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Again, your lack of use of the talk page does you no favors: you claim your comments are ignored but I have replyed to most if not all your remarks so I don't credit this claim much. Please remove the comments: it is better to copy and paste the offending lines from the article into the talk page and remark on them there. Axon 11:07, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

As everyone can read, I motivated all additions.

• There is no need to attribute the definition here: simply describe the definition of islamophobia without attempting to narrow the scope of it's validity.
•  :::If there is no agreement on the exact definition of 'islamophobia' it is NPOV to describe this disagreement. --Germen 10:42, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I see no evidence over the defintion, just disagreement over whether it exists and who it can be applied to. Axon 11:07, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I do not believe there is any disargeement over the defitinition of islamophobia. If you have alternative definitions from reputable sources, again (and again and again) I ask you to publish them here, otherwise we must consider the term islamophobia as it is commonly defined. Axon 11:07, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

This article is about islamophobia, not about sharia law and Islamic opinion of human rights. See also belongs at the bottom of the article as well.

As you admitted, there exist different definitions, so there exist different opinions about the meaning of islamophobia as well. That is not a belief, that is a fact.--Germen 12:20, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I admitted no such thing: there is, AFAIK, only one set definition of islamophobia and it quite clearly means prejudice against muslims and islam. In fact, quite clearly I made an open call for others to cite sources that dispute my definition and, as yet, no one has done so. Again, I reiterate: I see no evidence of dispute over the defintion, just disagreement over whether it exists and who it can be applied to. Axon 13:14, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

• "Islamic source materials such as Qur'an and Hadith promote religious fanaticism, violent tendencies towards non-Muslims, terrorism and rejects concepts such as equality, tolerance, democracy and human rights or not, is not settled, even not between Muslims themselves." This paragraph doesn't even attempt to be NPOV: there is obvious disagreement of the above. This section should be reverted.

Islamophilia is defined as negative prejudices against Islam or Muslims. So it is logical to find out whether a negative statement about islam is true, hence a prejudice. As the level of knowledge and level of practice of islam varies for every Muslim it is the most logical to refer to the islamic source material, e.g. Qur'an and Sunnah, to find out whether a claim is prejudice. --Germen 10:42, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Islamophobia is defined as prejudice against Islam and Muslims (the negative is implicit and is not common to any of the definitions I have seen). What is more, the idea that a negative claim about Islam is true or not is inherently POV: you cannot assert that, according to so and so paragraph of the Koran, Islam is for killing small kittens, for example... it is a statement that will obviously be disputed. Again, please read NPOV. This content should be moved the criticism section at the bottom of the page. Axon 11:07, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Muslims cite Qur'an and Hadith as a basis for their opinions on Islam. Besides, to consider the Qur'an as the literal word of God and following the example of Prophet Muhammad as described in the Hadith is central to Islamic doctrine. So there is not a dispute, unless people don't understand the basics of islam. In that case, please abstain from editing this page. --Germen 12:20, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I am quite aware of how Muslims regard the Koran and their holy texts. You admonishment that I "abstain from editing this page" are grossly out of order and will be ignored. That aside, you cannot claim that Islam stands for one thing as NPOV when there is obvious disagreement over it, and without even bothering to cite sources. What you are talking about here is opinion that should be referenced in the criticism section of this document, not fact or NPOV. Please read NPOV. Axon 13:14, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Misleading quote. The complete sentence is: Other authors, such as Robert Spencer and Ibn Warraq dismiss this point of view as one-sided, as the issue whether Islamic source materials such as Qur'an and Hadith promote religious fanaticism, violent tendencies towards non-Muslims, terrorism and rejects concepts such as equality, tolerance, democracy and human rights or not, is not settled, even not between Muslims themselves.--Germen 10:42, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I was referring to that particular edit specifically, and not the overall history (the sentence now reads as above). This sentence belogns in the criticism section at the bottom of the page. Axon 11:07, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Disputed, biased opinions should be presented as such, as is the case in any journalistically sound or encyclopaedic article. --Germen 12:20, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Only if there is actually a dispute. Imagined disputes invented by editors so as to push their own POV are to be ignored unless evidence from a reputable source exists to back them up. That aside, it is clearly wikipedia policy that a concept should be considered on its own merits and criticism of concepts should be kept in the criticism section. Axon 13:14, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Again, what is the relevance, other than a POV attempt to discredit the term islamophobia, is the inclusion of the line "Webster Dictionary has no entry for this word as yet." Again, more weasel words.POV statements should be marked as such.

