Keeping religion private (to stay out of trouble): Securitized privatization and Muslim life in Belgium

Abstract

This article examines how practices of policing and surveillance reshape the religious lives of Muslims in Belgium. While scholarship on Islam in the West has increasingly focused on the securitization of the Islamic field – particularly how Muslim practices and institutions are targeted through surveillance and counter-radicalization policies – less attention has been paid to how these measures affect Muslims’ everyday religious practices and experiences of community. Drawing on qualitative interviews with 24 Belgian Muslims who believe they have been targeted by state surveillance due to specific events (such as job loss, deportation, or bank account closures), we explore how such incidents have reshaped their religious experiences on two levels. First, we describe an affective re-habituation and attunement to the perceived risks of religious expression, often leading to the concealment of beliefs and practices. Second, we identify a shift in relationships with the Muslim community, marked by a growing disenchantment with communal religious life. We theorize these findings through the concept of securitized privatization, arguing that state surveillance contributes to the individualisation and privatization of religious life, while revealing the convergence of security logics with liberal and secular sensibilities.