Combating Islamophobia will aid war against terror

A civilian who was wounded in a suicide car bomb attack yesterday is taken to hospital in Mogadishu, Somalia. [Farah Abdi Warsame, AP]

The long and impetuous history of terrorist attacks in Kenya by Al Qaeda associates and in particular Al Shabaab  has created a breeding ground for islamophobia, which is defined by the irrational and prejudiced hatred, fear and dislike for Islam and Muslims.

A survey of this islamophobic venom that is spewed in mainstream and social media platforms reveals the brush-stoking of Muslims as “the enemy within” in addition to misrepresentation of Islam as a violent political ideology instead of a wellhead of faith, spirituality and values that are not dissimilar to the ones espoused in the other Abrahamic religions.