A quote by Al-Azhar Grand Imam Ahmed El-Tayyeb highlighted by the Muslim Council of Elders
on the occasion of the International Day to Combat Islamophobia. (Photo courtesy of the Muslim Council of Elders)
The council – which is headed by Al-Azhar Grand Imam Ahmed El-Tayyeb – made the comment in a statement issued on the occasion of the International Day to Combat Islamophobia, which is observed annually on 15 March.
The council said that Islamophobia has a deeply negative effect on coexistence and integration, according to the statement.
"[Islamophobia] incites sedition and spreads lies and false allegations against the tolerant teachings of Islam and its moderate message that brought peace and mercy to the world, and fuels feelings of religious and sectarian hatred, racism, fanaticism and discrimination," the council explained.
The council called on international bodies and organisations and the global media to contribute to eliminating Islamophobia and hatred in order to curb the various transgressions that have occurred against Muslims in the West in recent years.
Adviser to Egypt’s Grand Mufti Ibrahim Negm said on Wednesday that Islamophobia has been spreading among the public and online in recent years.
Negm made the remarks during his participation in the International Islamophobia conference in Azerbaijan.
What is Islamophobia?
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) defines Islamophobia as “a combination of hate, fear, and prejudice against Islam, against Muslims, as well as against anything associated with the religion, such as mosques, Islamic centres, the Holy Quran, hijab, etc.”
It also constitutes hatred, stigmatisation, racism and discrimination in daily life, in the media, in workplaces, and in the political sphere.
International Day to Combat Islamophobia
Prejudice, discrimination and outright hatred towards Muslims has risen to ‘epidemic proportions’, according to a recent report by the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief.
As a result, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution on 15 March 2022, sponsored by 60 Member-States of the OIC, which designated 15 March as the International Day to Combat Islamophobia.
The day is celebrated annually in 140 countries around the world, including Egypt.
Egypt's efforts to combat Islamophobia
Last Saturday, Egypt took part in the high-level meeting of the United Nations General Assembly on combating Islamophobia.
Egypt's permanent representative to the UN in New York Osama Abdel-Khalek delivered a statement condemning incidents of burning copies of the Quran, which are motivated by extremist ideologies.
In addition, Abdel-Khalek tackled ways to combat Islamophobia, such as establishing a joint observatory to collect data on these incidents, as well as taking legal and political measures to prevent and combat Islamophobic incidents and prevent the spread of hate speech through electronic means.
On June 2022, Al-Azhar Observatory for Combating Extremism said there is an urgent need to enact a new law that guarantees the protection of mosques, confronts Islamophobia and criminalises it explicitly to ensure the protection of Muslims and their places of worship.
The Observatory was established on 30 June 2015 and it is one of the most important pillars of the Al-Azhar Foundation.
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