Muslim-background critics of Islam can become unwitting validators of Islamophobic discourse.
Evidence
In the group that “Fear Inc.” has described as validators of Islamophobic discourse, one can find, depending on the definition, a rather long list of names. Men and women who are either laying claim to their Muslim identity and thus speak on behalf and/ or against fellow Muslims, as well as a number of former Muslims who have renounced their affiliation with Islam but claim intimate knowledge of the religion, its practices, and its cultures. Much has been written about the politics of these “critical Muslims” including Irshad Manji, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Azar Nafisi, Nonie Darwish, and others. Saba Mahmood has argued that the “autobiographical genre attesting to Islam’s patriarchal ills … is significant not only for its extensive reliance on the most exhausted and pernicious Orientalist tropes … but also for its unabashed promotion of the right-wing conservative agenda now sweeping Europe and America, particularly in regard to Islam.” — Carl W. Ernst, Islamophobia in America_ The Anatomy of…, 557
Categorization
Category: Connection Points
- XREF: Connects to The Reluctant Fundamentalist and Home Boy in the library — both explore Muslim identity amid Western suspicion, the mirror image of these ‘critical Muslims’ who embrace it.
- DEFINE: Defines ‘critical Muslims’ as a category of Muslim-background authors who legitimize Islamophobic discourse.
Related
- Ex-Muslim autobiographical critiques recycle Orientalist tropes to advance conservative agendas (similarity 0.87)
- Labeling some Muslims ‘moderate’ marginalizes all others as its necessary counterpart. (similarity 0.78)
- Islamophobic discourse falsely insists the Quran demands literalist reading while the Bible permits critique. (similarity 0.78)
- Legitimate criticism of Islam must target beliefs Muslims actually hold. (similarity 0.78)