ISLAMOPHOBIC DISCOURSE ON MASS MEDIA
By: Nurul Mustofa and Amellia Nur Febriyanti
Since the aftermath of the WTC tragedy in New York, on 11 September 2001 and the call to fight terrorism, the Islamic community seems to be part of the important issue to be talked about. Various stereotypical accusations that discredit Islam frequently brought up on mass media, so that causes excessive fear towards Islam and its adherents. This situation commonly known by the term “Islamophobic”.
Islamophobic is an excessive fear of Islam and its adherents. Islam is considered a violent religion, which knows no tolerance and bloodthirsty to be feared. Causes of Islamophobic as delivered by Alwi Shihab is caused by at least three main factors are factor of ignorance or misunderstanding, historical factors, and mass media factors (Alwi Shihab: 2011).
Ignorance and less of understanding to the Islamic teaching itself as a religion that loves peace and full of tolerance and also encouraged by historical factors and various untrue accusations against Islam on mass media, becomes a big wave which influences many people to hate Islam and antipathy towards it. In this discussion, we focus on discussions related to Islamophobic discourse on mass media. We think that the mass media is the factors that cause Islamophobic can easily and quickly spread out to various parts of the world. Furthermore, it’s so easy to have some access on mass media, especially today.
The mass media is gatekeeper of various informations that should be selective in conveying issues and news. Media has a power to create the public mindset accordingly the issues. Issues that actually unimportant will be considered important by the public when the issue is transferred by the media. But at this point, media is considered unable to play its role as social control because the media has become a propaganda space for groups that are interest for a particular purpose.
The existence of media networks, both print and electronic media does not escape its role in the process of Islamophobic propaganda. Cases of terrorism and radicalism that are often bullied up by the mass media have caused the image of Islam as a religion of raḥmatan li al-‘ālamīn to be cornered. The rise of content that contains exclusive and intolerant understanding in religion can influence public perception of the poor teachings of Islam to the point of pursing Islamophobic.
The dimension of terrorism cases in the mass media has been caught up in efforts to bring down Islam. Islam has always seemed to dissolve into various Islamophobic discourses reported by the media, even though in its language it does not label aqidah. Just as the news entitled “TPI Brondong Lamongan Employee who Often Gives Lectures Arrested by Densus 88, His Family is Transported” shows a negative view of Islam. The use of the diction of the word “Often Give Lectures” shows the labeling of terrorists who are closely related to proselytizing and Islam so giving rise to Islamophobic.
The discourse of Islamophobic in Indonesia is so intensively carried out by the mass media. The impoliteness of the use of language in reporting terrorism cases is very fatal to the existence of Islam as a peace-loving religion. Islamophobic propaganda launched by the mass media plunges the public into the wrong mindset. This is an opportunity for terrorist and anti-Islamic groups to increasingly seek sensation with their various actions in order to gain intense media attention and eventually get public recognition that Islam is a cruel religion. Innocent Muslims are instead accused of being the masterminds of various terrorism cases in the name of the jihadist movement.
The phenomenon of Islamophobic has made Muslims indecent cultural objects in various western countries. Similarly cases of Islamophobic harassment of women wearing hijabs in western countries are increasing. In addition, the construction of mosques as places of worship and study in the United States reaped many cons because it was feared that it would become a hotbed of terrorist gatherings that would destroy the country and applicable laws. The accusations are clearly inseparable from the influence of Islamophobic.
As a solution to dispel Islamophobic, one of them is to make the best use of the mass media by spreading the understandings of Islamic teachings that raḥmatan li al-‘ālamīn, peace-loving, tolerant and dismissing Islamic understandings that have been widely perverted and misunderstood. According to K.H. Mustofa Bisri, the ideas of Islamic extremism stemming from a superficial understanding of Islam that have already been spread in the mass media must be faced with the dissemination of the teachings of aswaja scholars who are deep in their knowledge. Aswaja scholars around the world must consolidate in guiding the people so that the understanding of islam that instills mercy becomes a strong consesus among muslims around the world.
