French Islamophobia

How Orthopraxy Is Conceptualized as a Public Peril

Dados Bibliográficos

ID3383016
AutoresChristina Lienen (0009-0001-7952-5998, British University in Dubai, autor correspondente), Samir Sweida-Metwally (0000-0002-6509-6184, New York University Abu Dhabi, autor correspondente)
Ano2025
Volume16
Fascículo1
Páginas64
Data de publicação2025-01-09
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoReligions (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444
EditoraMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/rel16010064
OpenAlexW4406216548
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas2
Referências citadas33

For over two decades, France's Muslim population has faced a series of legal measures and hostile public narratives aimed at problematizing their faith. Notable examples include the 2004 national ban on "ostentatious religious symbols" in state schools, which prohibits obligatory religious dress in various settings. These individual instances are compounded by more recent broader policies, decisions, laws, and executive statements that negatively impact Muslim life. This paper examines France's trajectory from a new perspective: A Muslim legal viewpoint. It argues that the French approach constitutes a two-step process of institutionalized Islamophobia, understood here as hostility towards Islam as a faith. First, the state redefines mainstream Islamic orthopraxy as "extreme", pitting ordinary religious practices against averred Republican values. Second, it seeks to promote an alternative concept of a "French Islam"-one that aligns with France's secular principles and is stripped of its religious essence-positioning it as the only acceptable framework for Muslims to practice their faith in France. We argue that this process is not about upholding laïcité or state neutrality; rather, invoking the latter serves as a smokescreen for the state's Islamophobia

Epistemology · Faith · Islam · Islamophobia · Mainstream · Narrative · Neutrality · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Theology · Law · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Multiculturalism, Politics, Migration, Gender · Religion and Society Interactions