Mohamed Azam Mohamed Adil, who is Director-General of the Institute of Islamic Understanding (IKIM) and is identified as an “associate professor” in the byline of this article, insists that criticism of Islam and opposition to jihad violence will lead to discrimination against Muslims and even violent attacks against innocent Muslims. This is an increasingly common argument among Western Leftists as well: criticism of them supposedly leads to their getting “death threats,” thus such criticism must be curtailed. There is actually no necessary connection between criticism of anyone or anything and violence against innocent people, and if this argument is accepted, no one will be able logically to criticize anything. Of course, this is not a logical argument. The outcome people such as Mohamed Azam Mohamed Adil and his ilk want is that criticism of Islam will be forbidden, while they themselves will be free to criticize anything they want.
“Curtailing absolute freedom crucial in combating Islamophobia,” by Mohamed Azam Mohamed Adil, New Straits Times, March 6, 2023:
THE world has once again witnessed an extreme act of Islamophobia when Rasmus Paludan, a right-wing politician, burnt Quran at a recent rally in Stockholm. Such an act has caused outrage, especially from the Muslim world, as it is an unacceptable act of dishonouring the Muslim holy book.
The provocative act, carried out in front of the Turkish Embassy, proves that hatred towards Islam, or Islamophobia, continues to run thick in Europe.
This is not the first time such a prejudicial act against Islam and Muslims in the West has happened under the guise of “absolute freedom”.
In reality, such crimes are manifestations of Islamophobia. Islamophobia is defined as an irrational fear and hostility towards Islam and Muslims that can lead to hate speech and social and political prejudice.
It can be used to justify policies such as mass surveillance of certain groups, imprisonment and loss of rights. Without correcting these negative perceptions, it can influence the domestic and foreign policies of Western countries.
Islamophobia began taking root in the Western discourse in The Middle Ages when negative stereotypes about Muslims helped build popular support during the Crusades. The false perception of Muslims as uncivilised and violent also contributed to justifying European colonial domination over Muslim countries.
The term “Orientalism”, coined by renowned American sociologist Edward Said, best describes the negative stereotyped attitudes toward Muslims and other colonised peoples.
On the other hand, the term “Islamophobia” was popularised in a 1997 report published by the Runnymede Trust, a British think tank concerned with racial and ethnic discrimination.
Islamophobia, like anti-Semitism, anti-Black racism, and prejudice towards “outsiders”, is often rationalised in order to propagate discrimination driven by the interests of Western political actors. Islamophobia is deeply ingrained in the minds of Westerners. They believe that Islam and Muslims advocate violence….
Terrorism claims are exploited to legitimise the monitoring of Muslims and, under certain circumstances, they are used to justify acts of war against a group of Muslims and Muslim states….
In the effort to achieve religious and national harmony, the West must reassess the notion of absolute freedom of expression that is currently practised. Hate speech and behaviour towards any religion, especially towards Islam and Muslims, must be stopped by strengthening ant-hate speech laws.
Similarly, blasphemy laws should apply to all religions rather than only Christianity, as it does in the United Kingdom. The recent act of burning the Quran in Sweden clearly shows contempt for the religion of Islam and should be prosecuted as blasphemy.
Without equitable response by Western governments, Islamophobia will fester, leading to acts of violence by various parties. Let us all work together to prevent social unrest and extreme actions by a few Muslims against the law and humanity, as occurred in 2001 (9/11) and the 2005 London Bombings.
Western governments must campaign for and educate the masses through programmes and activities on various platforms, either formally or informally, by promoting Islam as a religion of peace and rejecting violence.
This effort was once made in a special Fulbright Award programme – Direct Access to the Muslim World after 9/11 – where many speakers from Muslim countries were invited to the United States to educate Americans who were still misled and had negative perceptions about Islam.
