Media has time and time again been regarded as an immensely powerful, yet invisible,
entity.
Throughout history, it has lived up to this title by utilizing its leverage to shift the
mindsets and beliefs of its indulgers, most notably in periods of wartime such as the
Vietnam War. The possibility of media itself waging a war on ideas and groups of
people is one that is often touched upon but seldom fully explored. The reality is that
the past few decades stand as a testament to the fact that the media, knowingly or
ignorantly, has waged a war on identity and the victim is the religion of Islam
accompanied by its followers, otherwise known as Muslims. The media’s use of anti-
Islamic rhetoric is rooted in a misrepresentation of the religion of Islam, which has
produced an unprecedented age of mass hysteria and a perpetuating fear and
generalization of Muslims, otherwise known as Islamophobia.
Media coverage of Islam-related issues has changed dramatically since the beginning
of the new millennium, both in quantity and quality. The events of September 11, 2001,
thrust Islam into the global media forefront: not only did coverage of Islam drastically
increase, particularly in news and entertainment media, but the way in which Islam was
framed by the media changed as well.
The American-led ‘War on Terrorism’ led to an increase in Islamophobia (fear or hatred
of Islam) across the globe. This increase in Islamophobia was in turn reflected in the
way media outlets addressed and stereotyped Muslim populations. While some
deliberately framed Islamic coverage positively in an attempt to counter Islamophobia,
many of the portrayals of Muslims contributed to the formation of harmful Islamic media
stereotypes
Associating Islam with violence is a false impression that the Western public has long
cultivated about this religion. An example of this misconception is that Islam is a religion
spread by the sword, meaning that Muslims went from one end of the world to the other,
conquering nations and forcing the inhabitants to either convert or die. The truth is that
Islam spread through the expansion of the Ottoman empire, not that people were forced
to convert or die. A modern day example of the Islam=violence misconception is Saddam
Hussein. Although Hussein is of the Islamic faith, not all of his actions necessarily
represent Islamic beliefs.
There are allegations that ISIS is supported covertly by US-NATO forces, just as the
Taliban was supported by the US to fight against the Soviet Union, and that the 9/11
World Trade Center bombing was used as a pretext to wage war against
Afghanistan (October 2001) and oil-rich Iraq (March 2003). These were often
labelled as conspiracy theories, but more in-depth investigations and analysis can
bring out the truth behind each of these geopolitical events.
The point is that Islam has been consistently portrayed by global media as a
violence-prone religion that is diametrically opposed to the West. The question of
“Islam and the West” has been the theme of various academic conferences in the
USA, Europe, and other countries including Malaysia; it has also been the theme of
analytical writings, discourses, and publications. These trends illustrate the
significance of the topic, which has significance for other countries in Asia and
Africa where Muslims can be found.
The media’s generalization of Muslims spreads from individuals to countries
themselves, thus producing an inaccurate representation of Islam on the basis of a
country’s culture, which is mistaken to be religiously dictated. The prime example of this
generalization that exists across countries is rooted in the use of Saudi Arabia as a
point of comparison utilized by media outlets. Many of the harsh practices established
in countries such as Saudi Arabia are misinterpreted as being based on religion when in
fact; many of them are the byproduct of culture. For example, it is noted time and time
again by media figures that women are prohibited from driving in Saudi Arabia as a
result of Islam’s oppression of women, when in reality this is a practice that has no
religious basis as logically cars were not in existence during the Prophet Muhammad’s
time but, more ideologically, Islam regards women and men as equals. Although Saudi
Arabia is a Middle Eastern country that is among the most financially lucrative and
politically involved in Western politics, it should by no means stand as a representation
of all Muslims as it is also the most conservative and extreme in regards to enforcing
Sharia law, or in other words, law based on Islamic beliefs and principles.
Mainstream media figures have fallen into a habit of displaying recurring images
depicting extreme criminal punishments such as beheadings, as well as the reservation
of many women’s rights, including the right to drive and, until recently, the right to vote.
