Perceptions Of Islam And Muslims In Europe

For centuries, the Islamic world has been represented as the 'other' within European identity constructions - an 'other' perceived to be increasingly at odds with European forms of modernity and culture. With the perceived gap between Islam and Europe widening, leading scholars in this work come together to provide genuine and realistic analyses about perceptions of Islam in the West. The book bridges these analyses with in-depth case studies from Britain, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Turkey and other parts of the European Union. This study goes beyond the usual dichotomies of 'clashes of civilizations' and 'cultural conflict' to try to understand the numerous, diverse and multifaceted ways - some conflictual, some peaceful - in which cultural exchanges have taken place historically, and which continue to take place, between the Muslim and non-Muslim worlds.

For centuries, the Islamic world has been represented as the 'other' within European identity constructions - an 'other' perceived to be increasingly at odds with European forms of modernity and culture. With the perceived gap between Islam and Europe widening, leading scholars in this work come together to provide genuine and realistic analyses about perceptions of Islam in the West. The book bridges these analyses with in-depth case studies from Britain, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Turkey and other parts of the European Union. This study goes beyond the usual dichotomies of 'clashes of civilizations' and 'cultural conflict' to try to understand the numerous, diverse and multifaceted ways - some conflictual, some peaceful - in which cultural exchanges have taken place historically, and which continue to take place, between the Muslim and non-Muslim worlds.

Drawing upon extensive fieldwork and suggesting novel ways of approaching the phenomenon of European Islam and the continent's Muslim communities, Islam in Europe examines how European Muslims construct notions or identity, agency and belonging, how they negotiate and redefine the notions of religion, tradition, authority and cultural authenticity.

Western Views of Islam in Medieval and Early Modern Europe considers the various attitudes of European religious and secular writers towards Islam during the Middle Ages and Early Modern Period. Examining works from England, France, Italy, the Holy Lands, and Spain, the essays in this volume explore the reactions of Westerners to the culture and religion of Islam. Many of the works studied reveal the hostility toward Islam of Europeans and the creation of negative stereotypes of Muslims by Western writers. These essays also reveal attempts at accommodation and understanding that stand in contrast to the prevailing hostility that existed then and, in some ways, exists still today.

This book is part of the wider study of Islam and the West: a history of European, mainly French and English, intellectual responses to Islam from the seventeenth century onwards. It focuses on the nineteenth century. Studies on Islam and the West have so far tended to be dominated by non-Muslim writers. This study, therefore, attempts to put forward a scholarly, Muslim, point of view, on a subject which has acquired increasing importance in our time. Relying on primary European and Islamic source materials, it remains firmly committed to the notion of fidelity to European thought. It paves the way to a constructive dialogue between equals, Islam and the West

This volume focuses on Muslims in Finland, Greece, Ireland and Portugal. It highlights how Muslim experiences can be understood in relation to country’s particular historical routes, political economies, and post-colonial legacies. It also reveals that country particularities shaping European Muslim experiences cannot be understood independently of global dynamics.

This volume embodies an up-to-date and sensitive set of studies exploring the ongoing negotiation of European Muslim identities in Europe. The book argues there has been hitherto a three-fold response on the part of Muslims in Europe (some of whom are now third generation Europeans) - integrationism, isolationism, and escapism. Today the latter two responses are giving way, it is argued, to an active shaping of Muslim European identities. The central issue remains: what degree of freedom and what potential for cultural and religious diversity can minorities have in an outwardly secular and plural European society?