The historic roots of Islamophobia


During the last month or so swedish newspapers have been discussing how the right-wing populist party the Swedendemocrats have launched a platform where mosques would have to close down if they were proved to be places of islamic radicalization. Whilst this framing of muslims as a domestic threat have invoked condemenations from both socialist and liberal parties, this is part of a trend which I have been worried about for the past ten years or so. Basically my worries have revolved around a fear not for the industrial style death camps of the 1940's but for a society were deep mistrust between different groups will increase repressions of certain groups, as well as an decreased social mobility in society. My main argument have for the past decade been that regardless of whetever or not a global society is wanted, it its a reality which both politicians, public officials and the academia will have to accept since it is already here. 

What contemporary debate however tends to miss out on is that islamophobic statements made by the Swedendemocrats are not part of a current trend in politics and the rise of the right-wing, but rather the result of 1400 years of polarization between western society and other parts of the world. If we were to trace islamphobia, it would be more or less impossible to gain an understanding of the muslim being posed as the death of Europe for over 14 centuries, which have deeply impacted Europeans understanding of Islam. 

There is a very strong common conception of the decades before the 19th or 18th century as being non-global. To some extent this is true, the peasant of rural Skåne would not have connections to the world outside of their home village to any larger degree. If we however would look at the situation geo-politically we would see a globalized society were different religous and philosophys not only co-existed but also influenced each-other. 

At the time Islam were founded the Arabian Peninsula were inhabited of different clans with only a few cities. After the foundation of Islam, both the profet Muhammed and his sucessors managed to create a state based on religion and a common language, known today as arabic. During this time history Europe were also vulnerable following the collapse of the western roman empire and once a strong state was formed in the middle east it was only a matter of time before it would seek to expand, which it eventually did. After uniting todays Marocco, Egypt and Iraq the first caliphate started to form a military expansion both towards the Balkans and todays spain, and they were quite sucessful in creating several states under the government of a local caliphe. In these states christians had a basic freedom of religion, since muslims could not tax other muslims. Therefore, the first caliphate tolerated different belief systems but they would however not settle with only portion of Europe, but started to conduct military campaigns into the European mainland before eventually being stopped at Pointers in todays France. However, the caliphate was till strong both in the balkans and in Spain, were the latter was lost 1492 after seven centuries of muslim presence. 

Basic map of the Caliphate - collected from wikpedia

This historical background is often neglected in public schools, following that the history subject is largely aiming at describing swedish and later European history. When I taught a course on medieval history a common discussing amongst my students were how this was actually not being part of the curricula. And I personally believe that this history is something that one need to be more aware of whilst discussing contemporary Islamophobic tensions since this history implies a background that goes much further than just competing religions - but also highlights a historical understanding of the muslim state as a general threat towards Europe. It is unlikely that this conception, which lasted from 711 to 1492 would not have shaped Europeans views of Islam. The main point of this idea is that the notions of "muslims" as a threat towards Europe are not something new, neither is it something that the populist movement invokes as purely a result of increased radical groups. Instead it is the result of a certain discourse of the muslims as a threat towards Europe that shaped the cradle of European civilization. 

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