Muslim scholars in liberal democracies, especially women, often face discrimination, Islamophobia, and racism in academia. This discrimination can occur in hiring, selections, or promotion reviews, to mention only a few instances. In Muslim-majority contexts, their experiences of discrimination might be entirely framed around their gender, as patriarchal norms often relegate them to the peripheries of their professions. There are both overt and covert attempts to silence women’s voices, and sometimes women choose to remain silent to avoid retaliation and sidelining. Women recognize that by being ‘too visible’, they are seen as a threat. Their silence, therefore, provides an ‘invisibility’ which makes it easier for them to navigate their professional spaces. The kinds of negotiations that typically accompany women as they try to participate in the proverbial public sphere or professional work environment has worsened in recent years. For example, since the Gaza Genocide, scholars of all religions, including women, were penalized and fired for speaking out about the Palestinian quest for self-determination and ending the Occupation. In the case of Muslim women in academia, instead of benefiting from their unique perspectives as women, there are numerous stories of Muslim women being silenced in Western countries, particularly in the U.S.

As the genocide continues with unashamed determination, it is hard to imagine any return to normalcy for the people of Gaza. Infrastructure of any kind has been obliterated; lives have been brutally taken with cowardice hardly fathomable in a world, purportedly regulated by international law. One of the consequences of the genocide is the multiple silencing attempts of pro-Palestinian voices on campuses and government offices in the US and other countries. On 2 July 2025, the UK parliament voted to proscribe campaign group Palestine Action as a terrorist organization, raising fears about freedom of expression in the country. In a move described by Amnesty International as “unprecedented legal overreach,” this banning effectively places protesters against the genocide in Gaza in the same category as Al-Qaeda, ISIL.