This paper presents the results of a critical discourse analysis of a selection of Canada’s security texts and argues that the country’s security discourses construct Muslims as dangerous and different from the normative Canadian. The research relies on a social constructionist understanding of discourse and the recognition that our state’s representatives and agents, operating from positions of discursive power, wield disproportionate influence in directing the national conversation and managing the signals that shape our social attitudes and imaginaries. By persistently qualifying terrorism with Islam, portraying the terrorist figure as a religiously and ideologically-motivated actor opposed to ‘Western values’ and by casting suspicion on the ordinary behaviour of Muslims, Canada’s security discourses produce a mental model in which Islam and its followers are associated with a propensity for terrorist violence. The discourses also naturalize the idea that Muslims are in need of surveillance, not only by the state’s agents, but by the public itself. When examined alongside a body of research illustrating Canada’s ‘visible minority’ population continues to be negatively affected by dominant group discrimination, the results of the study raise questions about the culpability of state representatives in the reproduction of ideas of difference which continue to inform the country’s social imaginary and hinder the equality and inclusivity of minority groups within the national collective.

The aim of this study was to seek knowledge about how the media audience interprets media representations of immigrants as well as the construction of ”us” and ”them” that is created from the media report. We implemented two focus group interviews, one containing only ethnical Swedes and one holding a variety of people with different ethnical backgrounds. The focus groups got to read nine news articles from different Swedish news papers selected by us, based upon previous research. These articles got to serve as the basis of the discussion.To supplement the focus groups, which got to represent the media audience, we also interviewed two different persons we choose to call informants, whom are both immigrants and are or have been politically active and often appear in local media.The interviews were our empirical material which was used for analysis. The method we used was qualitative analysis of meaning and was based upon a hermeneutic starting point, meaning that all humans are interpreting beings. As a theoretical base we used a social constructivistic perspective, with central theories such as stereotyping and representations. The result showed that the media audience sees through the distorted media representations of immigrants. There was an obvious awareness among the participants but at the same time they admitted being affected by the stereotypes and incorrect representations of immigrants. Reluctant racial prejudice could be discerned in the shape of implicit racism in spite of the awareness that was proved. All the participants agreed on the fact that Muslims are the people who are seen as collective representatives of all immigrants. The reason for this bias they all thought originated from the extreme representation of Muslims in the media, that is, there are more often fundamentalists who are allowed to be seen and to make statements in the media than ordinary people. There were also dissimilarities in the interpretation of the media representations between the Swedish group and the group from mixed ethnic backgrounds.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Wyoming, 2008. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Mar. 9, 2010). Includes bibliographical references (p. 50).

Thesis (M.A.)--Columbia International University, 2003. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 131-138).

For centuries Islam and Muslims have been subject to islamophobic attitudes in the west. The purpose with this study was to see into the making of open and closed attitudes against Islam and Muslims from a conflict in southern Thailand, and also to so see if Muslims are portrayed as more violent than the Buddhist groups in the conflict. The aim of the study is also to see if Muslims fall into a violent stereotype. This was studied by looking at five Swedish newspapers coverage of the conflict, during a given time. To be able to look into this, two theories will be used, the first one is the Runnymede Trust theory, which is about open and closed attitudes against Islam and Muslims. The second one is Duncan’s violent stereotype theory, which will be used to see differences between the Muslims and the Buddhists when it comes to the use of violence, and also to see if Muslims are portrayed as a violent stereotyped group. The method was a psychology discourse method with a theory driven analysis with Template Analyze Style. The conclusion of the study was that there was a mix of open and closed attitudes against Islam and Muslims, where the closed attitudes follow a pattern of earlier studies. Another conclusion from the study was that there are only small differences in the portraying of the different groups as more and less violent, where the Muslims tend to be portrayed as a bit more violent but the differences are small. And from that conclusion it is not possible from the material to say that there are any clear stereotypes of Muslims as a violent group.

Within the United States Army, it is estimated that as many as 10,000 soldiers are Muslim. However, in 2008, only 3,086 active duty personnel self-identified as Muslim. Following the attacks of September 11 and more recently, the 2009 Fort Hood shooting, there has been a marked shift in the general public’s perception toward Muslim citizens, and for American soldiers whom are Muslim; they have been placed in incredibly difficult circumstances. In this report, I aim to document the experiences of soldiers who are Muslim within the U.S. Armed Forces, and report on their struggles, successes and lives, in an era when Islamic terrorist and extremist groups are considered to be the United States nemesis. A vast majority of soldiers never encounter prejudice or experience religious or ethnic discrimination, but some do. And for soldiers who face prejudice in the military based on their religion or ethnicity, there is often little internal protection available from the higher chain of command. The problem may be relatively small in scope with regard to the number of soldiers affected on a daily basis, but fundamentally important constitutional rights are at stake in these cases of institutional lack of protection / text

The ideology of the Islamic State in Indonesia did not emerge in an abrupt manner, but was the product of a long development. The ideology was one outcome of the role that Islam had played (through the Islamic movement) in the struggle of the Indonesians for the political independance of their country. According to the nationalist point of view this struggle began with the creation of the Budi Utomo in 1908, but the Islamic group consider 1905, the date of the establishment or the Sarekat Dagang Islam, as the starting point. [...]

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1973.

Aim: The aim of the study was to explore the lived experiences of critical care nurses with Muslim traditional practices. Methodology: A phenomenological approach was used in the study to gain the critical care nurses' perspectives of Muslim traditional illness practices. The realised sample was six participants, from intensive care units within one provincial and one private hospital. The researcher applied the principle of theoretical saturation, which was achieved at the verifying interviews of the participants. Two semi- structured interviews were conducted with each participant an initial and a verifying interview, each of which lasted 20 - 30 minutes. All interviews were recorded and transcribed. Manual data analysis was used to identify categories and themes. Findings: The participants were open-minded to the Muslim clients' belief system on healing and agreed that the clients' cultural beliefs took precedence over their own beliefs. The participants believed that Muslims relied on traditional illness practices as these provided them with hope and faith in times of despair as well as provided them with emotional and spiritual contentment. A number of methods were used by the participants to acquire knowledge about Muslim traditional illness practices. There was great support for the delivery of culturally sensitive care amongst the critical care nurses. Recommendations were suggested for nursing education, nursing practice and further research to facilitate the creation of a culturally sensitive climate in health care delivery. / Thesis (M.N.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2003.

This is an attempt to study the attitude of Shāh ʻAbdul ʻAzīz (1746-1824), the son of Shāh Walīullāh, the leading ʻālims of their time in India, and of other Indian Muslims towards the British in India in the early 19th century. The 19th century has great significance in Indian history. The Battle of Plassey in 1757, marks the beginning of a process which led, in 1857, to the establishment of the suzerainty of the British Crown over India. The process which was set in motion in 1757, had reached a definite stage –by 1803, when the British hegemony was established over Delhi, and the Mughal Emperor virtually became a pawn in their hands. The establishment of British control over Delhi must have disturbed the Muslims for it entailed the end of their own domination. / fr