Since the events of September 11, 2011, there has been no shortage of strident voices in the West saying that Islam poses a threat to the security, values, way of life and even the very existence of the United States and Europe. The "Muslim Question" has become the great question of our time. This issue is connected to others - issues of freedom of speech, terror, violence, human rights, women's clothing and sexuality. And above all, it is connected with the possibility of democracy. In this fearless, original and surprising book, American political theorist Anne Norton challenges the notion that there is a "clash of civilizations" between the West and Islam. It shows that what is really at issue is the West's fidelity to its own ideals: democracy and the Enlightenment trinity of freedom, equality, fraternity. In essence, the Muslim question is a question about the values not of Islamic, but of Western civilization. Norton offers fresh perspectives on well-known controversial issues, from the Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad to the murder of Theo van Gogh. She examines the arguments of a variety of thinkers, from John Rawls to Slavoj Žižek. And he gives vivid examples from the everyday life of ordinary Muslims and non-Muslims who accept each other and learn to live together.