Religious Hatred, Prejudice, Islamophobia, and Antisemitism in Global Context

Reviewed by: Anis Ahmad, Riphah International University, Pakistan

Published by: London/New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2021, 312pp. ISBN: 9781350162860.

The academic discourse on Islamophobia has become very popular in Europe and America in the past two decades but few authors have tried to use a larger framework of thought to look into the roots of the issue. With an academic vigour and absorbing style, Paul Hedges has tried to bring together the religious, political, historical, and cultural dimensions of Islamophobia in this well-documented narrative.

The book comprises ten chapters, four interludes, and an epilogue. Chapter one discusses prejudice in relation to aspects of human identity which sometimes becomes the reason for stigmatization of a people, leading to exclusion and victimization. The second chapter discusses what motivates human beings to commit violence, killing, and genocide. Chapter 3 deals with the development of Christian antisemitism and the attitude of different Christian denominations towards antisemitism. Chapter 4 covers the historical development of the Christian attitude toward Islam. This leads to chapter five which addresses a key issue, namely, the transformation of antisemitism and Islamophobia into their modern forms. Extensive details about prejudice and racism in its various forms are provided, including the Holocaust.