In the excerpt, Mr. Charbonnier said the Charlie Hebdo caricatures previously published by the newspaper “do not target all Muslims.” In 2012, Mr. Charbonnier aroused anger and criticism when he published caricatures showing Muhammad naked and in sexual poses. The newspaper’s offices were firebombed after it published a spoof issue in 2011 that it said had been guest-edited by Muhammad.

Warming to his theme that the fight against Islamophobia had backfired, he argued that a misplaced fight against Islamophobia led by white elites had stifled free speech and paradoxically encouraged the mistreatment of Muslims by singling out their religious identity.

“If tomorrow all the Muslims of France convert to Catholicism or abandon all religion, that would change nothing to racist discourse: These foreigners or French citizens of foreign descent will still be singled out as responsible for all problems,” Mr. Charbonnier wrote. He added that “being afraid of Islam is most likely stupid, absurd and many other things, but it isn’t a crime.”

Mr. Charbonnier, 47, had appeared on a list of Al Qaeda’s targets and was under police protection at the time of the attack. He had been editorial director of Charlie Hebdo since 2009. The newspaper is part of a culture of satire in France where no one, from politicians to religious figures, is off limits. Past issues of Charlie Hebdo have included a mock debate on whether Jesus existed, and caricatures of Orthodox Jews.

The publication of Mr. Charbonnier’s book comes as France, host to Western Europe’s largest Muslim population, is grappling with fears about Islamic extremism after January’s attacks, during which a kosher supermarket in Paris was also targeted, and four hostages there were killed.