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Introduction
Although there are nearly two billion Muslim people worldwide and Islam is the second-most practiced religion in the world, anti-Muslim racism and experiences of Islamophobia remain prominent.
According to the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation, religious inclusion is one of the most unacknowledged elements of identity in the workplace. Moreover, addressing Islamophobia and anti-Muslim racism is sometimes absent from workplace diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts.
This resource is a call to action and toolkit to help leaders actively confront these issues at work and include Islamophobia and anti-Muslim racism as forms of inequity they seek to address. Further, it supports leaders in expanding their cultural competency and learning ways to better show up for their Muslim team members. Creating more inclusive workplaces requires organizations to understand not only individual experiences of bias, but also the policies, practices, norms, and broader systems that can shape those experiences.
Content Warning (CW): This resource explores topics that may be emotionally distressing, such as abuse, discrimination, violence, and imperialism. We do link to content that amplifies pain and violence in the community.
Language
In this resource, we use the terms Islamophobia and anti-Muslim racism because they best capture both the interpersonal and systemic dimensions of discrimination experienced by Muslim communities.
Islamophobia refers to prejudice, discrimination, exclusion, and hostility directed toward Muslims or those perceived to be Muslim, as well as toward Islam. Many scholars and Muslim communities have noted that framing the issue primarily as a "phobia" or as "hate" risks reducing discrimination to individual attitudes or emotions, rather than recognizing its broader systemic dimensions.
For this reason, many also use the term anti-Muslim racism to recognize that Muslims face structural discrimination through laws, institutions, media, and other social systems. In this resource, we use both terms to acknowledge the complexity of Muslim experiences as both individually and structurally-influenced.
The History and Rise of Islamophobia and Anti-Muslim Racism
The evolution of Islamophobia is ongoing; however, this form of oppression has existed for centuries. We can trace it back to the earlier days of white colonization when European Christian elites sought to control Islam's spread after the death of the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ), the founder of Islam. European Christians created political propaganda representing Islam as a “threat” to maintain power. This led to Christians being called upon to undertake a “militaristic pilgrimage” in 1071(otherwise known as the Crusades) to “free” Jerusalem from the Muslim armies.
The Crusades continued through the thirteenth century. Crusaders spread stories of Muslim immorality, wealth, violence, and promiscuity. These myths stoked hatred and fear for Muslim people in European nations, often misrepresenting them, and contributing to their dehumanization and other-ing. Many scholars trace the racialization of Muslims to centuries-old political, legal, and social systems that increasingly constructed Muslims as a distinct and inferior group. Over time, Muslims were treated as a racialized population rather than only as members of a religion, which allowed discrimination to persist regardless of an individual's beliefs, practices, or ethnic background.
Today, Islamophobia and anti-Muslim racism in the Global North is largely shaped by geopolitical struggles which, when filtered through media, frequently portray Islam and Muslim communities as fundamentalist, extremist, violent, and/or solely characteristic of Arab communities and the Middle East. This is despite the fact that less than 15% of the global Muslim community is Arab, and less than half of Muslim Canadians identify as Arab, Middle Eastern, or South Asian. However, due to these ingrained associations of Muslim identity with the Middle East, there are many harmful dimensions of xenophobia and racism within modern expressions of Islamophobia.
Islamophobia and anti-Muslim racism continue to rise and often intensify during periods of geopolitical conflict. In these moments, we can notice increased instances of discrimination, harassment, violence, and exclusion directed toward Muslim communities and those perceived to be Muslim. The Council on American-Islamic Relations said that it received 774 requests for help and reports of bias incidents from Muslim people across the U.S. from October 7 - October 24, 2023, an 182% jump from any given 16-day stretch in 2022. The National Council for Canadian Muslims (NCCM) has reported a 1000% increase in Islamophobic and anti-Palestinian incidents since October 7th, 2023.
For Muslim team members, these broader social and geopolitical tensions do not remain outside the workplace. They can show up through workplace conversations, assumptions about political views, questions about personal beliefs or identities, social media activity, harassment, exclusion, or pressure to speak about events affecting Muslim communities. Leaders should avoid assuming that Muslim team members want to discuss or represent a particular political position, community perspective, or experience.
