Let’s not use Islamophobia to prejudice Muslims

There seems to be a new word recently introduced into our national discourse, but which seems to be gaining currency. Though not new in the international scene, the word “Islamophobia” is fairly recent in our lingua franca. This could be because circumstances necessitating the use of the word did not obtain in our context until recently. Without insulting the intelligence of our readers, let us explore the meaning of this word.

The etymology of the word “Islamophobia” shows it is made up of two root words, Islam and Phobia. Of course, Islam needs no exposition. Phobia, on the other hand, is defined as an anxiety disorder characterised by extreme and irrational fear of simple things or social situations. It has its origins from the ancient Greek word “phobos” which simply means “fear”, like in the fear of darkness. Accordingly, Islamophobia should basically mean the fear of Islam or at most, the fear of Muslims. What is interesting, however, is that the word has over time acquired a totally different meaning. Some dictionaries define Islamophobia as “prejudice against Muslims” while others call it “hatred for Muslims.” This twist to the original meaning of the word was actually officially adopted in 1997 in the UK, upon the presentation of the report by the Runnymede Trust’s Commission on British Muslims and Islamophobia (CBMI) entitled, Islamophobia: A Challenge for Us All (1997). The introduction of the term was justified by the report’s assessment that “anti-Muslim prejudice has grown so considerably and so rapidly in recent years that a new item in the vocabulary is needed”.