Responding to Islamophobia in the Academy

Evidence and Analysis

Religious Observations and Assignment Conflicts

Islamophobia is the undermining of the ability of Muslims to be Muslims [8]. This denial of agency may involve institutions failing to make reasonable accommodations that result in Muslims being unable to practice their faith or express their Muslimness. Observing prayer and religious periods/holidays are often perceived as non-negotiable and constitute a fundamental element to the everyday lives of many Muslims. Extended periods of religious observance, such as Ramadan, have shown to impact the cognitive performance of Muslim students [9]. Abstaining from food and drink alongside having to attend prayers scheduled during the early/late hours of the day have shown to negatively impact performance because of depleted energy levels and fatigue. I was contacted by a final year undergraduate student seeking my counsel about a response that he received from an academic panel when he sought an extension for his dissertation deadline. This student explained to the panel how the taxing nature of fasting had hindered his ability to complete his work on time and that he would benefit from a fortnight extension to ensure that his religious observations did not jeopardise his attainment potential. He received the following email response from an administrator:

“The panel want some confirmation from either the Imam or the Mosque that you observed Ramadan so just a brief email from either of them would be sufficient.”

This email response demonstrated little religious literacy and an understanding of Islam/Muslims. The student subsequently complained to his personal tutor how it would not be possible to obtain written evidence as fasting is generally a private act that cannot be monitored. He was met with the following response from his supposedly most trusted institutional ally:

“I was on the mitigation panel yesterday. It is now common practice to provide evidence that you have been observing Ramadan from your Imam.”

The personal tutor reiterated the request for evidence by claiming that it was part of the ‘business-as-usual’ procedures of the university. There was a vacuousness on behalf of the tutor and the mitigation panel regarding the nature of what they were asking from the student. This incident lays bare the institutional complicity in failing to understand the religious needs of the student and how they ought to be aptly accommodated. Microaggressions enable us to ‘see’ how the (un)conscious everyday encounters and interactions experienced by Muslims are tied to larger systems of Islamophobia that are mediated by institutional processes. It is, after all, the broader manifestations of Islamophobia that generate the conditions for microaggressions to pervade through seemingly innocuous requests that are disguised as “common practice”.

Undermining Lived Experiences

The microaggression may be perpetuated through a microinvalidation which denies or nullifies racialised lived experiences. For example, remarks such as ‘I don’t see colour’, ‘we are all equal’ or ‘we now live in a post-racial society’ all fall under the remit of the microinvalidation as they displace the prominence of ‘race’ in society. These are tricky rebuttals that are likely to surface when highlighting issues such as Islamophobia. The prevailing political backdrop has, furthermore, problematised the ability for individuals to expose social injustices. As the ‘culture wars’ weaponised by politicians and journalists have normalised labels like ‘woke’ or ‘snowflakes’ to stigmatise those opposing prejudice and discrimination. Having completed a presentation of my doctoral research findings, I was approached by a senior white middle-class male academic who insisted upon sharing his observations to ‘enhance’ my work. He commenced by stating what arguments that he strongly disagreed with:

“Hmmmm, I would urge you to revisit your claims about Islamophobia in the boxing gym. Is it Islamophobia or is it something else? It appears to me that you have misunderstood the data for Islamophobia when really it is highlighting crucial health and safety. You say that a boxing trainer excluding someone from the gym for fasting is Islamophobia, I would say that it was a sensible decision in protecting them from experiencing dehydration. I am afraid that you are mistaken here.”

I appreciated how the person providing the feedback had no expertise in this subject so I responded by justifying my perspective and explaining why the data exemplified Islamophobia. This was, however, met with some ‘huffing and puffing’ and ‘eye-rolls’ as he had no interest in listening after rejecting the premise of my findings. The concept ‘white fragility’ was neologised to describe situations where white people demonstrate stress, boredom and/or frustration as they are exposed to the racial perspectives/experiences of people of colour [10]. There was implicit communication being emitted that he was the authoritative voice and how I did not know what I was talking about. I felt accused of stretching the truth just to produce a research output by talking about Islamophobia where it did not exist. Disrupting Islamophobia (and indeed every other form of prejudice or discrimination) is a courageous act. It is work that requires willpower and stamina given the constant exposure to its debilitating effects. This task becomes more burdensome when faced by microaggressions from those in academic/pastoral positions who deny experiential realities and question integrity.