The ‘Islamophobia is’ video series offers an introduction into analysis on Islamophobia. Use this resource list to broaden and deepen your understanding of whatever area(s) sparked your interest.
Before you dive in:
Tips for D.I.Y. Anti-Racism Learning
- Don’t try to do it all: Rather, commit to the process of continuous learning. This can mean choosing one article or video that feels approachable and interesting for you, and starting there. Anti-racist learning and action is a life-long journey, so pace yourself!
- Don’t believe everything: It is not always clear what constitutes reliable anti-racist knowledge – for example, just because the source of information is a member of the community in question, doesn’t mean it’s fair or accurate! If you’re starting from scratch in learning about a topic, it can be helpful to work through a list (like this) that has been curated by those who are working in this area. Ultimately, arriving at an understanding of anti-racism requires a consistent effort to engage with what’s out there, and developing a sense of what jives with your understanding versus what doesn’t.
- Learn based on your style: Reading articles versus watching videos; book/discussion clubs versus solo work; highlighting versus taking notes; art versus literal analysis – there’s no ‘right way’ to learn and to grow!
- Prepare for discomfort: Learning about racism is uncomfortable. But gaining awareness of our complicities doesn’t make us ‘bad’ people – in fact, it brings us a step closer to challenging injustice and creating a better world. Name your discomfort, and commit to not letting it derail you from learning more and developing your allyship.
- Apply your learning: This can include: donating to organizations/movements working on the cause, sharing your learning with friends/family/colleagues, challenging racist thought and activity when you encounter it, writing letters to the editor of the newspaper, penning an article, signing petitions, showing up at a rally, or asking your friends and colleagues impacted by racism what you can do. And remember that learning is an end unto itself, because it makes us more conscientious in how we move through the world.
Anti-Islamophobia Resource List
Clickable Table of Contents
Download PDF
- History of Western Islamophobia
- Islamophobia in Canada – Overview
- Interpersonal Islamophobia
- Islamophobia in Media
- Canadian State-Sponsored Islamophobia: Domestic
- State-Sponsored Islamophobia: Global
- Gendered Islamophobia
- Queered Islamophobia
- The Myth of the Muslim Terrorist
- The Myth of Shariah Takeover
- Intersections – Islamophobia, Settler Colonialism & Anti-Black Racism
- Islamophobia & Persecuted Peoples
- Challenges & Considerations in Addressing Islamophobia
- Useful databases/statistics:
- More Reading
History of Western Islamophobia:
- [VIDEO] “Constructing the Muslim Enemy from the Crusades to 9/11” (Prof. Deepa Kumar)
- [VIDEO] “Edward Said on Orientalism” (interview with Prof. Edward Said)
- “The Story of Islamophobia” (Prof. Junaid Rana)
- “The Black Muslim Scare of the Twentieth Century: The History of State Islamophobia and its Post-9/11 Variations” (Prof. Edward E. Curtis IV)
- “Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: A Political Perspective on Culture and Terrorism” (Prof. Mahmood Mamdani)
Islamophobia in Canada – Overview:
- “Islamophobia in Canada: Submission to the National Action Summit on Islamophobia” (Azeezah Kanji, LLM, Tim McSorley)
- “Islamophobia in Canada” (Azeezah Kanji, LLM, et al)
- ”Islamophobia continues to fester in wake of Quebec City mosque shooting” (Dr. Monia Mazigh)
- “Hate, by any other name” (Khadijah Kanji)
Interpersonal Islamophobia:
Hate Crimes, White Supremacy & The Far Right
- “Uneasy Alliances: A Look at the Right-Wing Extremist Movement in Canada” (Prof. Barbara Perry & Prof. Ryan Scrivens)
- “Trump may have emboldened hate in Canada, but it was already here” (Prof. Ryan Scrivens)
- “Canadians are big players on far-right social media, British think tank study finds” (Colin Freeze)
- “Three Percenters are Canada’s ‘most dangerous’ extremist group, say some experts” (Kristy Hutter)
