ABSTRACT
The attack on Charlie Hebdo in Paris on January 7, 2015, brought to the fore, yet again, the place of Islam in Western secular democracies and the questioning of Muslim citizenship. The hypermediatization of jihadist terrorism and its subsequent conflation with Muslim communities in general has led to both an increase in widespread popular fear of Islam and its followers, and the further marginalization and stigmatization of Muslim communities living in Western societies. In this issue of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations we have brought together a range of studies and reflections pertinent to the contemporary, and arguably linked, issues of religious citizenship and Islamophobia. Sentiments of insecurity and uncertainty, which populist far-right movements ride on, are increasingly finding resonance among ordinary citizens. Some traditional political parties now flirt with demagogic discourse with respect to matters Islamic. Throughout, we see a hardening within Western democracies, manifested in the adoption of illiberal policies, the narrowing of their conception of secularity, and the alienation of a younger generation of Muslims. And yet there can be found, still, glimmers of hope and slivers of sanity.
