Abstract
The release of trailer of ‘Innocence of Muslims’ generated a huge debate on free speech, hate speech and the representation of the Muslims and Islam in the Western media. This paper investigates these issues in detail by taking instances from the mainstream US print media. Some other interesting debates in the mass media like the identification of the filmmaker and denigration of the Muslims and Islam in historical context have also been undertaken in the paper. Discourse theory and social construction of reality by Schutz (1976) and Berger and Luckmann (1991) have been applied as theoretical framework to evaluate the relationship between mass media and social construction of reality, and to see as how the US mass media constructed the reality about the movie (trailer). Three major aspects were selected for analysis; viz., filmmaker(s) and their associates, issues concerning freedom of speech and expression, and the representation of the Muslims’ protesting against the YouTube clip and the ensuing violence in some Muslim countries.
Highlights
Islam has since long been construed as a false religion and ‘inalienable enemy of the West,’3 and the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) as being the barbaric, and self-claimedJOURNAL OF ISLAMIC THOUGHT AND CIVILIZATION Volume 10 Issue 1, Spring 2020Iqbal, Khan and RehmanThe “Innocence of Muslims” in the US Media messenger of God in the polemical Western literature.4 Post-9/11 scenario; added fuel to the continuing discourse of demeaning Islam and its Prophet (SAW) in variety of ways with the help of all pervasive media
This study evaluates the discourses made in the US media and examines whether there has been any misrepresentation of Islam and Muslims in the media
Invasion of privacy, false light, fraud and slander were among the charges that she leveled against the YouTube and the film-producer.15. On her request for removal of the clip from YouTube as she claimed to have been deceived about the film and its nature and she had never delivered the dialogues the YouTube clip shows, the California District Court Judge Michael Fitzgerald denied removing the video from the internet as he was not convinced that this would prevent from ‘any harm that might come to her.’16
Summary
Islam has since long been construed as a false religion and ‘inalienable enemy of the West,’ and the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) as being the barbaric, and self-claimed. Media narrative and discourses having a potential for Islamophobia construction may have implications for relationship between Islamic and the Western civilizations. This negative posturing of non-Muslims towards the Muslims of all creed, caste, colour and nationality may result in racial attacks and social, cultural and political cleavages in the social fabric of societies at large. Owing to the paucity of time and space this paper is designed to analyze the discourses on three major aspects – filmmaker(s) and their associates, issues concerning freedom of speech and expression, and representation of the Muslims’ protesting against the YouTube clip and the ensuing violence in some Muslim countries. Discourse analysis, though a loosely structured method, has been felt to be providing enough space for discussions on the chosen subject of this paper
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