Muslims in Western Europe

Why Europe Has to Offer a Better Deal Towards its Muslim Communities: A Quantitative Analysis of Open International Data

While the ever more strongly felt presence of Muslims in western Europe has already stimulated numerous scholars of various social sciences to embark upon research on issues related to that presence, it is apparent that just a few studies and introductory text books have so far dealt with the evolution of Muslim communities in other parts of Europe, especially in countries of central, eastern, and northern Europe. Without appreciation of and comprehensive research into the more than six-hundred-year-long Muslim presence in the eastern Baltic rim the picture of the development of Islam and Muslim-Christian relations in Europe remains incomplete and even distorted. Therefore, this article argues for the necessity of approaching the history of Islam and Muslims in Europe from a different and ultimately more encompassing angle by including the minorities of Muslim cultural background that reside in the countries of the European part of the former Soviet Union—the Baltic states and Belarus. Besides arguing that it is necessary to reconsider and expand the research field in order to develop more profound studies of Islam and Muslims in Europe, the article also outlines suggestions as to why the Muslim history in the eastern Baltic rim has been generally excluded from the history of Islam in Europe.

The recent focus on European Islam has sparked an interest in establishing representative Muslim networks that seemingly span the continent of Europe. However, unifying European Muslims onto a single political platform has largely been an elusive process for Europe's Muslim communities. The image of Muslim representation in Europe has been aided by international organisations, such as the European Council for Fatwa and Research, whose prestigious network of esteemed scholars purportedly address the concerns of western Muslims, while acting as one of the few representative voices of European Islam. Although this image of a unified ‘European Islam’ would indeed, at first glance, appear to be an impressive accomplishment for Europe's Muslim communities, it is not the outcome of local efforts by European Muslims at the grassroots level. Rather, organisations like the European Council for Fatwa and Research are the result of a top-down approach intended to project an image of European Islam. This has shaped the development of Muslim communities in countries, like Ireland, where transnational influences have promoted the vision of a globalised Islam. Efforts to fabricate this image of European Islam have remarkably transformed Dublin into the seat of the European Council for Fatwa and Research, despite Ireland having one of the smallest Muslim populations in Western Europe. This chapter will explore the role of external influences on the construction of the image of European Islam and on the notion of Muslim representation in Europe, with particular reference to the historical development of Ireland's Muslim community.

The recent focus on European Islam has sparked an interest in establishing representative Muslim networks that seemingly span the continent of Europe. However, unifying European Muslims onto a single political platform has largely been an elusive process for Europe's Muslim communities. The image of Muslim representation in Europe has been aided by international organisations, such as the European Council for Fatwa and Research, whose prestigious network of esteemed scholars purportedly address the concerns of western Muslims, while acting as one of the few representative voices of European Islam. Although this image of a unified ‘European Islam’ would indeed, at first glance, appear to be an impressive accomplishment for Europe's Muslim communities, it is not the outcome of local efforts by European Muslims at the grassroots level. Rather, organisations like the European Council for Fatwa and Research are the result of a top-down approach intended to project an image of European Islam. This has shaped the development of Muslim communities in countries, like Ireland, where transnational influences have promoted the vision of a globalised Islam. Efforts to fabricate this image of European Islam have remarkably transformed Dublin into the seat of the European Council for Fatwa and Research, despite Ireland having one of the smallest Muslim populations in Western Europe. This chapter will explore the role of external influences on the construction of the image of European Islam and on the notion of Muslim representation in Europe, with particular reference to the historical development of Ireland's Muslim community.

Illegitimate: When Moderate Muslims Speak Out

As European Muslims and Muslims in the Middle East diverge, imams in Europe have emerged as major agents of religious authority who shape Islam's presence in Western societies. This volume examines the theoretical and practical questions concerning the evolving role of imams in Europe. To what extent do imams act as intermediaries between European states and Muslim communities? Do states subsidise imam training? How does institutionalisation of Islam differ between European states?

