A Poetical Manifesto: a Muslim Poet’s Cry for Existence

The article analyzes Suhaiymah Manzoor Khan’s poem entitled “This is not a humanizing poem” through the context of Eurocentrism and Islamophobia by emphasizing how these factors shape the perception of the Muslim identity in the West. The article seeks to explore the complexities of Islamophobia, by focusing on how intolerance and prejudice create a dehumanizing vantage point from which Muslims are viewed. It discusses the idea of ‘relatedness’ which coerces Muslims to accede to Eurocentric standards for recognition and acceptance while critiquing it as a form of assimilation and dehumanization. Khan’s poetic undertaking sheds light on the established cultural dynamics that play influential roles in her identity as a Muslim woman living in the UK, highlighting the debilitating ways that Islamophobia imposes on the daily lives of the Muslim people. In the main, the article demonstrates that co-existence, societal harmony, and peace are to be achieved not through imposed similarities, but thanks to unconditional love and respect for the differences. With her heartbroken frank call, Khan encourages the West to reimagine the long-abused Muslim identity where empathy plays a role no more than sympathy.