Stereotypes and Misinformation
One of the main drivers of Islamophobia and anti-Muslim racism is the persistence of stereotypes reproduced through media, politics, and misinformation. One of the most pervasive and harmful stereotypes about the Muslim community, primarily reproduced in global media, is that Muslim people are violent terrorists. It is unfair and inaccurate to generalize an entire community based on the activities of a few extremists, especially when people with dominant identities that perpetuate terrorism and violence (namely, white men) are rarely stereotyped as representing their entire race, gender, or country. Not to mention, this stereotype also dismisses the complex social, political, and economic systems of power from which acts of terrorism or violence arise.
Islam is also stereotyped as oppressive to women, with narratives of women being “forced” to wear the hijab as a commonly cited example. There’s a lot to unpack here. Certainly, some Muslim women experience forms of oppression. In fact, some may experience “triple discrimination” due to their gender, ethnicity, and faith; this is the intersectional nature of women’s experiences. But what’s even more important to highlight is that Muslim women’s experiences, in their own words, are often erased from this conversation.
Muslim women have diverse relationships with hijab and other forms of religious dress. Veiling can be an expression of faith, identity, culture, spirituality, personal choice, or a combination of these. Rather than interpreting religious dress through assumptions about oppression or liberation, we can recognize Muslim women’s agency and allow individuals to define what their practices mean to them.
Another stereotype about the Muslim community is that Muslim people are not queer, transgender, non-binary, or non-conforming. The belief that sexual and gender diversity only exists in the West is inaccurate and contributes toward violence against queer people. Further, it is often assumed that Muslim queer people will remain closeted, have unsupportive families, or be unable to reconcile their faith with their queerness. LGBTQIA2+ people exist and thrive across all backgrounds, including among Muslim communities and those who practice Islam. There are a growing number of LGBTQIA2+ friendly mosques that are affirming trans and queer Muslim communities globally.
Lastly, Islam is stereotyped as being distinct or unrelated to other religions. However, Islam follows the same Abrahamic roots and monotheistic tradition as Christianity and Judaism. This understanding can help foster connection and solidarity between these religions instead of hostility and hate. It is also important to recognize how race and ethnicity are strongly intertwined with the experiences of religious oppression. For example, Christianity has historically and continually been prioritized within white identity. Conversely, Islam has often been rejected due to its geographical presence globally in locations of predominantly Black and Brown people.
International Conflicts and Encroachments
Stereotypes and misinformation about Muslim people in media and society are often used to justify international conflicts or violence enacted by North American powers towards predominantly Muslim countries. The two most prominent stereotypes—violent Muslim men and oppressed Muslim women—are often strategically leveraged to market vastly more complicated geopolitical issues as “heroic actions” to “defend” and “rescue” Muslim women. This alleged care for women is rarely reflected inward, with the same people citing inequities in predominantly Muslim countries not recognizing gender disparities happening domestically.
Even feminist and Western “progressive” movements contribute to this status quo at times when they fail to understand that veiling (when chosen freely) is simply another way of life and form of agency, even though it may differ from traditional ideas of “empowerment” and “liberation” for women in the Western world. In one of her most famous quotes, Indian scholar Gayatri Spivak summarizes this phenomenon as “white men saving Brown women from Brown men.”
Understanding these dynamics illustrates how stereotypes can reinforce both interpersonal discrimination and broader systems of anti-Muslim racism.
Support Muslim Team Members at Work
As we noted, religious inclusion is one of the most unacknowledged elements of identity in the workplace. Muslim team members often have to navigate predominantly non-Muslim spaces that disregard their identities and experiences. It takes intentional and ongoing action to challenge the increasing existence of Islamophobia and anti-Muslim racism in the workplace, and even more of an effort for Muslim team members to feel fully supported.
Engage With Resources
Engage with these resources developed by Muslim advocacy organizations, such as:
- Islamic Networks Group
- Islam in Spanish
- National Council of Canadian Muslims
- Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative
- Muslim Space
- Pillars Fund
- Council on American-Islamic Relations
Include Islamophobia in DEI Conversations
Organizations may be uncomfortable or unsure about how to address Islamophobia in their workplace due to a lack of understanding, prevalent misinformation, or their own internalized stereotypes about Islam, Islamic nations, and Muslim people.
