Description
Post 9/11, the Islamophobic discourse led to the securitization of Islam globally. I argue that this aforementioned phenomenon was possible not only because of the fear of violence by a section of the Muslim population, but rather there are certain values and assumptions inherent to secularism that make securitization of Islam relatively easy. I also argue that Islam emerges as a counter-hegemonic force to the ideals of Western secularism. Secularism “takes the Euro-American definition of religion and its separation from politics as the starting point for Social scientific inquiry” (Hurd, 2011). Consequently, it sees any “politics with reference to religion” as the “ultimate threat to order, security, and civility” (Petito & Hatzopoulus, 2003). Hence, Secularism is not neutral and treats religion as violent, irrational, and pre-modern (Wilson, 2019). Rather than seeing secularism as neutral, it needs to be seen as a product of European enlightenment values and subsequently contextualized. It is this interrelationship between secularism and securitization that I seek to address.
