In this book we have journeyed from the seventh century to the twenty-first and found that the relationship between the “East” and “West” has not been characterized by a transhistoric “clash of civilizations.” We also saw that the image of the menacing “Muslim threat” has been mobilized largely by ruling elites to serve a political agenda, whether the domination of Europe by the papacy in the eleventh century or US expansionism today. An external enemy is usually paired with an internal one against whom palpable fear and hatred are generated. It follows that Islamophobia is about politics and not religion; it is therefore in the realm of politics that Islamophobia must be fought.

Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politi…, loc. 576