Unfortunately, with Muslim experiences frequently pushed to the margins of DEI conversations, many teams are feeling ill-prepared on how to build religious inclusion among team members.
Organizations can address this gap by educating their team about the nuances of Muslim practices (e.g. veiling, halal diets, or the Adhan), common religious microaggressions, and how to act as an ally when encountering Islamophobia and anti-Muslim racism.
When we centre the stories of Muslim people in DEI spaces and beyond, we come away with far more accurate and meaningful ideas about the diversity within the Muslim community and what we can do to level up inclusive leadership.
Move Beyond Crisis Responses
While important, crisis responses tend to acknowledge overt forms of Islamophobia only. If done thoughtfully, it can be helpful for workplaces to share communications and resources during crises and times of uncertainty; however, workplaces can do more than respond to individual incidents. They should also examine how organizational policies, media narratives, institutional practices, and broader systems may contribute to the marginalization of Muslim team members.
This also means not waiting for a highly visible incident or major news event before considering how Muslim team members may be experiencing the workplace. Organizations can establish clear processes for responding to harassment, discrimination, or conflict before an incident occurs, rather than placing the responsibility on Muslim team members to raise concerns or educate others.
Understand the Intersectional Nature of Muslim Identities
An intersectional framework helps us understand the diversity of the Muslim community. Some Muslim people are Arab; others are Asian, Indigenous, Latine, or white. Black Muslim people may face Islamophobia while simultaneously navigating anti-Black racism. Délice Mugabo coined the term anti-Black Islamophobia to highlight the erasure of Black Muslim communities from dominant non-Black Muslim narratives, and the specific type of racism and discrimination experienced by Black Muslim people.
There are many Muslim members of the LGBTQIA2+ community, even though popular culture can make it seem as if Islam and queerness are mutually exclusive. Further, Muslim people hold beliefs that span the entire political and social spectrum, even though Muslim communities are often reductively represented as conservative, zealous, or regressive.
Some Muslim people identify strongly with Islam, while others prefer to define their Muslim identity through the lens of culture, heritage, or ethnicity. Some Muslim people pray or wear the hijab, while others do not. Some Muslim people are disabled, and some Muslim people experience homelessness. Muslim communities are just as diverse and multidimensional as other social groups and faith communities.
Collect Meaningful Data from Muslim Team Members
Too often, Muslim people are not included in the analysis of demographic data collection. As we’ve outlined above, Muslim identity goes beyond religion or beliefs, so it’s helpful to capture that data alongside other identity-based data, like sexuality, gender, ability, citizenship status, and race.
We recommend employing intersectional quantitative and qualitative analysis techniques, such as considering both gender and faith, to better understand how Muslim women at your organization are doing.
Understanding more about people’s historical and present-day experiences of bias, discrimination, and oppression through data or conversations can help us make appropriate organizational changes.
However, because religious identity can be deeply personal, organizations should make participation voluntary, clearly explain why information is being collected, protect confidentiality, and avoid using demographic data to make assumptions about individual beliefs or practices.
Collaborate with Muslim Team Members
Beyond demographics, learn more about Muslim team members’ day-to-day experiences and ensure they are included in decision-making regarding policies, programs, and processes that affect them. This could mean creating a new policy or integrating it within existing anti-discrimination or anti-harassment policies to clearly state your organization's stance against bias, discrimination, and violence toward the Muslim community.
Some organizations have a Muslim Employee Resource Group (ERG) to provide a space for Muslim team members across cultural and religious diversities to find support and resources and advocate for their needs. These ERGs can do much more for an organization when empowered and adequately funded. No matter the format, workplaces can create more sustainable support and change when they learn to intentionally integrate Muslim perspectives into their organizational policies, programs, and processes.
Acknowledge and Accommodate Muslim Holidays
Christian experiences and times of significance (e.g. Christmas) tend to be prioritized and centred in the North American context. It is important to be informed about the holidays that Muslim team members may celebrate, and keep them on your radar as you would Christian holidays. Muslim communities are diverse, and not every Muslim person observes every holiday or religious observance. Practices and dates can also vary across communities and traditions. Rather than assuming which observances matter to someone, create flexible options for people to communicate their needs and request time away from work.
