Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Somali-born woman’s rights activist, author of The Caged Virgin, Infidel, and Heretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now is a part of The Pittsburgh Speaker Series presented by Robert Morris University. Recently Hirsi Ali was offered, and then denied, an honorary degree from Brandeis University. The school was criticized for awarding the work of a “notorious Islamophobe.”
But what is Islamophobia?
In 1997 Islamophobia was defined by Runnymede (A think tank in Great Britain) as: Unfounded hostility toward Islam, therefore fear or dislike of all or most Muslims. The term was invented to categorize increased anti-Muslim sentiment, which characterized all Muslims as violent, as a new form of racism.
Hirsi Ali is often asked in interviews whether or not Islamophobia exists and, if so, the extent of its reality. She has stated that bigotry and racism exist, but believes the word is used as a weapon to silence critics. And some critics of Islam, that refuse to be silenced, have gone further and implied Islamophobia does not exist based on its usage.
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