Addressing Islamophobia In The Workplace This Ramadan

While there has been lots of movement when it comes to tackling racial injustice and discrimination in the workplace (and beyond!), there is often a very predominant group that gets overlooked and left out of the conversation—the Muslim community. With Ramadan set to start this week, we chatted with Dr. Sarah Saska, co-founder and CEO of Feminuity to discuss how workplaces can best support Muslims in the workplace. —Noa Nichol

Hello! Please tell us a bit about yourself to start.

Hi! I’m Dr. Sarah, CEO and Co-Founder of Feminuity, a Canadian full-service diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) consulting firm. Our work supports organizations with building diverse teams, equitable systems, and inclusive products and workplaces. We work with clients from around the world, and of all sizes – from start-ups to Fortune 500 organizations – helping them align their good intentions with meaningful and long-term impact. At Feminuity, we are on a mission to challenge the status quo and use our industry expertise, lived experiences and values to transform workplaces, because we know there is potential for widespread change.

While there has been lots of movement when it comes to tackling racial injustice and discrimination in the workplace (and beyond!), there is often a very predominant group that gets excluded from the conversation: the Muslim community. And, although Islam is the second-most-practised religion in the world, anti-Muslim sentiments, Islamophobia and anti-Islamism continue to be prominent concerns in our society. Why do you think that is?

We’ve interacted with business leaders, professionals, Human Resources (HR) & people leaders, to understand why they haven’t added Islamophobia to the list of “isms” they address in the workplace. For some, it may be unconscious and unintentional due to a lack of awareness or they may feel ill-equipped to handle such a heavy, loaded topic. Others may have been exposed to dangerous misinformation and stereotypes about the Muslim community. And for the rest, it may be too personal, severe, painful, and traumatic, and they don’t know where to begin. Regardless, we want organizations to hold themselves accountable for addressing the gaps in their efforts and intentionally include and support their Muslim team members. With Ramadan – the longest-celebrated religious festival of the year – just around the corner, it’s a crucial time to amplify important conversation and better understand how we can support the Muslim community during this time and beyond.

How/in what ways does Islamophobia show up in the workplace?

Like other forms of discrimination, Islamophobia may not always be as evident, or easily identifiable as one may think. But here are some of the ways Muslim team members may feel othered or discriminated against:

1. Failing to condemn anti-Muslim acts, Islamophobia, and anti-Islamism in the workplace, or recognizing public attacks with teams and opening space for meaningful diaglogue during times of increased trauma.
2. Reinforcing generalizations and assumptions about Muslim people rooted in negative stereotypes and bias.  For example, common microaggressions that perpetuate Muslim team members as “violent” and “oppressive” must be actively dismantled.
3. Prioritizing dominant holidays, celebrations, and observances (like Christmas) without acknowledging, supporting, and offering accommodations for Muslim team members during important times, like Ramadan
4. Viewing Muslim team members as homogenous.  Muslim communities are just as diverse and multidimensional as other social groups and faith communities. 

What are some tools/tips to equip employers to actively confront and reject Islamophobia in the workplace and provide meaningful support to Muslim team members?

There are a number of meaningful actions that workplaces can take to ensure their Muslim team members feel supported during the time of Ramadan, but also all year round. Some specific ways organizations can begin to tackle Islamophobia in the workplace include:

​​Avoid generalizations about Muslims and understand the intersectional nature of Muslim identities: Remember that there is unity in Islam, but diversity among Muslims – and understanding the vast cultural mix between and within global Muslim communities will help work against the biases, stereotypes, and stigmas that are too often applied to “all Muslims.” Some Muslims are Arab while others are Asian and/or Latine. Some people pray or wear the hijab while others do not. Understanding the diversity that exists within the community will help avoid generalizations and thus stereotypes about Islam.

Include Islamophobia in DEI Conversations: Muslim experiences are frequently pushed to the margins of DEI conversations. Organizations should recognize this gap and start to address it by educating their team about common religious microaggressions in the workplace and offering learning experiences that explore how to act as an ally when encountering Islamophobia and anti-Islamism. And when we center the stories of actual Muslim people in DEI spaces, we come away with far more accurate and meaningful ideas about what we can do to level-up inclusivity in the workplace.

Take time to understand Muslim holidays & make accommodations accordingly: Christian experiences and times of significance (e.g. Christmas) tend to be prioritized in the workplace in North America, while there are a number of Muslim holidays that are often overlooked like Ramadan or Eid. For example, efforts may be focused on the actual fasting period but the pre-Ramadan build-up and the post-Ramadan Eid celebrations are equally as important. The month itself can be split into three sets of 10 days, which many Muslims treat quite differently. The three-day Eid festival at the end of Ramadan is a significant celebration akin to Christmas, a time many Muslims will spend with family. It’s also important to keep in mind that Muslims often request leave, but Eid doesn’t necessarily start on a fixed calendar date, it can fall over different days relating to the position of the moon (this is where it would be important to remain flexible, more on this in the next tip!).

Offer Flexibility (Working Hours, Team Meetings, & More): With Ramadan comes a change in routine – for example, people are often awake and asleep at atypical times. It’s not unusual for people to nap during the day and be awake long into the night – especially if they plan to eat suhoor, a meal taken shortly before sunrise ahead of a new day of fasting. It is important to be flexible with working hours for those observing the month.

Collaborate with Muslim Team Members: Beyond demographics, learn more about Muslim team members’ day-to-day experiences and ensure they are included in decision-making regarding policies, programs, and processes that affect them. This could mean creating a new policy or integrating it within existing anti-discrimination or anti-harassment policies to clearly state your organization’s stance against bias, discrimination, and violence toward the Muslim community. Some organizations have a Muslim Employee Resource Group (ERG) to provide a space for Muslim team members across cultural and religious diversities to find support and resources and advocate for their needs. When empowered and adequately funded, these ERGs can do much more for an organization. No matter the format, workplaces can create more sustainable support and change when they learn to intentionally integrate Muslim perspectives into their organizational policies, programs, and processes.

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