Islamophobia has been on the rise in America and abroad. While Israel’s siege of Gaza has recently intensified its spread, Islamophobia’s roots run far deeper, ingrained in our white, patriarchal, Christocentric, capitalist power structures. Capitalism itself inherits a legacy of conceptualizing the Islamic world as a world of mindless barbarians who need to be civilized by the sword. The eternal Orient, from the perspective of the capitalist West, is defined in its entirety as a region of exploitable inferiors. Elucidating this grim reality is of the utmost importance in order to understand why the West often conceptualizes the Islamic world as the eternal Orient—the eternal obstacle to profit.

Historically speaking, there are countless instances of Islamophobia by “Western” chauvinists. During the Crusades, many Europeans were enmored by the thought of pillaging and plundering an alien world. One instance was during the Fourth Crusade, which occurred between 1202 and 1204 C.E. The Pope’s plan was to land in Egypt in order to eventually take back Jerusalem (does this narrative of Western powers wanting to colonize Jerusalem sound familiar?). But Catholic colonization is only one part of the story— the mercantile classes also wanted a slice of the pie.

In pursuit of eternal profit, the Doge of Venice Enrico Dandolo contracted with Crusaders by providing them with soldiers and ships. Dandolo was avariciously greedy and kept the other Crusaders interned until they paid him. It became such a problem, that the crusaders had to endure horrific decrepit destitution in order to give Dandolo his blood money. Not only did capitalism lead to the Crusaders wanting to colonize the Islamic world, but it also led to the Europeans exploiting themselves. Another example of Crusader exploitation was during the Barons’ Crusade. This occurred from the years of 1239 to 1241. While fighting, Peter I Duke of Brittany would ransack Muslim caravans, killing them and looting their resources. This story of Western colonization and extraction goes all the way to today.

Moving to the present, the painful memory of the Crusades, a time in which the Islamic faithful, still view such an invasion as being undertaken by the barbaric, uncouth, violent Franj (Franks), still lingers in the Islamic consciousness as Amin Maalouf illustrates in his work The Crusades Through the Arab Eyes. The modern Franks, to the Arab world, are the Americans. 

There are countless times when American capitalism has destroyed the Islamic world. During the 1950s, the CIA helped Great Britain overthrow the democratically elected leader Mohammad Mosaddegh and established the monarchical Shah in his place. This coup occurred because Mosaddegh nationalized the oil fields in southern Iran, counter to the interests of America and Great Britain. Another example were the interventions the Bush administration unleashed following 9/11, where American petroleum companies brutalized Iraq and left one million dead. One of these companies, Halliburton, had strong connections to officials in the Bush administration. Vice President Dick Cheney was their CEO from 1995 to 2000 and continued to profit off of its stocks after. Right before the Iraq war (2003), Halliburton was awarded $7 billion to repair Iraq’s oil infrastructure. This was given without any bidding, so Halliburton automatically received it. 

Another example of American intervention has been with the Houthis in Yemen. The Houthis, officially called Ansar Allah (Supports of God) are a political liberation movement that follows a specific branch of Shia Islam called Zaydism. Zaydis (followers of Zaydism) make up a sizable 40% of Yemen’s population. Ansar Allah was created in the early 1990s as opposition to the corrupt leader Ali Abdullah Saleh. After he stepped down in 2011, Ansar Allah tried to gain control of Yemen. This led to a civil war in Yemen which began in 2014 and caught the attention of Western powers. Since the civil war began, the Houthis have experienced a genocide at the hands of the American-backed Saudi government. 

The modern Franks—the Americans are currently using cargo ships to deliver goods to occupied Palestine to assist the Zionist occupiers in enacting another genocide. Members of Ansar Allah have defended themselves by firing onto these cargo ships. After the Houthis started to do this, America fired missiles into their land. Ansar Allah has stated that their military endeavors are in solidarity with the Palestinian people and they support Hamas’ struggle for national liberation. The Red Sea is crucial for capitalists, it accounts for about 15% of all trade in the world. Western countries cannot afford national liberation movements hurting their profit margins, so they must be undermined. 

It is not only historical instances that show the antagonisms between Islam and capitalism. It is apparent in the logic of capitalism. The Quran teaches that the desire and greed for more material wealth leads followers astray from Allah. However, the capitalist only lives to enrich himself by exploiting the working class. A second difference between the capitalist West and Islam is how they view the needy. In capitalism, if you cannot afford to care for your basic needs, it is because you did not work hard enough and got what you deserve.

This is contradictory to the teachings of Islam. One of the five pillars of Islam is Zakat, which makes it obligatory to give to the needy. There are also verses in the Quran that further show the importance of caring for the downtrodden. In the 70th Surah (Al-Maʻārij) verses 24-25, it reads, “And those in whose wealth there is a known right… for those that ask and those that are dispossessed.”Charging interest on loans is also forbidden in Islam. But what does the capitalist do? He uses usury to push the proletariat into poverty. These conflicting viewpoints further show the need to dismantle capitalism.

Capitalism is insidious for its ability to reject any culture that is non-western, non-white, and non-Christian. This is apparent in its relation to the Islamic world and religion—they are the eternal Orient in the eyes of the capitalist West. Historically, this oppressive ideology has led to the conquest of the Islamic world by Frankish elites interested only in the pursuit of their eternal profit. Massive war crimes and attacks on the fundamental values of Muslims are a natural consequence of the dichotomous relationship between the avaricous Franks and the reigning selflessly altruistic mentality in the Islamic world.

Capitalism harms us in intersectional ways, class is the main factor, but as it can be seen, religious prejudice and xenophobic discrimination create hierarchies among cultures across the globe. The oppressed in America must realize that they are supporting a system that dehumanizes and demonizes cultures perceived as “foreign.” By recognizing our Islamic Comrades in this fight, we can move closer to a world where all creeds are viewed with respect and dignity.