Attitudes of Interfaith Students in the West: Educational Insights from Australia, New Zealand and Germany

The meaning of being Muslim has undergone enormous changes in the aftermath of the bombings in New York in 2001. The initial reaction of Western media outlets was to portray Muslims as a global threat. In social, cultural and political contexts, Muslims were thought to be unable to fit into Western societies. For example, in a major survey, over half of Australians preferred that their relatives not marry into a Muslim family.

This book examines the attitudes, perceptions and knowledge of young Muslim and Western students towards one another in German, Australian and New Zealand educational institutions. It also addresses the views, pressures, unconscious biases, presumptions and expectations, social, cultural and religious influences that drive the relationship between the two communities.