- “Infiltrating the Base: What a Canadian journalist learned while going undercover into an international white supremacist network” (Lizzie O’Leary)
- “For the first time, Canada adds white supremacist neo-Nazi groups to its list of terrorist organizations” (Brian Platt)
- “Police-reported hate crime in Canada, 2018” (Statistics Canada)
- “Anti-Muslim Hate Crimes Map” (National Council of Canadian Muslims)
Mainstream Canadian Islamophobia
- “On one issue, Canadians are a lot less tolerant than Americans” (John Geddes)
- “Survey finds deep mistrust for Muslims in Canada” (Ron Csillag)
- “Ontario facing ‘epidemic of Islamophobia’ survey finds” (Nicholas Keung)
- “Religious Trends: Led by Quebec, number of Canadians holding favourable views of various religions increases” (Angus Reid Institute)
- “M-103: If Canadians, not MPs, voted in the House, the motion condemning Islamophobia would be defeated” (Angus Reid Institute)
- “Quebec City-area residents vote against Muslim cemetery project” (The Canadian Press Staff)
Islamophobia in Media:
Mainstream News/Analysis
- “Exposure to Muslims in Media and Support for Public Policies Harming Muslims” (Muniba Saleem et al)
- “Framing Muslims in the “War on Terror”: Representations of Ideological Violence by Muslim versus Non-Muslim Perpetrators in Canadian National News Media” (Azeezah Kanji, LLM)
- “Islamophobia in Mainstream Media: ‘Muslims as Terrorists’” (Noor Cultural Centre)
- “Terror attacks by Muslims receive 357% more press attention, study finds” (Mona Chalabi)
- “‘Renouncing Violence’ Is a Demand Made Almost Exclusively of Muslims” (Adam Johnson)
- “A Lesson Media Missed About the Dangers of Scapegoating” (Jim Naureckas)
- “The news media offer slanted coverage of Muslim countries’ treatment of women” (Rochelle Terman)
- “Posthumous Rescue: The Shafia Young Women as Worthy Victims” (Prof. Yasmin Jiwani)
Hollywood/Fiction
- “Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People” (Prof Jack Shaheen) (Watch the documentary)
- “Arabs and Muslims in the Media after 9/11: Representational Strategies for a “Postrace” Era” (Evelyn Alsultany)
Canadian State-Sponsored Islamophobia-Domestic:
- “We need to understand Islamophobia in order to address it” (Azeezah Kanji, LLM)
- “Securitization and the Muslim community in Canada” (Fahad Ahmad)
- “Trudeau government still targets Muslims as threats” (Matthew Behrens)
- “Stuck on the threshold of reform: Canada’s spy agency continues to show up unannounced at people’s workplaces and homes” (Paul Weinberg)
- “Canada’s No-Fly List” (International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group)
- “Security certificates and secret evidence” (CBC News)
- “Be Careful What You Wish For? Terrorism Prosecutions in Post-9/11 Canada” (Prof. Kent Roach)
- “An Empirical Study of Terrorism Charges and Terrorism Trials in Canada between September 2001 and September 2018” (Prof. Michael Nesbitt)
- “The persistent gaslighting of Muslims about Islamophobia” (Azeezah Kanji)
- “Is ‘counter-radicalization’ just another way of blaming all terrorism on Muslims?” (Dr. Monia Mazigh & Azeezah Kanji)
- “Following the Money Trail: How Canada’s Anti-Terrorism Laws Impact Charities” (Maria Kari)
- “Hate, by any other name” (Khadijah Kanji)
- “Perpetuating Myths, Denying Justice: “Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices Act”” (South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario et al)
- “Quebec’s Ban on Religious Clothing is Chilling: To Be Like Us, You Must Dress Like Us” (Mashoka Maimona)
- “’Secularism’-Obsessed Quebec Is Making Immigrants Take a Values Test” (Manisha Krishnan)
- “Condemnations of Khadr reek of double standards” (Azeezah Kanji, LLM)
- “Mohamed Harkat should never be deported to torture” (Dr. Monia Mazigh)
- “Muslims in Canada are subject to unfair application of the law” (Grame Truelove)
- “Why the Trudeau Government Won’t Call Out Islamophobia” (Justin Ling)
- “Breaking down Bill C-59, the new National Security Act” (International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group)
State-Sponsored Islamophobia-Global:
Canada
- “Canada’s dual role in Yemen: Arms exports to Saudi coalition dwarf aid sent to war-torn country” (Brendan Kennedy & Michelle Shephard)
- “’Worth it?’: Canada Exits Afghanistan” (Gregory Shupak)
