Localizing Islam in Europe: Turkish Islamic Communities in Turkey and the NetherlandsBy Ahmet Yükleyen

Abstract

How Islamic organizations based in Europe function within a secular public sphere remains an important question. On the one hand, it is clear that they bind Muslims together, often on an ethnic basis, and that they act as a major intermediary for the transfer of religious knowledge. So why are they so often viewed with distrust? Does this focus on the organizations’ function of binding Muslims together as a group work against integration? On the other hand, these organizations also act as interlocutors for the government in two specific roles: first, as bridge builders, and second as instruments allowing government to monitor and regulate Muslim communities. The latter role is often viewed with distrust, particularly among Muslims who fear that, instead of taking Muslim interests into account, these organizations are actually all about executing policies which may damage Muslim communities. In his comparative study of Turkish Islamic communities in Germany and the Netherlands, Ahmet Yükleyen focuses on these two functions and roles. Both countries have a large Turkish-Muslim community which is very well organized but which has, at the same time, splintered into various religious and political religious movements. Yükleyen shows how political and religious developments in Turkey have exerted a major influence on these organizations, but also how policies in the countries of establishment have also played a role.