State, Religion and Muslims: Between Discrimination and Protection at the Legislative. Executive and Judicial Levels – A Case Study of France

This chapter specifically focuses on the nature of the relationship between the French State and the practice of Islam in France and the lived experiences of French Muslims, such as in the right to ritual slaughter, circumcision, the provision of religious institutions and schooling and finally freedom of dress, through the lens of the French legal frameworks. In particular the chapter examines the underlying French notions of secularism, or laïcité, and French principles of egalitarianism as the bases of presumed equality of all French citizens under law, and further it seeks to problematize these notions and the centrality they hold in France vis-à-vis Islam and Muslims in France. This problematization emerges through the consideration and critique of normative narratives prevalent in France related to French Muslims and Islam in France in order to provide a comprehensive overview of the French legislative framework and its influence on Islam and Muslims in France.