Puritanical Approaches to Islam and Anti-Muslim Sentiments Adis Duderija In recent years, anti-Muslim sentiment has witnessed a worrying rise across various parts of the world. While it is essential to acknowledge that multiple factors contribute to this phenomenon, we cannot overlook the role played by puritanical, socially conservative, and politically reactionary approaches to Islam in this respect. These approaches, often characterized by a narrow and heavily textualist interpretation of religious texts, can lead to the promotion of divisive ideologies and practices that exacerbate anti-Muslim sentiment. Furthermore, the counterproductive nature of essentializing the Other compounds the problem by perpetuating stereotypes and reinforcing divisions between different cultures and religions. In this article I aim to explore the detrimental effects of such approaches by examining specific examples, including the promotion of exclusivism, gender