by Hikaru Kitabayashi

Islam. Its followers are Muslims. Its Holy Writings are written in Classical Arabic, but it also accepts the authority of the Old and New Testaments written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, where they are not in conflict with the teachings of Mohammed. Many of its followers are Arabic speaking, but not all Arabs are Muslim. At the time of Mohammed, certain important Arab tribes practiced Judaism. Most eventually converted to Islam, but until the establishment of the Israeli political entity, a sizeable group in Yemen still practiced Judaism. Likewise, many Arabic speaking people were Christian. Most Christian Arabs converted, but, in certain Arabic speaking countries such as Egypt and Palestine, a large minority remain Christian.

Islam is not a religion only of Arabic-speaking people. Many Muslims speak English as a first language and many others Russian. Of the world’s six largest Islamic countries, only Egypt uses Arabic as its national language. The other five, in order of population, are Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iran, and Turkey. Muslims do not speak one common language, they do not have a common ethnicity, they do not share a common unique culture, but they reside as citizens in every major and most minor countries in the world.

To reiterate, Islam is a world-wide religion, as is Christianity and, on a much smaller scale, Judaism. Yet, Islamophobia is real, especially in Europe. It manifests itself in insulting Islam in print and on the street. In countries like France Islamophobic dress codes are legislated for those following Islamic nation fashions but there are no comparable rules restricting the fashion choices of some of the less common sects of Judaism or Christianity. In certain parts of Europe, Islamophobia also manifests itself in taking children away by force from their families to be raised in non-Islamic environments.

But why Islam? Islamophobia seems to have its origins in the Crusades. In 1095, Pope Urban II initiated the Crusades for a combination of purposes. One was as a means of defeating a so-called anti-Pope who was ruling in Rome with the support of various Christian states. Another purpose was to force the Orthodox Churches of eastern Europe and the Middle East to accept papal authority. A third was economic. The Crusades were portrayed as useful employment for upper class young men in primarily France and surrounding countries, whose talents were limited to cursing, playing with dogs, hunting deer, and killing each other when they had nothing better to do. Moreover, whoring, murder, and property theft would all be forgiven. Crusaders could sin abundantly and still be guaranteed a place in heaven. What could be better?

Thus, the Crusades began and never truly ended. Every generation of European history since 1095 has seen European conflict with the Muslim world; the epicenter of interest has always been Jerusalem, even when the actual fighting took place in other parts of the Islamic world. Generation after generation, the main actors changed but the essentials remained the same.

So, in 1095, the hatred of Islam, Islamophobia, took shape with the blessing of the Pope. Feeding on the blood of ages, it has remained strong ever since. As for its godfather, Pope Urban II, like many other supremely successful promoters of human slaughter, he was made a saint. Saint Urban, the patron saint of Islamophobia. And, whether in heaven or hell, wherever he might be, may he find satisfaction in the lives he’s wrecked.