The Muslim Question In Europe

In this book, the author argues that the vehement controversies surrounding European Muslims are better understood as persistent, unresolved intra-European political tensions rather than as a clash between "Islam and the West." This title was made Open Access by libraries from around the world through Knowledge Unlatched.

The book challenges the popular notion of a clash of cultures pitting Muslim and non-Muslim Europeans against one another. The study finds instead vehement conflict among three longstanding European public philosophies: liberalism, nationalism, and postmodernism. The consequential differences of outlook are demonstrated in four policy areas: 1) citizenship requirements, 2) the headscarf debate, 3) mosque-state relations and 4) counter-terrorism. The book reaches three important conclusions. First, Muslim Europeans do not represent a monolithic anti-Western bloc -- a Trojan Horse -- within Europe. They vehemently disagree among themselves but along the same basic liberal, nationalist, and postmodern contours as non-Muslim Europeans. Second, ideological discord significantly contributes to policy "messiness," that is, to inconsistent, contradictory policies. Third, both the discord and the messiness are remarkably similar from one European country to the next, thereby casting doubt on the dominant theory in comparative migration studies that posits distinct national styles such as French republicanism, German ethno-nationalism and British multiculturalism.

A large section of European opinion believes that Muslims present a long term political and cultural threat. Professor Parekh argues that this view is deeply mistaken. There is, nevertheless, a small underclass, mainly young, which is deeply alienated from both their parental and European cultures. They are in Europe but not of it, and have no commitment to it. A dialogue between the Muslim communities in general and the host societies is therefore necessary. It has its limits and we should not expect too much from it. However, there is no alternative to it.

Why “the Muslim question” is really about the West and its own anxieties—not Islam In this fearless, original book, Anne Norton demolishes the notion that there is a “clash of civilizations” between the West and Islam. What is really in question, she argues, is the West’s commitment to its own ideals: to democracy and the Enlightenment trinity of liberty, equality, and fraternity. In the most fundamental sense, the Muslim question is about the values not of Islamic, but of Western, civilization.

Alexandre Caeiro studied sociology at Trinity College Dublin (BA) and the Ecole des hautes etudes en sciences sociales, Paris (MA). From 2004-2008 he was a PhD Fellow at the International Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World (ISIM) in Leiden. He was awarded a PhD (Cum Laude) by Utrecht University for his dissertation on "Fatwas for European Muslims: The Minority Fiqh Project and the Integration of Islam in Europe" conducted under the supervision of Prof. Martin van Bruinessen (2011). Caeiro is currently working as a Research Fellow at the Erlangen Centre for Islam and Law in Europe (EZIRE) at the Friedrich-Alexander-Universitat Erlangen-Nurnberg. He has published articles in peer-reviewed journals and contributed to collective books on topics related to Islam in Europe.

Tariq Ramadan shows that it is possible to live as a practising Muslim in multi-faith, pluralistic European nation states.

The voices in this book belong to parliamentarians, city councillors, doctors and engineers, a few professors, lawyers and social workers, owners of small businesses, translators, and community activists. They are also all Muslims, who have decided to become engaged in political and civic organizations. And for that reason, they constantly have to explain themselves, mostly in order to say who they are not. They are not fundamentalists, not terrorists, and most do not support the introduction of Islamic religious law in Europe - especially not its application to Christians. This book is about who these people are, and what they want. This book is based on three hundred interviews with European Muslim leaders from six European countries: Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Great Britain, France, and Germany. The question of Islam in Europe is not a matter of global war and peace but raises difficult questions about the positions of Christianity and Islam in public life, and about European identities. Europe's Muslim political leaders are not aiming to overthrow liberal democracy and to replace secular law with Islamic religious law. Those are the positions of a minority. There is not one Muslim position on how Islam should develop in Europe but many views, and most Muslims are rather looking for ways to build institutions that will allow European Muslims to practice their religion in a way that is compatible with social integration.

Annotation. A large section of European opinion believes that Muslims present a long term political and cultural threat. Professor Parekh argues that this view is deeply mistaken. There is, nevertheless, a small underclass, mainly young, which is deeply alienated from both their parental and European cultures. They are in Europe but not of it, and have no commitment to it. A dialogue between the Muslim communities in general and the host societies is therefore necessary. It has its limits and we should not expect too much from it. However, there is no alternative to it. This title can be previewed in Google Books - http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN9789053560877.