Abstract

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, Nilüfer Göle 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, Göle 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.

‘An incredibly important book. The current plague of anti-Muslim prejudice is due, in large part, to a lack of information about the diversity and lived realities of Muslim communities. This insightful volume confronts that reality with nuance and context. A must-read.’
Nathan Lean, author of The Islamophobia Industry

‘A sharp and clear observation on the state of affairs of Muslims in Europe today. The book provides a detailed, analytical and insightful account of the challenges and opportunities faced by secular states and the Muslim community. A highly valuable contribution.’
Tahir Abbas, Royal United Services Institute

'A beautiful, rigorous, intelligent, sensitive and courageous book. It must be read.'
Sonia Dayan-Herzbrun, La Quinzaine littéraire

‘A boundary-crossing, original book. It gives a fresh take on the everyday and the quotidian, which informs our ways of seeing cities and societies. It also fulfils the promise of its title by illuminating the unsensational within lives that have been sensationalised beyond recognition.’
Richard Phillips, University of Sheffield

'This is a very recommended book!'
Muslim World Books Review

'The Daily Lives of Muslims sheds light on the sincere desire among the majority of Muslims to play a constructive political and social role in their respective countries.'
Arab News

Nilüfer Göle is a professor of sociology at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) in Paris. Her previous books in English include Islam in Europe: The Lure of Fundamentalism and the Allure of Cosmopolitanism (2010) and Islam and Secularity: The Future of Europe's Public Sphere (2015).