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Welcome changes in European Islam

At first sight, the position of Islam in contemporary Europe would appear to be one of isolation, with European Muslims being looked upon warily by the followers of Europe’s other major faiths. The pre-9/11 situation in this regard was characterised by a state of mutual ignorance between European Muslims and others, causing Berlin University’s professor of Islamic history Gudrun Krämer to describe this as “pragmatic toleration.” Now this seems to have been replaced by a context in which frequent stigmatisation of Islam in the western press has evoked an understandable counter-reaction. The backlash to this negative portrayal of Islam has been a renewed assertiveness of an Islamic identity by Muslims in Europe. The magazine Der Spiegel notes that, among Germans of Turkish extraction, the proportion who thought women should cover their hair had risen from 27 per cent in 2000 to nearly 47 per cent in 2005; as to schools’ mixed sports classes and trips, the proportion rose from 19 per cent to 30 per cent in the same period. Other concerns are about the impact of the teaching apparently provided in teenagers’ hostels run by the Association of Islamic Cultural Centres, despite the fact that the youngsters attend ordinary schools during the day.

Yet it would be fallacious to presume that European Muslims are one homogeneous bloc susceptible to the same impulses. They range across social classes and cultural backgrounds, from long-established Europeans like Bosnians through polished professors from great universities in West Asia, Turkey, and Iran, to farmers from Bangladesh. Therein lie reasons for very encouraging developments. In the United Kingdom and in Germany for instance, local imams and cultural leaders are calling upon European Muslims to adapt their ways to their particular contexts and to read the Koran in fresh and creative ways. Such community leaders are addressing public servants, social workers and teachers involved with young people in inner-city schools and diverse, often poor, neighbourhoods. Traditionalists who see this as challenging their hold on fellow-Muslims will resist, but the winds of change hopefully will prevail and allow the Muslim community to take its rightful place in societies the world over. Such developments will provide public servants of western European states — such as those of the German province of North Rhine-Westphalia, whose educationists pioneered engagement with Muslim groups 30 years ago — with valuable support in shaping the Europe of the future. But the best part is that the change and reconsideration are coming from the most authentic source, from among European Muslims themselves.

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