This paper discusses the potential of the Gülen movement to serve as a mechanism for, in the medium term, the integration of the Turkish community in Europe and, in the long term, the Muslim community as a whole, taking into consideration the obstacles to this process, given the composition of different communities. Although many of Gülen’s ideas are far from conventional theologically, the real novelty of his work is that it motivates people who are at least sympathetic to his ideas to put them into practice: the ideas do not remain theory and aspiration but become a charter or action-plan implemented by members of the movement. The movement’s influence on Muslim commu- nity is examined from both a theoretical perspective (i.e. the position of Gülen’s ideas within Islamic understanding of dar al-Islam and dar al-harb) and a practical perspective (i.e. the activities of the movement in western Europe that have actual and potential effectiveness in bringing about integration). In order to assess the movement’s capabilities, the current situation of Muslims in Europe and their problems in general and the Turkish experience in particular is presented. The move- ment’s potential for enabling integration is then analysed from four complementary perspec- tives: (1) does the movement propose an alternative view to stimulate the integration process of the Muslim community; (2) has the movement actually operated as a mechanism for inte- gration in western Europe so that its capability is demonstrable; (3) is the European context suitable for the movement to operate effectively; and (4) what does the Gülen movement offer to European member-states by way of a means to sustain a healthy integration process – Turkish community in the medium-run, and the whole Muslim community in the long-run.

The article presents and analyzes the training manual “Hydrography and Water Resources of Europe”, published by the professor Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv V.K. Khilchevskyi in 2023. The first training manual k published in Ukraine on this topic briefly outlines the basics of EU water policy, characterizes rivers, lakes and reservoirs on a regional basis (UN geoscheme – Northern, Western, Southern and Eastern Europe), as well as seas washing the shores of Europe. The problems of global water resources are considered, the ranking of European countries in terms of renewable water resources and the index of water resource exploitation is given. In the context of all directions, questions on Ukraine were considered. In Europe, hydrographic surveys are of great importance for water management. In particular, according to the European Union Water Framework Directive (WFD) adopted in 2000, the hydrographic zoning of countries’ territories is an important step for creating river basin management plans in the implementation of water policy. This approach is used by both EU member states and other European countries that have taken the provisions of the EU WFD as the basis for their activities. Water resources in a broad sense are all the waters of the hydrosphere, including the waters of the oceans and seas, rivers and lakes, groundwater, and glaciers. In practice, both in Europe and in many countries of the world, the concept of “water resources” is interpreted in a narrower sense – these are fresh surface and groundwater that are in water bodies and are used or can be used by humans. Water resources are managed according to the basin principle, but water resources are taken into account within individual countries. For. structuring the presentation of the material in this tutorial, the division of Europe into subregions according to the UN geoscheme was chosen, according to which 4 subregions are distinguished: Northern Europe; Western Europe; Southern Europe; Eastern Europe – a total of 44 countries whose capitals are located in this part of the world. But geopolitically, Europe includes 50 sovereign states. Their territory is within the framework of the general definition of Europe, they have membership in international European organizations. The content of the manual is structured into four parts: I – Physical-geographical and economic-geographical characteristics of Europe; II – EU Environmental and Water Policy; ІІІ – Hydrography; IV – Water resources. The training manual is intended for students enrolled in the educational program “Management and Ecology of Water Resources”, specialty 103 “Earth Sciences”. It can also be useful for students of other educational programs of specialties 103 “Earth Sciences” and 106 “Geography”, which study water resources.

