Houellebecq: Is Islam the Religion of the Future?

Michel Houellebecq has a complicated relationship with Islam. In 2001, during a press-run for his fourth novel, Platform, Houellebecq famously referred to Islam as ‘the stupidest religion’. For this comment, Houellebecq was accused of inciting racial hatred and faced up to 18 months in jail. However, in 2002, he was acquitted, his comments ascribed to his legitimate right to criticise religion. Meanwhile, within the novel Platform, Houellebecq depicts acts of Islamic terrorism targeting tourist venues in Southeast Asia, which some say presaged the Bali bombings in 2002. This is the first instance of what will become Houellebecq’s prophetic reputation. It is also the beginning of Houellebecq’s reputation as an Islamophobe.

This reputation lasts until the release of his seventh novel, Submission, which depicts a near-future France where a Muslim party is elected and begins to implement sharia law. Before the novel was even released, many expected it to be highly critical of Islam. Grégoire Leménager, for instance, wrote that although no one has read it yet, ‘everyone suspects that it will not be a laughing unifying utopia celebrating the joys of living together’. However, as David Nowell Smith has noted, there has been a mixed response to Submission since its release: ‘critics either accused Submission of denigrating Islam, or expressed puzzlement that this was…