Abstract
The aim of this paper is to reveal how misconceptions—or using the concept of Arkoun, “the crisis of meanings”—about the role and position of Islam in Europe is impacting on the discourse on sport, Islam, and immigration. France is selected as a case study for this paper as it is in this country where the debate on religion in general and Islam in particular seem to be more contentious in relation to the questions of integration of Muslim communities to secular (French republican) values. Recent sources of tensions include the ban of the Burqa in the public space; the debate on national identity instigated by the former French president Nicholas Sarkozy, which became centred around the question of Islam and Muslims in France; the provocative cartoons about Prophet Mohamed in the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo; opposition against the provision of halal meal in France’s fast-food chain Quick; and resistance toward Qatar’s plan to invest in deprived suburbs of France, to name just a few. The other context which this paper examines in relation to the question of sport, Islam, and identity-making of Muslims in Europe is the phenomenon of “reverse migration” or the re-connection of athletes of Muslim background in Europe, or so-called Muslim neo-Europeans, with their (parents’) country of origin. The paper argues that sport is another highly politicised space to judge the level of “integration” of Muslim athletes in European societies, and the degree of “religiosity” in their (parents’) country of origin.
Highlights
The question of religion in Europe, Islam, has been defined to certain extent around the following dichotomies: homogeneity versus cultural diversity, private versus public spheres, and belief versus disbelief
Sport is at the centre of the debate on integration and national identity of immigrant communities in Europe, and since 9/11 the debate is centred on immigrants of Muslim faith or culture
Football is a terrain for identity making and resistance against stigma
Summary
The question of religion in Europe, Islam, has been defined to certain extent around the following dichotomies: homogeneity versus cultural diversity, private versus public spheres, and belief versus disbelief. In his article “Notes on a Post-Secular Society” he asks about the current place of religion in Europe, how should we see ourselves as members of a post-secular society and what must we reciprocally expect from one another in order to ensure that in firmly entrenched nation-states, social relations remain civil despite the growth of a plurality of cultures and religious world views To answer these questions, Habermas proposes that a distinction should be made between “secular”. The Muslim community, at least for those accepting to be categorised as such due to their cultural background or their religious worldview, can be divided in relation to the question of authenticity (negotiated in relation to the Quranic fact and the authentic tradition of the prophet and his companions and early followers) into mainly six groups (see Table 1) To add to these six groups there is a growing minority represented by Western-converted Muslims, defined by Charnay [15] as European neo-Muslims, which he distinguishes from Muslim neo-Europeans representing the second and third generations of Muslims in Europe. A sign for them of a communautarisme, getthoisation, and ethnification of Europe
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