Did the Muslim Brotherhood Invent The
Term "Islamophobia"? Tim Wildmon Says Islam ‘Does Not
Teach' Charity
09 May 2012
By Juan Cole
Today in NRO Andrew McCarthy writes:
"Islamophobia" was coined by the Muslim Brotherhood
and seamlessly adopted by its Western confederates.
One of the common means by which the anti-Muslim
agitators like to undercut attempts to expose them is
to pretend that the term "Islamophobia" was invented
by nefarious Muslims. In so doing they hope to create
the impression that the actual phenomenon is simply
imaginary.
The term was used by the Runnymede Trust in the U.K.
back in 1992, in a report entitled A Very Light
Sleeper, which then led to a report, also by
Runnymede, entitled, Islamophobia: A Challenge for Us
All, in 1997. Christopher Allen points outthat it was
used in the U.S. in Insight in 1991, but somewhat
differently from the way the term is employed today.
The single piece of evidence that Islamophobes cite
that "the Muslim Brotherhood" coined this term comes
from the personal recollection of one Abdur Rahman
Muhammad:
Muhammad said he was present when his then- allies,
meeting at the offices of the International Institute
for Islamic Thought (IIIT) in Northern Virginia years
ago, coined the term "Islamophobia."
Muhammad said the Islamists decided to emulate the
homosexual activists who used the term "homophobia" to
silence critics. He said the group meeting at IIIT saw
"Islamophobia" as a way to "beat up their critics."
That quote comes from CT huckster Stephen
Emerson‘swebsite. Let us assume that this account is
completely true. Even on this man's account, IIIT
decided to make use of the term "Islamophobia", like
many have in the last decade. Note the absence of a
date, or any kind of corroboration. Also note that
IIIT is not the Muslim Brotherhood. And note that the
term pre-dates 9/11 by almost ten years.
Claire Berlinski gave this myth some life in 2010, and
bears some responsibility for it.
Of course, it is only one small detail in the overall
paranoia-inducing fantasy that all (that is, every
last one) of the mainstream American Muslim
organizations are "fronts" for the Muslim Brotherhood.
Update (May 21):
Some have sent me notes indicating even earlier usage
in English and also in other languages such as French
(though I don't see these as being exactly continuous
with the use of the term these days). My point was not
to determine the first usage of the term, but simply
to point out how phony it is to pretend it was
invented by "the Muslim Brotherhood". I put the latter
in scare quotes because as used by Islamophobes it's
not meant to be precise or to refer to some actually
existing organization with a discernible structure. It
is meant to sound ominous and scary.
Tim Wildmon Says Islam ‘Does Not
Teach' Charity
American Family Association president Tim Wildmon
today used his column praising the admirable works of
Christian charitable organizations to criticize
Muslims.
If there ever was a contrast in worldviews, it is with
Christianity and Islam. One of the most striking
differences is that Christianity teaches, practices,
and encourages charity. Islam does not. It is the
Christians from America who are doing the majority of
the private charity and humanitarian work around the
world. Just these past couple of weeks alone, I was
reminded by several examples of this.…
American Family Association/American Family Radio has
been participating in this project with Gospel for
Asia for several years. Why do we care about the
outcast people of India? Because in the Bible, Jesus
instructs us to do so.
There is no such comparable work being done around the
world by Islamic groups or organizations — because the
Koran does not teach such charity.
Religion, more than anything else, affects the values
and morals of a culture, a society, a country.
In fact, charitable giving is one of the five pillars
of Islam. Wildmon could have done a simple Google
search to find the names of major Muslim charitable
organizations like Islamic Relief, Red Crescent
Societies and Muslim Aid, but seeing that the American
Family Association is one of the most malicious
purveyors of misinformation and bigotry in this
country, it should come as no surprise that its leader
can twist an article about the importance of
charitable work into an attack on the Muslim people.
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