# How should Muslims respond to Islamophobia? *Dealing with Islamophobia: begin with yourself, learn, keep links with the ulama, communicate better* - URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/vzrrlx3livk/s/13/ - Date: 2015-04-06 · Kind: question · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Unanswered Questions- An interview with Mufti Abu Layth (47:10–49:46) - Status: general teaching - Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZRrlX3lIVk&t=2830s - Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/vzrrlx3livk/ **Topics:** Race, nation and identity; Dawah and debate culture; Education, madrasas and seminaries **Question as asked:** How should Muslims, and imams in particular, deal with this rise of Islamophobia? **Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** Begin with yourself: learn properly, since much Islamophobia is fed by Muslims saying things they do not understand, keep links with the ulama, and work on communicating the right ideas in the right words. **Checked position (checked by two independent reviews, not by the channel):** Mufti Abu Layth says Muslims should respond to Islamophobia by beginning with themselves: learning so as not to misstate Islam, keeping links with the ulama as the community's lifeline, and improving how they communicate. **Evidence, his words at 47:24:** “we need to correct our own understanding I feel that we do need to all Muslims need to be proactively engaged in learning” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZRrlX3lIVk&t=2844s) ## Longer summary Asked how Muslims and imams in particular should deal with the rise of Islamophobia, Mufti Abu Layth says one must begin with oneself, citing the principle taught in the hadith that whether in charity or any good, one begins with oneself, then one's family, then those around, letting it permeate the community. Muslims need to correct their own understanding and be proactively engaged in learning, because people say things they do not understand, and sometimes say what they think they are meant to say when Islam in fact allows more scope, which triggers reactions back and forth. Learning, he says, will eradicate much ignorance, and it is necessary to keep links with the ulama, who are the lifeline of the community. He adds that Muslims often have the right concepts and some learning but do not express them in the right words, so the community must also work on its communication, since articulation and the form of expression are key to getting a message across and people who are right are often misinterpreted because of how they say things. ## Sources and names cited - report: begin with yourself then those you are responsible for (the principle he cites, as paraphrased) - ulama ## Transcript (machine tier, 47:10–49:46) [46:47] so people think what's going on you know people say oh we're going to do this we're going to take over the country we're going to do this we're going scry takes place and and so recently like we see in countries like within Europe like Germany and the whole you know the the whole movements the anti-islam movements and stuff like this so I do feel that it's definitely there has been a Rise um I do feel a lot of it is down to things like scry and it's down to things like uh you know just misrepresentations and just being afraid of what you don't truly understand that sort of phobia I think that really we have to ourselves [47:24] we have to begin with ourselves like you know like as in whenever it comes to whether it's like in the Hadith we are taught the principle whether it's charity or whatever it's a good thing you're trying to do begin with yourself then those around then immediately with your family and and then those around you and and let it kind of permeate through the community we need to correct our own understanding I feel that we do need to all Muslims need to be proactively engaged in learning because sometimes people people are saying things which they don't understand and this [48:02] misunderstanding it further exacerbates this situation Sometimes some people they say things because they think they're meant to say them but in Islam there's actually more scope but because they're unaware of that scope they feel that they have to um you know they feel they have no choice but to say a particular thing and therefore it warrants or it kind of triggers a reaction and and it goes back and forth and back and forth and so I feel that we do need to be proactively involved in learning learning will help eradicate a lot of J I do feel that the a also need to keep [48:39] links with it is necessary that we keep links with our with our the whether it's the mid or the who are like the lifeline of those what should be the community now I I mean that in my understanding that that would be uh a way to deal with this also I I do I'd like to say I think sometimes people even have the right Concepts Muslims they have the right ideas they they're even involved in a certain amount of [49:17] learning but unfortunately they don't express the right words so we also as a community need to work work on improving our communication as well that you will find that that articulation and just the form of expression is key in getting a message across so sometimes people are right but it's the way they're saying it that it's misinterpreted so that's um that would be Allah but that would be some some thoughts the projects I'm currently ## Cite Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment VZRrlX3lIVk/s/13. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/vzrrlx3livk/s/13/ Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.