Ali Taghva is a contributor at The Post Millennial. He has a degree in Industrial Relations from McGill University and an interest in the intersection of politics and culture. He just wrote a piece about Islamophobia that makes little sense to me.
Taqhva was critiquing a YouTube series by Eric Brazau, a “self-described reformed Islamophobe” who now has a Facebook Page; FightIslamophobia.ca where he shares authentic Canadian Islamic teachings. One of his videos, in which he read the message of the leader of the Ontario Islamic Party to the LGBTQ2 community, was taken down by Facebook as an offence to Islam.
Taqhva has taken umbrage with Brazau’s website and videos. He wrote:
“If Mr. Brazau is truly a ‘reformed-Islamaphobe’ I would hope that he takes more responsibility in the content he produces, by declaring the content as satire clearly, as this is a problem which is actually becoming more evident with each video.”
He fears that people can’t tell the difference between ‘alternative facts’ and real news. That is a real fear for all of us who participate in sharing on social media.
Canadian Muslim leaders repeatedly advise Canadians to seek knowledge about Islam only from authentic Islamic sources in order to fight Islamophobia. It looks like Brazau heeded their advice and now is accused of Islamophobia.
What confuses me is that it appears that Taqhva is asking Brazau to declare the teachings of Islam by Canadian Imams as satire. Is that not Islamophobic? Are Taqhva’s comments not an affront to Muslims? Or is he accusing Brazau of Islamophobia for reading excerpts from the Koran and other Islamic religious books which are available here in Canada?
Either way, this confusion leads to one important conclusion. It is time to repeal Islamophobia; the fear of insulting Islam.
From the Ethics of the Fathers: “Rabbi Tarfon used to say, it is not incumbent upon you to complete the task, but you are not exempt from undertaking it.”
