The Daily Lives of Muslims: Islam and Public Confrontation in Contemporary Europe

By Nilüfer Göle

Book Overview

For many in the West, Islam has become a byword for terrorism. From 9/11 to the Paris attacks, our headlines are dominated by images of violence and extremism. Now, as the Western world struggles to cope with the refugee crisis, there is a growing obsession with the issue of Muslim integration. Those Muslims who fail to assimilate are branded the 'enemy within', with their communities said to provide a fertile breeding ground for jihadists. Such narratives, though, fail to take into account the actual lives of most Muslims living in the West, fixating instead on a minority of violent extremists.

In The Daily Lives of Muslims, Nil fer G le provides an urgently needed corrective to this distorted image of Islam. Engaging with Muslim communities in twenty-one cities across Europe where controversies over integration have arisen - from the banning of the veil in France to debates surrounding sharia law in the UK - the book brings the voices of this neglected majority into the debate. In doing so, G le uncovers a sincere desire among many Muslims to participate in the public sphere, a desire which is too often stifled by Western insecurity and attempts to suppress the outward signs of religious difference.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1783609540
• ISBN13: 9781783609543
• Release Date: April 2017
• Publisher: Zed Books
• Length: 376 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 5.7" x 8.7"