Recent literature has highlighted the important changes in Islamic religiosity in Western Europe, particularly among second-generation Muslims (for example, Roy 1999, Klinkhammer 2000, Tietze 2001). However, this literature has focused mostly on the individual believer (for exceptions see Schiffauer 2000, Jonker 2002) and while the general importance of Islamic associations and religious authorities is sometimes acknowledged (Khosrokhavar 1997, Roy 2000), their precise role and functioning are mostly still unclear. There is indeed a certain tendency to see this role as declining as a result of religious individualization (Tietze 2001, 10). Contrary to this approach, this article starts from the premise that the current transformation of Islam in Western Europe cannot be seen as a simple decline of religious authorities, but as a process which also leads to a pluralization of religious authority structures. In France, we can indeed observe today the emergence of new types of religious authority1, who have a professional profile which does not conform to that of classical scholars and who target specific groups inside the ‘Muslim community’, in our case notably the French-born second-generation Muslims. This article will examine one such figure, the popular Francophone Islamic preacher Hassan Iquioussen, former president of the youth organisation ‘Jeunes Musulmans de France’ (JMF)2.

Employing a theoretical framework based on the concept of identity loss, this book seeks to understand why increased integration has stimulated greater radicalization among the Muslim populations in Western Europe. Through extensive field research in four European countries – the UK, the Netherlands, Germany and France – the authors investigate three key questions: 1) Why are 2nd and 3rd generations of Muslims in Europe more radical than their parents?; 2) Why does Europe experience more home-grown today than thirty or forty years ago?; 3) Why do some European countries feature more radical Muslim communities than others? The book reveals that these three puzzling questions can be solved when analyzing the loss of individuality if the face of integration and identification with European society. While Individualist and structural approaches fail to explain radicalization of Muslims in Europe, this study, by framing radicalization through coupling the public discourse with identity loss, provides a much needed insight into the process of radicalization. Explaining radicalization and gaining an understanding of the drivers of radicalization is crucial to prevent and mitigate intercultural alienation, to further develop immigration policies, redress integration failures as well as to avoid dangerous oversimplifications. This book contributes not only to understanding why greater integration is matched by increasing radicalization, but its insights also contribute to developing ideas about how radicalization can be prevented or overcome and integration policies can be enhanced. This book will be of much interest to students of terrorism and counter-terrorism, radical Islam, war and conflict studies, European politics, IR and security studies.

We use cross-national, longitudinal data to explore the impact of educational level on changes in health outcomes among Europeans aged over 50. Our analyses are performed separately for Northern, Western and Southern Europe, as these regions broadly represent different welfare state regimes. We find that low education is associated with higher incident events — over a two-year period — of poor health, chronic diseases and disability, but it is less consistently associated with new events of long-standing illness. Net of behavioural risk factors, educational effects are more consistent in Western and Southern Europe than in the Nordic welfare states. In Northern Europe, lower education is associated with less financial and employment disadvantage than in Southern or Western Europe. After controlling for educational differences in these factors, effects of educational level on health deterioration remain significant for most outcomes in Western and Southern Europe, whereas they are weaker and non-significant after adjustment in Northern Europe.

Much research has already been done on Muslim organizations in America. The changing pattern of organizations in the Muslim community, however, necessitates a fresh look at the subject. I therefore pick up the discussion where other reviewers have left off to offer some insights into the recent changes in the pattern of Muslim organizations in the United States.’

Asking whether Islam in Western Europe is like race in the United States is, to a large degree, to ask whether Muslims in Europe share the same fate and face the same barriers as blacks in the United States. The article considers (1) the nature of the hostility to Islam in Western Europe and why it is a greater barrier to inclusion for immigrants and their children than in the United States; (2) the dynamics of color‐coded race in the United States, comparing, on the one hand, the severe barriers confronting individuals and groups with African ancestry in the United States with the barriers facing Muslims (as well as black immigrants) in Western Europe and, on the other hand, considering certain advantages available to immigrants of color in the United States that Muslim and other immigrants lack in Europe; and (3) whether the boundary based on religion will prove more permeable for the descendants of Muslim immigrants in Western Europe than the racial boundary in the United States for those with visible African ancestry.