The depiction of these images, and these images alone, contributes to Islamophobia in
Western countries as it is depicted as an oppressive and cruel religion. The mistake of
only depicting extreme countries such as Saudi Arabia or referring to almost the entire
Middle East and portions of Asia as “Muslim countries,” denies any disparities that exist
between these countries. The denial of these differences further perpetuates
Islamophobia and inaccurately represents it as a religion that is only interpreted in one way, and that to in the most extreme manner.
As author, professor and religious scholar Reza Aslan puts it in an interview with CNN,
when talking about a religion of over one and a half billion people, it certainly becomes easy to paint them (Muslims) all with the same brush” (Aslan). Ultimately, generalizations made in the media regarding Islam are often based on cultural practices and not Islamic principles. The media often highlights these practices as only the most extreme countries are observed and then used as a point of comparison to all Muslim countries, thus propagating Islamophobia.
Perhaps the most heinous act of media figures and sources is the manipulation and taking out of context Quran verses in efforts to add an element of legitimacy to Islamophobia. Media figures have established a practice of utilizing single verses or, in Arabic, Ayats of the Quran as false evidence to support the misconception that Islam is a violent and backwards religion, a perception that is all but accurate.
Among the most common lines utilized by media figures in defense of their stance that Islam is a violent religion is the verse “And kill them wherever you find them” (Quran 2:191). Upon further analysis it becomes evident that this verse was revealed in the context of a war. An analysis of the verses preceding and following this verse indicate that the fighters are ordered to fight only when the other party initiates it, and demanded to stop when the other party ceases (Quran 2:189-193). The rulings of Islam also dictate that during wartime warriors must not kill women, children or the elderly; they must not kill trees; they must not attack places of worship and they must not disfigure corpses (Takim 6). This level of comprehension of these verses fails to be achieved by mainstream media outlets as they simply touch on an individual verse, taking them at face value, either as a result of poor research or efforts to bring legitimacy to unsubstantiated anti-Islamic rhetoric.
These elements of Islam fail to be presented by the mainstream media as they refute and disprove the characterization of Islam as an inherently violent and cruel religion. The fact of the matter is that the verses in any Holy Book can be taken out of context and manipulated to present an inaccurate representation of the religion to which the book belongs. However, the amount of anti-religion rhetoric issued in media sources against alternate religions in the media, is incomparable to the 91% of media sources that took a majorly negative stance on Islam in their publications in the years following the September 11th attacks (Brown 2) to the present. Perhaps an alternate explanation for the manipulation of Quran verses can be attributed to poor translations and interpretations based on a narrow stream of knowledge of the Quran and its language.
The Quran was originally written in a dialect of Arabic different from contemporary Arabic, producing a contrast that is somewhat comparable to the contrast between Old English and English. The nature of the language makes developing false interpretations and allowing misconstruction of meanings inevitable. Oftentimes media sources utilize this weakness to their advantage, by misrepresenting certain terminology or utilizing definitions that are easily manipulated, to reflect a negative meaning. Among the most common terms that are manipulated by media outlets is the term Jihad, which loosely translates to struggling in the way of God or, in Arabic, Allah. The term Jihad has been manipulated to depict hundreds of inaccurate definitions including the most common definition of killing in the name of God. The ease with which the language of the Quran is manipulated provides an explanation for the misrepresentation of Islam in mainstream media sources that utilize poor translations to justify inaccurate claims made against the religion. Perhaps the focus on these easily manipulated verses functions to draw attention away from the verses that express love, compassion and above all, humanity. Perhaps the most well known of these sources is
“Whosoever kills an innocent human being, it shall be as if he has killed all of mankind, and whosoever saves the life of one, it shall be as if he has saved all of mankind” (Quran 5:32).
Despite the blatant condemnation of murder expressed in this verse, media outlets time and time again characterize Islam as a violent religion.