Again, it is no weasel wording, this is making an article NPOV.--Germen 10:42, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Please read weasel words - this sentence has now been deleted anyhow. Axon 11:07, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Please read 'weasel wording' yourself. You confuse NPOV with weasel wording. --Germen 12:20, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

No, I don't think I do. Axon 13:14, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

• "Often also negative prejudice against islam or Islamic culture is included in the definition." Here you start to inexplicably (evidence?) diverge the definition of islamophobia into two parts. It is defiend as prejudice against Muslims on Wordnet, but it is also defined as a general prejudice against Islam. There is no contradiction between these two definitions and one might argue that one naturally leads to the other.

The definitions are different on their scope. Of course there is an objective difference between a scope of anti-Muslim only and a scope of anti-Muslim, anti-islam and anti-islamic culture. Stating this difference is natural.--Germen 10:42, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Is it? Provide evidence please. It seems to me the defining quality of a Muslim is that he/she practices Islam. Hence, criticism levelled at all Muslims would indeed seem to be a criticism of Islam and vice versa. Axon 11:07, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I do not understand this point, Muslim is something different than Islam. Muslim is an adherent of islam, islam is a religion. So criticizing them is criticizing different things. If you cannot understand the difference, please check your dictionary.

Your patronising tones does your argument no favors here. If you actually read what I wrote above you would see my response to your this very point. To reiterate: criticism levelled at all Muslims would indeed seem to be a criticism of Islam and vice versa. Axon 13:14, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

• More uncited changes that seem like POV to me.

That's your POV.--Germen 10:42, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

You do not seem to be making very much attempt to discuss anything, here Germen: these changes seem like POV to me and it is up to you to explain them here. Simply remarking "that's your POV" is no explanation I can grasp. Axon 11:07, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Neither do you seem to make very much attempt to discuss them Axon. You state your POV, I state mine. OK, if you liek this game than do it so.--Germen 12:20, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Actually, I have not stated my POV: I have questioned your edits and raised several points. However, in response you simply seem to reiterate your own opinion as if it were self-evident fact without providing evidence of discussing it. Axon 13:14, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

• note you realise your mistake and remove the sentence about Webster's dictionary.

Of course, I am human and I make mistakes. When I realise I made one, I correct it. That's the idea of Wiki. --Germen 10:42, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Fair enough, me too :) Axon 11:07, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

So, in the end you have deleted much legitimate and cited content from the introduction to this article and added two paragraphs of uncited POV. I'm sorely tempted to revert your changes and would not be surprised if others do too but, for the sake of peace and because you may not be aware of the above, I await your remarks to the above and look to discuss your changes. Axon 09:55, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I removed the reference to the Crusades because they themselves were not a cause for islamophobia. This is logically nonsense. It only could be argued that the Crusades were a consequence of islamophobia. A logical explanation of islamophobia in the Middle Ages are the armed conflicts and islamic invasions of christian territories. So I stated those. --Germen 10:42, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Actually, I would argue that many people have made the comparison between the crusades and the current climate of islamophobia so you probably should not have deleted this section. You certainly should have discussed it first. Axon 11:07, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

They compared apples with pears. The Crusades were a consequence of a "climate of islamophobia", which in turn was caused by Papal proclamations, rumors of islamic conquests and wars with islamic armies. Does it make sense to include inappropriate comparisons?

That they are comparable as apples is to pears is your opinion: others have made the comparison and they obviously disagree. Personal incredulity is irrelevant here. Axon 13:14, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Whoops, I accidently reverted your changes to the talk page here when I responded to your comments. You might want to add them back into the above. Axon 11:08, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Ok, let it be :)

Votes for deletion debate

This article has been kept following this VFD debate. Sjakkalle (Check!) 09:25, 17 Jun 2005 (UTC)

i'm sad to see it was rejected. this article is doomed to perpetual POV based on its very nature. J. Parker Stone 07:48, 20 Jun 2005 (UTC)