Wary of Islam, countries rise against Muslims By Rohini Verma

Post 9/11, there have been many terrorist incidents like blasts all across the world. In the last few months, the world has seen terror of groups like ISIS. The throat cutting videos and fanatic fatwas from Muslim clerics have forced the world nations to look at Islam with a new approach. This approach is influenced by Islamophobia. There have been many incidents of killing innocent people, rapes and demolishing buildings related to other religions. So, various countries are taking steps to control Islamic terror activities.

Recently, Austria passed a law banning foreign funding of mosques and Islamic organisations. This step was taken so that Islamic radicals can't arrange funding for terrorist activities. Such laws controlling the funding are very much needed in our nation too.

We all have heard about French laws on religious symbols like wearing Hijab. In July 2014, the European Court of Human Rights upheld a ban by France on wearing the Muslim full-face veil - the niqab. French law says that nobody can wear in a public space clothing intended to conceal the face. France was the first European country in modern times to ban public wearing of the full-face veil. Belgium adopted a similar ban in 2011. In Spain, the city of Barcelona has brought in similar ban, as have some towns in Italy. The court admitted that the full-face veil is a potential security risk, as it conceals a person's identity.

In our neighbor China, the legislators in Xinjiang province have passed a law to prohibit residents from wearing burqas in public which they believe is religious extremism. In August 2014, another city in Xinjiang banned people wearing Islamic-style clothing and large beards from riding public buses during a provincial sporting event. In China Muslims have been involved in many ethnic fights.

In another area of Khotan, Imam’s sermon at Friday Prayer must run no longer than a half-hour, the rules say. Prayer in public areas outside the mosque is forbidden. Government workers are not permitted to practice Islam, which means the slightest sign of devotion, a head scarf on a woman, for example, could lead to a firing. The Chinese government believes that insurgent groups in Xinjiang pose one of the biggest security threats to China and religious extremism threatens to destabilize the region.

Apart from such laws, Muslims are unwelcome in many countries. This applies to Indian Muslims too. We can not forget the incident of detention of Shah Rukh Khan by US authorities in 2012 for 90 minutes at White Plains airport near New York. In 2009 the actor was detained for two hours at Newark airport and was released after India's embassy in the US intervened. The actor said then that he was stopped because he had a Muslim name.

In 2009, America's Continental Airlines apologised to former Indian President APJ Abdul Kalam for frisking him before he boarded a flight to the US.

According to the Global Muslim Travel Index, Ireland is among the least friendly places for Muslims to visit. Muslim tourists demand the presence and accessibility of “halal” restaurants and the provision of prayer rooms at airports, shopping centres and hotels. They are also considered a serious threat to nation’s security there.

According to this index, Mexico is the least Muslim-friendly country in a list of 25 countries with Ireland being at second-last place. The United Kingdom was at sixth place and the US was the 14th most welcoming country for Muslims. According to the index, Muslims prefer the nations where they get halal meat and where mosques are easily available.

With an increase in Islamist militant attacks, most of the nations have rising anti-Muslim sentiments. However, there is no such problem in countries like Malaysia which is the most preferred global destination for Muslims. Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Indonesia followed Malaysia in choice of holiday destinations by them. The Muslim tourists wearing Hijab and skull caps are seen as threats to the local liberal cultures in increasingly large number of nations now.

Unfortunately, Muslim tourists have also been engaged in different crimes in the countries that they visit. Recently Charlie Hebdo massacre took place in France. When a moment of silence was to be observed for the victims, Muslim students yelled “Allahu Akbar!.” They refused to comply with the moment of silence. In another incident, a group of young Muslims dishonored the moment of silence, telling their teacher, “You reap what you sow,” the Washington Post reported. At another school in Seine-Saine-Denis, some 80 percent of students refused to honor the moment of silence, saying that the Charlie Hebdo staff “deserved what they got” for insulting Prophet Muhammad.

In another incident in 2014, a Georgia Tech Muslim student Saamer Akhshabi was making a bomb when it detonated. He had third-degree burns over 90 percent of his body. He later died due to his injuries.

In another incident a British Muslim student killed 20 in suicide bomb attack in Somalia. The 21-year-old student blew himself up at a military checkpoint killing up to 20 soldiers in the southern Somali town of Baidoa.

Similarly, a Muslim student was involved in the Boston Marathon bombings. Tsarnaev, 21, had carried out the attacks to avenge the deaths of Muslims overseas after learning how to build pressure-cooker bombs through Al-Qaeda propaganda. The bombing killed three people and wounded 264, on April 15, 2013. There are hundreds of such incidents involving Muslim tourists and students in violent crimes.

Let us see the other side too, where people of different faiths visit the Muslim countries and the treatment they get there. Generally, the non-Muslim tourists are considered threats to Muslim culture. Various Muslim nations have issued guidelines and even threats for the western tourists visiting Muslim nations.

For example, Turkey is a very popular destination for tourists from the west. But it shares a long border with war-torn Syria where Islamic State fighters operate. Turkey’s beaches are toured by devout Muslim men who hand out leaflets to foreign women telling them to cover up and dress from head to foot. The tourists are given the examples of local Muslim women who wear all-in-one bathing costumes that cover their bodies from head to foot. These fanatic Muslims have threatened tourists especially women that if they do not follow the guidelines issued, they would be attacked.

According to an estimate one out of 66 people in Istanbul is the victim of a crime each year. Criminal incidents involving foreigners tend to be concentrated in tourist areas. There have been violent criminal acts committed against tourists especially women.

In many Muslim nations people are forbidden from following their religious practices in open. Under these circumstances, people have to think carefully before they visit any Muslim country. On the other hand, due to Muslim tourists and students’ involvement in crimes, some innocent Muslims are also suffering. Many Indian Muslim students and tourists visit nations like the UK, USA, Europe and Australia. But due to actions of few people, the whole community is suffering. Due to these crimes the general sentiment about Muslims across the world is turning negative. Now, it is the time for the community to do some soul-searching exercise and find a solution that is peaceful for all the humanity.

Courtesy: http://www.irishtimes.com/, http://www.dailystar.co.uk/, www.bbc.com, http://www.breitbart.com/, http://www.dcclothesline.com/, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/, http://www.skynews.com.au/, http://edition.cnn.com/, http://www.nytimes.com/