- “Afghanistan in Review: Looking back at Canada’s longest war” (various contributors)
- “The biggest winner in Canada’s election is the military” (Matthew Behrens)
- “Guantanamo: Ex-inmate sues Canada for alleged torture” (Jillian Kestler-D’Amours)
- “Canada is deporting a man to torture: will we let that happen?” (Anne Dagenais Guertin & Tim McSorley)
- “Canada offered to aid Iraq invasion: WikiLeaks” (Greg Weston)
USA-Led ‘War on Terror’
- “Manchester, an act of terror in a world of terror” (Azeezah Kanji, LLM)
- “The Muslims are Coming!: Islamophobia, Extremism, and the Domestic War on Terror” (Prof. Arun Kundnani)
- “Government Targeting of Minority Communities” (Brennan Center for Justice)
- “It’s time for America to reckon with the staggering death toll of the post-9/11 wars” (Murtaza Hussain)
- “From torture to drone strikes: the disturbing legal legacy Obama is leaving for Trump” (Jennifer Williams)
- “Obama’s covert drone war in numbers: ten times more strikes than Bush” (Jessica Purkiss & Jack Serle)
- “Obama’s Weak Defense of His Record on Drone Killings” (Conor Friedersdorf)
- “Trump Inherited the Drone War but Ditched Accountability” (Kelsey D. Atherton)
- “The United States Is Notoriously Bad at Counting Civilian Casualties. Its Allies Are Even Worse” (Dan Spinelli)
- Country-Specific Effects:
- “Casualty Figures after 10 Years of the ‘War on Terror’: Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan” (Physicians for Social Responsibility)
- “Somalia: The Hidden US War in Somalia; Civilian Casualties from Air Strikes in Lower Shabelle” (Amnesty International)
- “America is likely complicit in war crimes in Yemen. It’s time to hold the US to account” (Mohamad Bazzi)
- “The Drone War in Pakistan” (New America)
- Where did the U.S. go wrong in the Philippines? A Hard Look at a ‘Success’ Story (Zachary Abuza)
- “The US legacy in Iraq: violence, sectarianism – and elections” (Campbell MacDiarmid)
- “A Generation of Birth Defects in Fallujah: Fifteen Years after the Bombing of Phosphorus” (Kamal Al-Ayash)
- “America’s Afghan Victims” (Bob Dreyfuss & Nick Turse)
Gendered Islamophobia:
Myth: Muslim/Islamic Patriarchy & Misogyny
- “Women in Niqab Speak: A Study of the Niqab in Canada” (Prof. Lynda Clarke)
- “Beyond Subordination vs. Resistance: An Intersectional Approach to the Agency of Veiled Muslim Women” (Prof. Sirma Bilge)
- “The Pity Committee and the Careful Reader: How Not to Buy Stereotypes about Muslim Women” (Prof. Mohja Kahf)
- [VIDEO] Debate: Banning of Face Veils (CNN)
- [VIDEO] Challenging Universalized Representations of Muslim Women (CNN)
- “’Honor Diaries’: Breaking silence on violence or reinforcing stereotypes?” (Azeezah Kanji, LLM et al) (See longer critique: “A Critique of ‘Honor Diaries’” (Noor Cultural Centre))
- “Why Does Canada Care More About ‘Honour Killings’ Than Missing Aboriginal Women?” (Emma Paling)
- “Should we call it ‘honour killing’?” (Prof. Yasmin Jiwani & Prof. Homa Hoodfar)
- The Persistence of Patriarchy (Cynthia Enloe)
Demonstrating violent misogyny and patriarchy as a global problem - UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women – Report on Canada 2019
Demonstrating violent misogyny and patriarchy as a Canada-wide problem
Double Bind: Patriarchy & Islamophobia
- “Islamophobic ‘feminism’ doesn’t help Muslim women” (group of Canadian Muslim women)
- “From the Oppressed to the Terrorist: Muslim-American Women in the Crosshairs of Intersectionality” (Prof. Sahar F. Aziz)
- “Islamophobia and the “Privileging” of Arab American Women” (Prof. Nada Elia)
- “Who is the ‘Woman’ on International Women’s Day?” (Khadijah Kanji)
Domestic Manifestations
- “Gendered Islamophobia: Hate Crime Against Muslim Women” (Prof. Barbara Perry)
- “Death by hijab? The morbid obsession with Muslim women’s clothing” (Azeezah Kanji, LLM)
- “Multiculturalism isn’t bad for women — but racism is” (Azeezah Kanji, LLM)
- “Imperilled Muslim Women, Dangerous Muslim Men and Civilised Europeans: Legal and Social Responses to Forced Marriages” (Prof. Sherene Razack)
- “Perpetuating Myths, Denying Justice: “Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices Act”” (South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario et al)