A growing body of research stresses the importance of religion in understanding and addressing climate change. However, so far, little is known about the relationship between Muslim communities and climate change. Globally, Muslims constitute the second largest faith group, and there is a strong concentration of Muslims in regions that are particularly affected by global warming. This review synthesizes existing research about climate change and Muslim communities. It addresses (a) Islamic environmentalism, (b) Muslim perceptions of climate change, and (c) mitigation strategies of Muslim communities. The analysis shows that there is no uniform interpretation of climate change among Muslims. Based on their interpretations of Islam, Muslims have generated different approaches to climate change. A small section of Muslim environmentalists engages in public campaigning to raise greater concern about climate change, seeks to reduce carbon emissions through sociotechnological transition efforts, and disseminates proenvironmental interpretations of Islam. However, it remains unclear to what extent these activities generate broader changes in the daily activities of Muslim communities and organizations. Contributions to this research field are often theoretical and stress theological and normative aspects of Islam. Empirical studies have particularly addressed Indonesia and the United Kingdom, whereas knowledge about Muslim climate activism in other world regions is fragmented. Against this backdrop, there is a need for comparative studies that consider regional and religious differences among Muslims and address the role of Muslim environmentalism in climate change mitigation and adaptation at the international, national, and local scales.This article is categorized under: Social Status of Climate Change Knowledge > Sociology/Anthropology of Climate Knowledge

To test this hypothesis, the thesis analyses the discourse of two populist radical right parties in Western Europe: The National Front (now known as National Rally) of France, and the Party for Freedom of the Netherlands. This analysis has two parts: The first tests part of my hypothesis: that Europeans’ encounter with Islam in Europe has (1) revealed the non-universal nature of European secularism to Europeans, and (2) demonstrated the secularisation of Christianity into ‘culture.’ The second consists of Critical Discourse This thesis seeks to understand the role of religion in the discourse of Western Europe’s populist radical right parties. Populist radical right parties have made extraordinary electoral gains in a number of Western European nations. Many of these parties call for a return to Christian and/or Judeo-Christian values, and for the Christian and/or Judeo-Christian identity of their respective nations to be respected and preserved. Muslims, in particular, are singled out by the populist radical right as a threat to Western Christian values and identity. Yet these populist radical right parties do not appear to be advocates of a religious doctrine or way of life; rather, they most often frame themselves as defenders of secularism. This is curious: if populist radical right parties in Western Europe are secular, when then has Christian or Judeo-Christian identity become such an important aspect of their discourse? Building on sociologist Rogers Brubaker’s observation that populist radical right parties in Western Europe are not genuinely religious, but rather Christian identitarian in orientation, this thesis contends that populist radical right parties use religion in their discourse in order to exclude Muslims from European society, and to protect their respective secular nationalisms. Therefore the primary question asked in this thesis is: why is religion used as a tool to differentiate ‘the people’ from ‘the other’ in the discourse of the populist radical right in Western Europe? The thesis proposes a hypothesis: Western Europeans’ encounter with Islam in Europe has (1) revealed the non-universal nature of Western European secularism to Europeans, and (2) demonstrated the secularisation of Christianity into Western European ‘culture.’ This recognition that Christianity has been secularised into ‘culture’ has allowed secular Europeans to identify themselves – and their nation and ultimately Western civilisation – as Christian or Judeo-Christian. These effects have precipitated the formation of Christianist secularism, a type of Christian identitarian politics which perceives contemporary European culture to be ‘Christianity secularised.’ A group of populist radical right parties in Western Europe, then, have embraced Christianist secularism, which they use to define their respective national identities in religio-civilisational terms, i.e. as (Judeo-)Christian. In doing so, they are able to exclude Muslims from their society, on the grounds that Islam is an alien religion which – unlike Christianity and possibly Judaism – has not and cannot be secularised into ‘culture'. Analysis of three selected texts produced by the respective leaders of the National Front and Party for Freedom, Marine Le Pen and Geert Wilders, produced during the 2012-2017 period. The Critical Discourse Analysis seeks answers in the selected to the following questions: (1) does the discourse display the key elements of Christianist secularism? (2) How is Islam constructed in the discourse? (3) How is Christian identity used to exclude Muslims from European society?