Muslims and the Religious Other

Abstract

Abstract For many years, media and political discourses in Austria have claimed that the Muslim population rarely takes pluralist positions, but instead adopts a negative attitude towards other faiths and people of another religion. The Islamist terror act that took place in Vienna on 2 November 2020 fuelled this stereotype. In order to approach this debate objectively, this article examines Muslims’ attitudes towards the religious other in an evidence-based manner. For this purpose, an empirical data set has been reprocessed and reanalysed. The present article reveals the ways in which exclusivist, inclusivist and pluralist attitudes are taken by Muslims; which religious schemes they prefer; and how they interact with non-Muslims in their social environments. In this way, the article sheds light on the diversity of Muslims’ positions regarding the religious other and people of another faith; the impact of contextual conditions; and the role of media and its reception.