- “Quebec’s Religious-Symbols Ban Hurts Women—and Everyone Who Depends on Them” (Nora Loreto)
Global Manifestations
- “Imperialist feminism” (Prof. Deepa Kumar)
- “There’s Nothing Feminist About Imperialism” (Dean Spade & Sarah Lazare)
- “Mixed-gender education is the reason for the war in Afghanistan? Not okay, Peter MacKay” (Azeezah Kanji, et al)
- “Why Is a Leading Feminist Organization Lending Its Name to Support Escalation in Afghanistan?” (Sonali Kolhatkar and Mariam Rawi)
- “Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving?” (Prof. Lila Abu-Lughod)
- “White wars: Western feminisms and the ‘War on Terror” (Prof. Sunera Thobani)
Media
- “The news media offer slanted coverage of Muslim countries’ treatment of women” (Rochelle Terman)
- “Posthumous Rescue: The Shafia Young Women as Worthy Victims” (Prof. Yasmin Jiwani)
Islamic Feminisms
- “How Islamic feminism could shape gender equity” (Brandon Baker)
- “The Rise of the Islamic Feminists” (Elizabeth Segran)
- “The reality and future of Islamic feminism” (Rachelle Fawcett)
Queered Islamophobia:
Myth: Muslim/Islamic Transphobia & Homophobia
- “’Sodomy’ Laws Show Survival of Colonial Injustice” (Human Rights Watch)
- “History is more complicated than Islam versus homosexuality” (Azeezah Kanji, LLM)
- “How homosexuality became a crime in the Middle East” (A.L)
- “Five Muslim Nations Where Gay is Legal” (Afdhere Jama)
Western Sexual/Gender Identities
‘Pink-washing’ Imperialism
- “Gay Rights as Human Rights: Pinkwashing Homonationalism” (Prof. Maya Mikdashi)
- “The emergence of the other sexual citizen: orientalism and the modernisation of sexuality” (Prof. Leticia Sabsay)
- “To Forgive and Forget? Homonationalism, Hegemony, and History in the Gay Apology” (Prof. Steven Maynard)
- “Understanding Homonationalism: Why Are There Gay People Supporting Trump?” (James Michael Nichols)
The Queered Muslim Terrorist
The Myth of the Muslim Terrorist:
- “Myths & Facts of Islamophobia: Responding to Common Narratives about Muslims in the West” (Noor Cultural Centre)
- “Muslim-American Involvement with Violent Extremism, 2001-2019” (Prof. Charles Kurzman)
- “Terrorists Are Always Muslim but Never White: At the Intersection of Critical Race Theory and Propaganda” (Prof. Caroline Mala Corbin)
- “Terrorist = Muslim? A look at the numbers belies the equation” (Azeezah Kanji, LLM)
- “Terrorism and other Religions” (Prof. Juan Cole)
- “Top Ten differences between White Terrorists and Others” (Prof. Juan Cole)
- “The Myth of Radicalization” (Prof. Arun Kundnani)
- “Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: A Political Perspective on Culture and Terrorism” (Prof. Mahmood Mamdani)
- “Framing Muslims in the “War on Terror”: Representations of Ideological Violence by Muslim versus Non-Muslim Perpetrators in Canadian National News Media” (Azeezah Kanji, LLM)
- “‘Renouncing Violence’ Is a Demand Made Almost Exclusively of Muslims” (Adam Johnson)
- “A Lesson Media Missed About the Dangers of Scapegoating” (Jim Naureckas)
The Myth of Shariah Takeover:
- “Five myths about sharia” (Prof. Asifa Quraishi-Landes)
- “The Impossible State: Islam, Politics, and Modernity’s Moral Predicament” (Prof. Waell B. Hallaq)
- “Anti-sharia hysteria based on unfounded fears” (Azeezah Kanji, LLM)
- “Why Shariah?” (Prof. Noah Feldman)
- [VIDEO] “Is Shari’ah the Most Barbaric Form of Law?” (Yaqeen Institute)
- “What Sharia means: 5 questions answered” (Prof. Asma Afsaruddin)
Intersections – Islamophobia, Settler Colonialism & Anti-Black Racism:
- [VIDEO] “Reflections on the Christchurch Massacre” (Zainab Amadahy & Azeezah Kanji, LLM)
- ”Black History, Islam, and the Future of the Humanities Beyond White Supremacy” (Prof. Edward E. Curtis IV)
- ”Black Religion, the Security State, and the Racialization of Islam” (Prof. Sylvester Johnson)
- ”Decolonizing Antiracism” (Prof. Bonita Lawrence & Prof. Enakshi Dua)
- “Race, Surveillance, and Empire” (Prof. Arun Kundnani & Prof. Deepa Kumar)
- “Dangerous (Internal) Foreigners and Nation-Building: The Case of Canada” (Prof. Rita Dhamoon & Prof. Yasmeen Abu-Laban)
- “Why does Canada care more about ‘Honour Killings’ than Missing Aboriginal Women?” (Emma Paling)
- “The Anti-Somali Feedback Loop” (Hawa Mire)
