If Ali Erbaş really wants to end “Islamophobia,” here is how he and his fellow Muslims could accomplish it. They could call upon Muslim individuals and groups to:
1. Focus their indignation on Muslims committing violent acts in the name of Islam, not on non-Muslims reporting on those acts.
2. Renounce definitively, sincerely, honestly, and in deeds, not just in comforting words, not just “terrorism,” but any intention to replace Western constitutions (or the constitutions of any non-Muslim state) with Sharia even by peaceful means. In line with this, clarify what is meant by their condemnations of the killing of innocent people by stating unequivocally that non-Muslim civilians, including Israelis, are innocent people, teaching accordingly in mosques and Islamic schools, and behaving in accord with these new teachings.
3. Teach, again sincerely and honestly, in transparent and verifiable ways in mosques and Islamic schools, the imperative of Muslims coexisting peacefully as equals with non-Muslims on an indefinite basis, and act accordingly.
4. Begin comprehensive international programs in mosques all over the world to teach sincerely, and again transparently, against the ideas of violent jihad and Islamic supremacism.
5. Actively and honestly work with Western law enforcement officials to identify and apprehend jihadists within Western Muslim communities.
If Muslims did those five things, voila! “Islamophobia” would vanish! But it ain’t gonna happen.
Why are people suspicious of Islam? In my book The History of Jihad From Muhammad to ISIS, I show that jihad groups are by no means an aberration in the history of Islam. On the contrary, for 1,400 years there have been Muslim who waged aggressive war against unbelievers, oppressed non-Muslim communities, and made sex slaves of non-Muslim women. From the Almoravids and Almohads in “tolerant, pluralistic” Muslim Spain to the Muslim conquerors of India, today’s jihadis have abundant precedents in Islam. But few people know this history, and even fewer realize its implications. That’s why I wrote The History of Jihad From Muhammad to ISIS — to try to prevent the same mistakes borne of ignorance being made yet again in our own age. Have you read it yet? You can still get it here.
“‘Efforts should be intensified to combat Islamophobia,'” Anadolu Agency, November 10, 2018:
Head of Turkey’s Religious Affairs Directorate Ali Erbaş on Friday called for intensified efforts to combat increasing Islamophobia in Europe….
“It seems that one of the most important areas of joint cooperation now in the European arena is doing efforts to eliminate the Islamophobia spread either by the enemies or by those from us who do not know the purpose of this religion,” Erbas said.