Eid Al-Adha, or the “Festival of Sacrifice,” is a four-day major festival that commemorates the Prophet Ibrahim’s willingness to obey God. It begins on the 10th day of Dhu al-Hijjah, or the final month of the Islamic calendar.
Ashura is a holy day that prompts historical reflection for both Shia and Sunni traditions. It is observed on the 10th day of Muharram (the first month in the Islamic calendar).
Arba’een is marked as a day to remember and pay tribute to the sacrifice of Hussain ibn Ali for social justice. It falls 40 days after the Day of Ashura.
Eid al-Ghadir, observed on the 18th day of Dhu al-Hijjah, is a major Islamic holiday for Shia Muslims to commemorate the appointment of Ali ibn Abi Talib as the Prophet Muhammad's successor.
Mawlid An-Nabi (or Mawlid) honors the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad. It takes place on the date of 12 Rabi I, the third month of the Islamic calendar.
Hajj is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, and a one-time-required religious duty for all Muslim people who are physically and financially capable of making the journey. It is a 5-to-6-day series of specific rituals performed during Dhu al-Hijjah. Hajj culminates on the Day of Arafah, where Muslim pilgrims gather on the hill and plain of Mount Arafat to pray.
Amun Jadid–the Islamic New Year–is the 1st day of Muharram, or the first month in the Islamic calendar.
World Hijab Day is observed on February 1st every year to honor Muslim women who wear the hijab, fostering understanding and challenging misconceptions.
Design for Ramadan
One of the most significant observances in the Muslim community is Ramadan. With a pre-Ramadan build-up and post-Ramadan Eid celebrations, including Laylat Al-Qadr and Eid Al-Fitr the month can be split into three sets of 10 days. At the end of Ramadan, the three-day Eid festival is a significant celebration (like Yom Kippur for the Jewish community), a time many Muslims will spend with family and friends.
There is no universal experience of Ramadan, and day and nighttime habits are likely to change for many throughout Ramadan. People may nap during the day or sleep at different times, so offer flexibility regarding meetings, working hours, and deadlines when possible. Also, some team members may request leave during various parts of Ramadan. Check in to assess how your workplace can be as inclusive as possible with time off and important dates.
There’s so much that non-Muslim team members can do to signal their understanding and support throughout Ramadan. In the resource Eight Tips to Support Muslims at Work During Ramadan, Shagufta Pasta indicates that experiences of Ramadan can intensify through the month.
Feminuity’s resource, “Holidays, Observances, & Celebrations: A Guide for Inclusive Workplaces,” focuses more on Ramadan and other vital dates year-round.
Conclusion
Phew! That’s a lot, but it’s essential. Building inclusive workplaces requires recognizing that discrimination against Muslims operates at both interpersonal and systemic levels. The invalidation of Muslim identities, the acceptance of harmful stereotypes, the excuses for human rights violations, and the social narratives that dehumanize and vilify entire Muslim populations and nations are all ongoing phenomena. Workplaces should not underestimate their power to promote greater equity, inclusion, and empathy for the Muslim community and respond meaningfully to these realities.
If you need support, contact us to learn more about our Learning Experience, Addressing Islamophobia and Anti-Muslim Racism at Work, which expands on the content in this resource.
Important Note
This resource is not meant to be a static guide but rather a compilation and reflection of our learnings. Everything changes - from technologies and innovations to social norms, cultures, languages, and more. We’ll continue to update this resource with your feedback; email us at hello@feminuity.org with suggestions.
We have defined the “West” or “Western” nations as Europe, North America, and Oceania, which are the nations in the world primarily responsible for colonization that frequently share similar economic and political systems (e.g. democracy). Therefore, it does not include Japan and the newly industrialized economies of Southeast Asia, although they share high technological and living standards similar to the West.
About the Author
This resource was written collaboratively by members of the Feminuity team.
Give Credit Where Credit's Due
If you wish to reference this work, please use the following citation: Feminuity. "Addressing Islamophobia and Anti-Muslim Racism at Work”