Jedothek says
Since I was unable to post a letter at New Straits Times in response to Mohamed Azam Mohamed Adil’s article, I shall post that response here. My response is “No.” Islam will just have to defend itself through verbal argument, just like any other set of beliefs and practices. The religion gets no license to suppress opposing views. I am half Jewish (and therefore would have been a candidate for Buchenwald) and I do not favor suppressing Nazi speech. Find me a Nazi and I shall debate him publicly and try to prove him wrong.
PRCS says
Well put.
Linde B. says
To Jedothek- Good for you! Proud of you too for posting your view about Islam. I think you are 100% right. I hate the ideology of Islam but I do not hate any Muslims.
In case any commenter on this website would like to send a polite and civilized response to
Mohamed Azam Mohamed Adil, the Director General of the Institute of Islamic Understanding, their email address is:
pr@ikim.gov.my. The Institute is based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I will send a brief email to this man now and express my views about Islam and why Islam deserves criticism. I will let you all know if I get a response.
gravenimage says
Good letter, Jedothek. Thanks for posting it here.
John Herlihy says
Well said Sir! One just has to read the Qur’an, Hadiths, Sira to plainly see the blatant “Kafirophobia”
againt ALL non-Muslims (Kafir), especially Jews & Christians.
Qur’an 9:5-“Then, When the sacred months have passed, slay the idolaters wherever ye find them, and take them captive, and besiege them, and prepare for them each ambush. But if they repent and establish worship and pay the poor-due, then leave their way free.”
Qur’an 9:29- “Fight against those who have been given the Scripture (Jews & Christians) as believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, and forbid not that which Allah hath forbidden by His Messenger, and follow not the Religion of Truth, until they pay the tribute readily, being brought low.”
There are many more examples from their own sources that they read and run their entire lives by.
Hoi Polloi says
+1
Jim says
What is needed is for Muslims to criticize and reform their own religion. Then there could be less criticism by non-Muslims of Islam and better relations. If people see that something is not right in Muslim behavior and do not say anything for fear of Islamophoia, dislike of the wrong done by Muslims will be suppressed and continue to be felt in silence. Better to eliminate the causes of dislike of Islam, which are the actions of Muslims that violate the sensibilities of other religious groups and nationalities. People like this man remind me of the leftist DAs who are soft on crime and tolerate crime. The result is increased crime and increased fear of criminals. Where there is justifiable fear, it should not be suppressed, but exposed in hopes of correcting the wrongs.
David M says
They can’t reform it because they think the Quran is the word of Muhammad their god. Therefore anything that goes against the Quran is blasphemy & the person saying it is the worst in the world. End of story.
Look at the clueless blonde lady holding the sign in the caption. I bet she has never even been to an Islamic country. I bet she has never walked around an Islamic country with her hair uncovered, or tried to prosecute a rape accusation there. She doesn’t have a clue.
gravenimage says
Sadly true, David.
David M says
I should of said they think the Quran is the word of Allah their god, sent by his messenger Muhammad.
Hoi Polloi says
That woman should be required to live under the sharia she’s pushing.
Linde B. says
To Jim- Excellent comment but I fear no Muslims want to talk about their religion in a critical thinking way. If they did do some critical thinking about Islam they would want to leave it. But no one is given permission to leave Islam.
I am 71 years old and I remember the great rock song “Hotel California”. A line in that song gives a parallel to Islam; “You can check out any time you like but you can never leave.”?
somehistory says
“outrage” from the mozlum world.”
We are all supposed to ignore the fact that this ‘”ourtrage” came with threats of violence, threats of death, threats, threats and more threats.
And how many acts of violence was said to be in retribution for the burning of their unholy book of demon filth?
This mozlum, lying about the situatin today and yesterday and ages ago, wants to use the fact that people don’t want to be slaughtered, or raped, or threatened by mozlums as a **reason** that we should all just be silenced about what mozlums do and theaten to do.
“Terrorism claims are exploited”….and “Let us all work together to prevent social unrest and extreme actions by a few Muslims against the law and humanity”
from the worker of lies and lawlessness, to minimize the facts.
One fact being, the **terrorism** came first; the reporting of it, and the criticism of it, came after.
