A Lecturer in the Department of Telecommunication Sciences, University of Ilorin, Mr. Y. O. Imam-Fulani, has urged Muslims in the country to remain steadfast, patient and tolerant in the face of the current wave of Islamophobia around the world.

He said this attitude of patience and tolerance was exemplified by Prophet Muhammad during his life time when he was subjected to horrible insults and hate crimes.

Mr. Imam-Fulani gave the advice last Wednesday (December 9, 2015) while delivering a lecture on "Combating Islamophobia" at the 2015/2016 (1436/1437AH) Orientation Week of the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria (MSSN), University of Ilorin Chapter.

He described Islamophobia as "an unnecessary and groundless culture of fear of Muslims and Islam emanating from a conflict between Islam and Western civilizations during peace and wars and intensified in particular areas called 'frontier'". The don said that agents of Islamophobia such as War, Media and Propaganda used by the Western civilization are used to bring down the distinct nature of Islam and mock the Prophet.

"Islamophobia", he explained, is "a contrived fear or prejudice fomented by the existing Eurocentric and Orientalist global power structure". He said that the prejudice "is directed at a perceived or real Muslim through the maintenance and extension of existing disparities in economic, political, social and cultural relations, while rationalising the necessity to deploy violence as a tool to achieve "civilizational rehab" of the target communities (Muslim or otherwise)". While proffering solutions to the phobia, Mr. Imam-Fulani stressed the need to send greetings to the Prophet Muhammad, which is the main way Muslims demonstrate love for the Prophet, urging that protest against issue of mocking the prophet through any means be made more honourable since it is for the love of the Prophet.

He added, "Do not engage in any form of protests that are condemned in Islam. This includes burning flags or other symbols that people hold in esteem or insulting other religious groups. Unfortunately, some newspapers have commissioned the drawing of anti-Semitic cartoons in protest of the offensive Danish ones. This is a disgusting form of retaliation that deserves absolute condemnation. Not only does this contradict Islamic rules of respect for others, it will neither help fight Islamophobia, nor elicit any understanding about why Muslims are upset about the Danish cartoons."

He, however, noted that not all media or non-Muslims support this type of insulting behavior. "Many have been at the forefront of condemning torture, bombing and occupation", he said. Mr. Imam-Fulani pointed out that the leading cause for Islamophobia is usually misinformation or total lack of information based on the religion.

"Unfortunately, Islamophobic people are not likely to be willing to educate themselves about their fears or spend time around any Islamic people. This feeling is somewhat understandable, as they do claim to be physically afraid of the Islamic people, but this attitude will likely lead to a worsening of their fear and not provide any situation for positive change", he said. The event was witnessed by staff members of the University of Ilorin Muslim Community, as well as members of the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria (MSSN), University of Ilorin.