- “Lessons from Our Past: Countering Violent Extremism, Black American Muslims, and Social Justice” (Margari Hill)
- “On Rocks and Hard Places: A Reflection on Antiblackness in Organizing against Islamophobia” (Delice Mugabo)
- Sapelo Square (media outlet centering Black Muslims)
Islamophobia & Persecuted Peoples:
The Uyghurs of China
- “”Eradicating Ideological Viruses”: China’s Campaign of Repression Against Xinjiang’s Muslims” (Human Rights Watch)
- “The Ongoing Persecution of China’s Uyghurs” (Prof. David Palumbo-Liu)
- “Chinese Islamophobia was made in the West” (Mobashra Tazamal)
- “Islamophobia in China” (various authors)
- Canadian complicity: “The Uighurs remain forgotten in debates over human rights in China” (Azeezah Kanji, LLM)
The Rohingya of Burma
- “Who Are the Rohingya?” (Al Jazeera)
- “Islamophobia as genocide: The plight of the Rohingya” (Prof. S. Sayid)
- Canadian complicity: “International indifference fuelled slow-burning Rohingya genocide” (Azeezah Kanji, LLM)
Muslims of India
- “Shoot the Traitors”: Discrimination Against Muslims under India’s New Citizenship Policy” (Human Rights Watch)
- “CoronaJihad is Only the Latest Manifestation: Islamophobia in India has Been Years in the Making” (Jayshree Bajoria)
- Canadian complicity: “Obsession over Trudeau’s India wardrobe hid skeletons in Modi’s closet” (Azeezah Kanji, LLM)
Palestinians
- “The Naksa: How Israel occupied the whole of Palestine in 1967” (Zena Tahhan)
- “The Discourse on Terrorism” (Remi Brulin)
- “Hating Muslims, loving Zionists: Israel as a far-right model” (Ramzy Baroud & Romana Rubeo)
- Canadian complicity: “Here’s why Canada’s Security Council defeat is a win for Palestine” (Yves Engler)
Kashmiris
- “Kashmir’s struggle did not start in 1947 and will not end today” (Tamoghna Halder)
- “Islamophobia in India: How Kashmiri Muslims can make their voices heard” (Riyaz Ul Khaliq)
- Canadian complicity: “How can Canada ignore the conflict in Kashmir?”
Challenges & Considerations in Addressing Islamophobia:
- ”Decolonizing Antiracism” (Prof. Bonita Lawrence & Prof. Enakshi Dua)
- “On Rocks and Hard Places: A Reflection on Antiblackness in Organizing against Islamophobia” (Delice Mugabo)
- “Heteropatriarchy and the Three Pillars of White Supremacy: Rethinking Women of Color Organizing” (Prof. Andrea Smith)
- “The Problem with Liberal Opposition to Islamophobia” (Azeezah Kanji, LLM & S.K. Hussan)
Useful databases/statistics:
Hate Crimes:
Note – statistics grossly under-report the issue: click here for more information.
- Police-Reported Hate Crime – Canada (Statistics Canada)
Note: you can customize the table by type of motivation via the ‘add/remove reference period’ button - Anti-Muslim Incidents Reported Across Canada (National Council of Canadian Muslims)
If you have been victimized by a hate crime, you can submit an incident report by clicking here - Police-Reported Hate Crimes in Canada 2018 – Summary Report (Statistics Canada)
- Police-Reported Hate Crime – USA (FBI)
Note: after selecting the year, you can find the data presented in tables by clicking on the ‘incidents and offenses’ button
‘Terrorism’/Political violence:
- ‘Terrorist’-labelled incidents – Canada (Canadian Network for Research on Terrorism, Security and Society)
Note: the database only accounts for incidents 1960-2015 - Muslim ‘terrorism’ vs. general violence – USA (Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security)
- Annual ‘Terrorism’ Report – Europe (Europol)
- ‘Terrorism’ – Global (Global Terrorism Database)
- ‘Terrorism’ vs. other causes of death – Global (Our World in Data)
‘War on Terror’:
- Human & financial costs of the ‘War on Terror’ (Brown University)
- Casualties of the ‘War on Terror’ (Physicians for Social Responsibility)
Note: only includes Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan; tally ends in 2015
Gendered Violence:
- ‘Honour killings’ – Canada (Government of Canada Department of Justice)
- Gendered murder statistics – Canada (Canadian Femicide Observatory for Justice and Accountability)
- ‘Honour killings’ – USA (Dr. Ric Curtis, City University of New York)
- Gendered murder statistics – USA (Violence Policy Center)
- Gendered murder statistics/stories – USA (Women Count USA)