Some of us have news for this mozlum…..we won’t bend the knee to your fake prophet, your book of filth, or the false god who spawned it all, satan the devil.
If you don’t like the Truth, all the more reason for you to hear it.
Glenwood Jarman says
It seems that Mohamed Azam Mohamed Adil forgot to mention the mass slaughter that the followers of the peaceful (so-called) religion perpetrated upon the Christians and others in the former Christian lands. He forgot to mention the Muslim attacks upon Europe and the subjugation of Spain and the constant raids upon European cities to capture innocent people and use them as slaves. I wonder why he did not mention the millions slaughtered in India or even the thousands of innocent Christians in Nigeria, Camerron and other nations in Africa. This good Muslim does not wish for anyone to know the truth and thank God for websites like Jihad Watch to elucidate the crimes against everyone not a follower of the insidious cult called Islam.
tim gallagher says
islam and freedom of expression never go together. I’m sure that they never have islam does not belong in any western country where freedom of speech are cornerstones of our way of life. As for islamophobia, or hating islam,. well islam clearly preaches hatred for non-Muslims, and even calls for Muslims to murder non-Muslims when the chance arises, (in the Koran), so why the hell wouldn’t non-Muslims return that hatred to the Muslim haters. islam is such a barbaric load of primitive garbage that it deserves all the hatred it receives. It should have died out ages ago and got out of the way of mankind’s progress towards a more civilised, peaceful way of life.
PRCS says
Islamophobia.
A phobia is an irrational fear.
Islam is an ideology. As an inanimate object, It cannot perform physical acts and it is irrational to fear it.
The Yezedis however, and so many others, have a rational fear of the Muslims who intimidate, attack, injure, maim, and kill them in accordance with that hateful, violent ideology.
DHZ says
He needs to learn how to use a mirror.
Brigitte from Germany says
https://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/ukraine_stolen_children_loc/?slideshow
Can you sign and share this important petition please.
Thank you.
Deuce says
limiting freeodm of expression? stupid your jsut gonna give peopela reaosn to oppsoe and protests that abrbaric 7th century religion
gravenimage says
Muslim professor insists that the freedom of expression must be restricted in order to stop ‘Islamophobia’
……………………………………..
More demands that the West censor herself to promote Shari’ah restrictions on saying anything critical or even questioning about Islam.
Here’s the appalling Mohamed Azam Mohamed Adil, spouting apologia for forced practice of Islam to American high school students:
https://www.telegram.com/story/news/local/north/2007/03/07/scholar-terrorists-misread-quran/52955767007/
He also lies about the calls for violence in the Qur’an. Most blatantly, he claims that all killing is disallowed in Islam–a creed that was spread by the sword and whose “perfect man” is a genocidal warlord.
Deuce says
the only problem si there wont be any “Shriah” in europe. why? becuase organizations like WEF dont want that ebcuase they want the ilelgals in europe including the muslims as slave labor for the great reset. in the Uk theyre pushing 15 minute cities which will also effect the ilelgals too sicne no one is safe or immune to tyranny
Deuce says
the only problem si there wont be any “Shriah” in europe. why? becuase organizations like WEF dont want that ebcuase they want the ilelgals in europe including the muslims as slave labor for the great reset. in the Uk theyre pushing 15 minute cities which will also effect the ilelgals too sicne no one is safe or immune to tyranny
kq6kq6kq6 says
This is an old story. The Muslims tried to do this in Tennessee a few years ago. They keep at it and keep at it. They will never give up until thy subdue the world or until the Second Coming.
Stewart Davies says
Islam must be severely restricted to prevent suppression of freedom of speech.
Hoi Polloi says
“the West must…..leading to acts of violence”
Sharia shorthand.
OLD GUY says
How about we restrict the freedom of expression of ISLAM. After all it is Islam that spreads hate and violence against anyone who doesn’t follow islamic rules. Killing of Christians and Jews is a daily act of Islamic followers around the world. But let’s not talk about that Islamophobia fact.
Muslim Professor shove Islamophobia restriction up yours.
weavo says
+1
weavo says
+1