| Summary: | In the context of Islamophobia, a word which
goes viral after the September 11 tragedy, this
book adds another scholarly work on how
Muslims fared in the twentieth century Europe.
The buzz word indicating anti-Islam rhetoric
has become contagious particularly after the
Runnymede Trust Report (1997) which resulted
in many Muslims fearing for their lives. Post
September 11 popularises such rhetoric. For
various reasons, religion and race have indeed
been the targets in this challenging civilised
world. The book is timely given the current
scenario where one will encounter readings
which tend to portray a rather bias perspective
on Muslims; Muslims as the group to be
avoided, or the group with extreme religious
fundamentalism. The stigmatised Muslim—to
borrow Goffman’s term—has become a narrative
of today’s world, in particular, the social media
where the public is frequently exposed to such
(negative) debates about Muslims and on
being Muslims. As the editors rightly point
out, “[a]cross Western Europe, public discourse
has been suffused by claims about Muslims and
Islam. These claims are negative” (p. 1).
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