When Francis Fukuyama wrote The end of the story and the last man In 1992, he suggested that humanity had reached the height of political and social evolution under the liberal democratic order led by the United States. This ordinance promised freedom, equality and the protection of fundamental rights for all. But while Fukuyama’s thesis seemed to celebrate the end of the ideological struggle, Samuel Huntington proposed a more skeptical vision in his Confrontation of civilizations. Huntington argued that the West increasingly considered Islam as a threat, providing for cultural clashes rather than a harmonious coexistence. This dichotomy between Islam and the West has manifested itself in a reality that contradicts the ideals of liberalism, especially for Muslim communities around the world. The “liberal world order” which promised freedom and equality has paradoxically become a source of suffering and marginalization for Muslims around the world.
One of the fundamental principles of liberal democracy is secularism, intended to ensure freedom of belief and to protect religious diversity. However, for Muslims, secularism has often resulted in restrictions rather than freedom. In France, for example, the concept of secularism, or strict secularism, was used to justify prohibitions on religious symbols, including hijab, in public spaces. These policies in a disproportionately target Muslim women, restricting their right to express their faith and forcing them to choose between religious expression and public participation. This approach strongly contradicts the liberal democratic ideal of freedom of expression and caused feelings of exclusion and alienation among Muslims.
The impact of secularism on Muslims is not limited to Western countries. In India, the greatest democracy in the world, secularism has been used to put the touch of Muslim identity and justify policies that disadvantage Muslim communities. In the context of the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Muslims in India faced increasing marginalization, restrictions on religious practices to violent attacks by Hindu nationalist groups. The situation is even more disastrous in cashmere, where government policies and military occupation have smothered the religious and political freedoms of the Muslims of the cashmere. Secularism, in these cases, does not appear as a guarantee of freedom but as a tool for the abolition of minority denominations, in particular Islam.
Muslim majority of Muslim countries have not been immune to these trends. In Bangladesh, for example, secularism has been used as a political tool to slow down Islamic political expression. As part of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, policies limiting religious outfits and activities deemed “too Islamic” have marginalized devout Muslims. Indonesia, during the regime of the New Order of Suharto, also restricted Islamic expressions, qualifying them as anti-nationals. These examples reveal that secularism, instead of promoting religious freedom, often restricts Muslim religious practices, treating them as intrinsically incompatible with the “secular” identity of the state.
Islamophobia is another element of the liberal world order which has favored Muslim suffering. While liberal democracies claim to maintain the principles of tolerance and inclusiveness, systematic prejudices against Muslims are widespread in Western societies. In Europe and North America, Islamophobia is manifested in policies, media representations and daily interactions. This systemic prejudice strengthens stereotypes on Muslims, fueled hostility and justifying discriminatory practices.
The “war against terrorism”, initiated following September 11, 2001, illustrates how Islamophobia was institutionalized under the guise of world security. This war has targeted Muslim majority of Muslim such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria, leading to a large -scale violence and loss of life. Civilians, including women and children, were the main victims. The account of the fight against “Islamist extremism” has also fueled the stigma of Muslim identity worldwide, marking entire communities as potential threats. The French political scientist Reynie highlights this alarming scheme, noting that 89.5% of Islamist terrorist attacks occurred in the Muslim majority countries, and 91.7% of the related deaths took place in these countries. Ironically, while the war against terrorism is allegedly aims to protect world security, it has a massively victim Muslim community, both as direct victims and as targets of discrimination in their own homeland and abroad.
In the liberal world order, Muslims were also victims of two genocides in progress: the Rohingya genocide in Myanmar and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which many consider as an attempt to systematically move the Palestinians. The liberal values of equality and human rights have failed to protect these communities against the persecution and violence sponsored by the State. In Myanmar, the military campaign against the Rohingya Muslim population was brutal, with relationships of massacres, forced trips and horrible human rights violations. This genocide has led hundreds of thousands of rohingyas to refugee camps in Bangladesh, where they live in desperate conditions. Meanwhile, in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Palestinians continue to deal with the occupation, the movement and the violence. While the West condemns human rights violations on a global scale, there is a notable double standard with regard to the treatment of Muslims in these regions.
In China, the situation of Uighur Muslims represents another blatant example. The Chinese government has owned more than a million UGHurs in “rehabilitation” camps, justifying this on the ground of the fight against terrorism and social harmony. This practice included forced labor, surveillance and cultural erasure reports. However, the international response, in particular Western democracies, has been largely symbolic, with limited concrete actions to hold responsible China. The reluctance of the liberal world order to defend Muslims, even in the face of ethnic cleaning, reveals a disturbing hypocrisy which undermines the principles of human rights and justice.
The rise of right-wing populism through liberal democracies has also exacerbated the anti-Muslim feeling. The leaders and parties in countries like the United States, France and the United Kingdom have capitalized on fears surrounding immigration and “Islamization” to obtain political support. This account often portrays Muslim immigrants as threats to national identity, security and social cohesion. Incidents like the shootings of the Mosque of Christchurch in New Zealand underline the deadly consequences of such rhetoric. These attacks reveal that Muslims are not only marginalized by state policies, but are also vulnerable to the violence of individuals radicalized by populist ideologies.
In addition to social and political marginalization, Muslims are also faced with economic challenges in the liberal world order. Many Muslim majority countries are fighting against poverty and lacking economic lever on the world scene. Factors such as the concentration of wealth, corruption and international operators treaties contribute to this disparity. For example, oil producing countries like Saudi Arabia are forced by international agreements to sell oil in US dollars, limiting their economic independence and strengthening global financial inequalities.
The economic difficulties of many Muslim majority countries are still aggravated by practices such as money laundering, where the siphon siphon siphon in their country, perpetuating the cycles of poverty. Meanwhile, international financial institutions and trade policies often disadvantage these nations, restricting their economic development. These factors underline how the liberal world order perpetuates the economic disparities which affect Muslim countries in a disproportionate way, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation and underdevelopment.
By taking stock, the liberal world order has left Muslims suffering on several fronts. Secularism, rather than protecting religious freedom, has restricted Islamic expressions. Islamophobia and war against terrorism systematically marginalized Muslims, both socially and politically. Genocides and ethnic cleansing targeting Muslims continue, with minimum intervention by the world community. Right populism has more stigmatized Muslim identities, and economic inequalities reinforce the vulnerability of nations with a Muslim majority. These contradictions reveal the limits of the liberal order in the real inclusiveness and the protection of all communities. While the ideals of liberal democracy remain noble, their selective application has left Muslims deprived of their rights. If the liberal world order is to keep its promises, it must face these systemic inequalities and strive by a truly universal application of freedom, equality and justice.
Read more in -depth on international relations
