A/HRC/46/30 – including through the communications procedure and country visits – of incidents of antiMuslim bias targeting Muslim communities who live as minorities in Muslim-majority settings9 and within Muslim communities.10 Given the restrictions imposed on the length of reports submitted to the Human Rights Council, the present report focuses mainly on the challenges faced by Muslims who live as minorities in non-Muslim majority States, while also identifying some illustrative examples of sectarian, intra-Muslim prejudice and violence. III. Activities of the Special Rapporteur An overview of the activities of the Special Rapporteur from July 2019 to July 2020 is provided in a previous report.11 The Special Rapporteur collaborated with a range of United Nations actors, including the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, the Office of the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide, the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), to address issues related to hate speech. He also worked with the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and civil society actors, including academics, to disseminate the findings of his reports on freedom of expression, gender equality, combating antisemitism and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Since July 2020, he has addressed 24 communications to Governments addressing a range of violations of the right to freedom of religion or belief. A. Key findings and conceptual framework A preponderance of the views submitted for the present report characterize Islamophobia as a pool of ideas or ideologies that includes two overlapping processes whereby Islam and Muslims are essentialized and “othered”. While the precise character is context-specific, in its most prevalent form, the Islamophobic mindset treats Islam – a global religion with widely diverse interpretations and practices worldwide – as a monolithic and fundamentalist creed that advocates violence, sexism and homophobia. Denying Islam of its status as a religion, the Islamophobic mindset considers Islam a fixed political ideology that endangers “Western civilization” 12 and other nations where Muslims are a minority population.13 In parallel, as followers of Islam, Muslims are demonized as disloyal “others” who are intent upon imposing their values on non-believers through violence, “overbreeding” and the radicalization of “good” Muslims. Scholars have explored how this latter process functions as a form of “racialization”, instilling the idea that Muslim identity is a fixed marker of cultural – not just religious – difference, characterizing Muslims as a foreign “other”. Simultaneously drawing upon Muslims’ religion, race and culture, Muslims are differentiated as a social group apart from the majority and treated as inferior on the basis of such perceived differences. As such, some recognize Islamophobia as a form of anti-Muslim racism. 14 Scholars and human rights experts also underscore the gendered forms of the phenomenon whereby Muslim women – particularly Muslim women who wear a head covering – are cast as subordinates without 9 10 11 12 13 14 4 See, e.g., AL PAK 1/2020, OL PAK 10/2020, AL AFG 4/2016, UA MRT 3/2016, UA SDN 1/2016, UA SAU 11/2015, UA DZA 3/2017, AL EGY 4/2017, AL IDN 5/2018 and OL NGA 3/2017. All communications are available from https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/Tmsearch/TMDocuments. See, e.g., AL PHL 6/2019. A/75/385. www.worldcat.org/title/clash-of-civilizations-and-the-remaking-of-world-order/oclc/35029747; www.worldcat.org/title/militant-islam-reaches-america/oclc/49681230. See, e.g., China, India and Myanmar. Submission by Justice for All. www.runnymedetrust.org/uploads/Islamophobia%20Report%202018%20FINAL.pdf. The European Union emphasizes that anti-Muslim hatred is an expression of intolerance and that there are different forms of racism that link to religion or belief in cases of anti-Muslim hatred (https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/a_union_of_equality_eu_action_plan_against_racism_2020_ -2025_en.pdf, pp. 1–2).