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This week’s Unbelief Brief brings troubling news from Egypt, where atheist activist Sherif Gaber has reportedly been detained once more after years of persecution for his secular beliefs. Our Persecution Tracker Updates go into more detail on his case. We also examine a recent defense of the term “Islamophobia” and why it fails to hold up under scrutiny. 

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Unbelief Brief

Egyptian atheist Sherif Gaber has reportedly been arrested under mysterious circumstances. Having been pursued by authorities for over a decade due to his atheist activism and online presence, this is not the first time he has faced arrest or imprisonment. Last year, an Egyptian court again ruled that he must be imprisoned, this time for five years. As of this writing, Gaber’s whereabouts remain unknown, and despite credible reports of the arrest, Egyptian authorities remain silent. We join the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain (CEMB) and Ex-Muslims International (EXMI) in calling for the immediate release of Gaber, who has committed no crime other than professing unorthodox views on religion.

Also: an article in Middle East Eye by Shaheen Kattiparambil argues vehemently against replacing the term “Islamophobia” with “anti-Muslim hate,” as the UK’s Labour government is reportedly considering. The author argues the exact opposite of our claim, which is that the latter is a more precise and accurate term than the former. Instead, he argues, “Islamophobia” is better at capturing the “structural” and “institutional” bias, whereas “anti-Muslim hate” frames the problem as individual and isolated. He concludes:

“Islamophobia is a more rigorous and globally recognised concept that encapsulates the structural, ideological and transnational dynamics of anti-Muslim racism, while “anti-Muslim hatred” reduces these dynamics to questions of personal sentiment.”

The term “anti-Muslim hatred,” of course, does no such thing except in the imagination of the author. The single greatest distinction between the two terms is that one references the individuals who follow a religion while the other references the religion itself. Nowhere in the piece does Kattiparambil even acknowledge this fundamental distinction; nor does he address the argument that “Islamophobia” conflates criticism of Islam with hatred of Muslims. As for “structural, ideological and transnational dynamics,” this idea can easily be conveyed by substituting “hatred” with “bias.”

The author additionally undermines his own argument by pointing out: “In comparable cases, such as antisemitism and anti-Black racism, the importance of naming has long been accepted.” Both of the examples he provided reference immutable characteristics. Nobody speaks of “Judeophobia.” Races are not religions. These terms describe prejudice against people. So, too, does “anti-Muslim hate.” We do not dispute the importance of naming. Rather, we ask the question: why should the term for this form of discrimination privilege a belief system when it ostensibly refers to prejudice against people? In particular, why should this be the case only with regard to Islam, and not to any other belief system? Unfortunately, these are questions Kattiparambil does not engage with in his piece.

Persecution Tracker Updates

Read more about the case of Sherif Gaber, who has been hounded by Egyptian authorities over his liberal and secular views since 2013, on our Persecution Tracker here.

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Until next week,

The Team at Ex-Muslims of North America

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