Author: Siddiq Bazarwala

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus your own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus your own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus your own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.

Muslims are tired and frustrated. Children accompanying, lone and pregnant Muslim women have been physically and verbally attacked in broad daylight on the streets of the West. Ordinary Muslims have been threatened, discriminated against and some even murdered.

Just as worryingly, an entire generation of young children (Muslims and non- Muslims) are being brought up with misinformed perceptions of Islam and ordinary Muslims, widening the gulf of misunderstanding between people of varying backgrounds further.

At its current speed – let alone extent of inaccuracies, the cycle of intolerance and ignorance is set to get worse in years to come and surely, you can’t help ask yourself:

What can I do to stop Islamophobia?

I hope this book helps lead you to some of the most pressing answers you are seeking.

GIVEN THE WIDE-RANGING and DIVISIVE QUESTIONS SOME OF OUR CHILDREN ARE BOUND TO BE CONFRONTED WITH – OR ARE ASKING – OR SOONER OR LATER WILL START ASKING, I HAVE PUT TOGETHER A SERIES OF Q&AS WE AND OUR YOUNG ONES CAN HOPEFULLY USE, AS A QUICK REFERENCE POINT.

Fortunately, we have the truth on our side. 

For as long as we force ourselves to honestly reflect and introspect fairly – every misinterpreted and misunderstood aspect of Islam raised by critics, atheists, bigots, Islamophobes, self-questioning Muslims (or former Muslims) as well as terrorists – who act in the name of Islam, can be countered, using plain simple irrefutable facts. 

Only then, we will emerge as a confident and articulate generation of ordinary Muslims that can hopefully speak for the masses rather than fumble every time the camera is pointed towards us.

Within a handful of quotes, you may find one or more words in bracket. These words are mine to help amplify the point I am making, as part of the overall answer to the question.

ALSO, MOST QUESTIONS FRAMED IN THIS BOOK MAY SOUND FAMILIAR AND ARE TRACED FROM NEWS REPORTS, YOUTUBE INTERVIEWS, TWITTER FEEDS, FACEBOOK POSTS AND PUBLISHED ARTICLES BY RENOWNED ISLAMOPHOBES AND ANTI-MUSLIM GROUPS BUT BY NAMING THESE CUNNING VILLAINS INDIVIDUALLY, I FEAR THE UNNECESSARY CONSEQUENCE OF GIVING THEIR NAKED BIGOTRY THE MUCH-NEEDED PUBLICITY THEY RELY ON TO THRIVE AMONG STRAYS OF THEIR KIND.

I have thus, only attributed names in 4-5 odd questions – where excluding them was not possible.

On the other hand, I could have neatly collated the exhaustive sources, this book relies upon at the back of this book in a single section but have instead opted to place them directly next to the corresponding Q&A (and on this site hyperlinked the relevant sources), as it is far more important to credit the work of individuals I have quoted than follow the conventional rules related to typesetting.

Ultimately, the aim of this book is to produce concise, non-academic, user-friendly responses, produced using layman terms addressing the most commonly held misperceptions about Islam and Muslims targeting three groups that is, non-Muslims; Muslim youth and teenagers; and parents with young children. 

These answers are, in no way final or absolute – but are meant to help inspire Muslims and non-Muslims alike, generate stronger follow-on arguments from the answers in this book (extracting quotes and citing direct sources from this book), augmented by their own personal experiences as well.