Being an educated Muslim, I will try to explain why Islamophobia is irrational:
This is my response in a thread about religion(
https://www.warlight.net/Forum/103760-religion?Offset=120):
I'm gonna clear up a few misconceptions.
1- Islam does allow husbands to beat women, but ONLY if they do not respond to words at least three times, and even then you hit them lightly (with your hand, not a stick or rod). Nor does Islam forbid women to fight back or beat their husbands.
2- Most Muslims despise and resent terrorists (Taliban, ISIS, al-Qaeda). We hate them for the negative images they portray of us and we hate them for spreading fear and economic and social unstability among us. We hate them for their harsh restrictions of women's rights. (In fact, the Quran makes no mention of burqas or hijab. It only commands women and men to dress modestly, not show cleavage or genitals etc. The whole burqa/hijab thing is a twisting of the original Quranic verse by patriarchic societies.)
3- Thirdly, terrorism is linked to ulterior nefarious motives. Do you really think the Quran orders Muslims to spread Islam 'by the sword' or to destroy places of education and shelter? The incident where ISIS destroyed the Assyrian lamassu statues at Nineveh (the winged bull creatures with heads of men); do you really think that sort of thing is condoned by the Quran? No. The Quran commands to spread Islam through preaching and educated debate. It explicitly forbids forcible conversion. Forcible conversion is no conversion. It urges all Muslims, male and female, to acquire as much knowledge and education as they can.
This means that terrorists are not Muslims. They seek power; they seek to spread terror - under the cloak of religion. This has happened throughout history. The pharaohs of Egypt held power so securely partly because their subjects believed he was a god. Similarly, the Chinese Sons of God were secure because their subjects believed they possessed the divine mandate to rule.
4- If you are the typical American (or European) and believes the lies BBC and CNN feed you about Muslims and terrorism, I urge you to look beyond. You have the Internet, a wonderful resource, to dispel stereotypes and misconceptions. Use it. Read books. All sorts of books, not just those spreading American or Western propaganda. Talk with people from the Middle East, from Pakistan.
Do not be afraid of Muslims. Be afraid of extremists. Yes, they are different from each other.
Also, the Quranic verses posted previously that apparently endorsed violence are taken completely out of context. I have studied the Quran. Each of those verses has a specific situation they were meant to be followed. Mostly they applied to the pagan Meccans, who dishonoured treaties and unofficial agreements with the Muslims, or oppressed them in one way or another. The first verse listed was revealed in response to the Meccans' violation of the peace truce in a holy month.
Read. Read. Read. Meet with Muslims. That's my advice.
P.S. Trolls and kids with harrassment/bullying issues need not reply since a certain level of IQ is needed to understand what I wrote.
Edited 11/15/2015 12:38:27