Muslims in Europe Facts and Fears

Evert Van De Poll Muslims in Europe Facts and Fears In recent years, the British journalist Christopher Caldwell has aroused quite a debate through his publications on what he calls the revolution in Europe. Quoting a host of surveys and statistics, Caldwell argues that large-scale immigration, particularly of Muslims, is in the process of transforming Europe profoundly. From the strife-torn banlieues in the larger French cities to the multiplying minarets of Middle England, we are a very long way indeed from the merry multicultural melting-pot of bien pensant fantasy. 115 Putting the question whether you can have the same Europe with different people in it, he goes on to describe the predicament of today s societies: The predicament actually consists of two different problems that, because they overlap, are often mistaken for a single problem. There is the problem of Europe s ability to assimilate immigrants, and there is the problem of Europe s difficulties with Islam. Christopher Caldwell paints an alarming picture of our values and our social structures drowning in a sea of immigration and of politicians advocating the wrong policies. He calls for another policy. Immigrants should be put to the choice; accept the European way or leave. Much can be said against the view of Caldwell and those who take a similar position. For instance, we would take issue with their argument that immigrants are taking jobs away from Europeans. The job market is much too complicated to reduce the problem of unemployment to the presence of immigrants. Furthermore, we are not so sure that all the Muslims in Europe will radicalize and become inimical to European cultures. Some will, but others might not. And who can tell the proportions of the former and the latter, say, within ten years time? Nevertheless, this portrayal of the immigration problem and this warning against the rise of fundamentalist Islam sounds a bell among a considerable proportion of the majority population. For this reason, we should pay attention to it. As Christians we are challenged by these kinds of protestations to look for Biblical guidance with respect to the attitude to be taken, and enter the public debate. 115 Christopher Caldwell, Reflections on the Revolution in Europe, p. 21. 1 6 9

Europe and the Gospel: Past Influences, Current Developments, Mission Challenges 10.1. Facts It is difficult to compare the number of Muslims in Europe with the number of Christians, since we are used to differentiating between practicing, nominal and non-christians within the same ethnic or cultural group. Muslims, on the other hand, will not be so comfortable with the distinction between religious practice and belonging to an ethnic community, a distinction which they often perceive of as being European. Official statistics of Muslims communities refer to communities, irrespective of the rate of religious practice. They include everyone belonging to an ethnic cultural group that is nominally Muslim. In France, for instance, all immigrants from North Africa, first and second and third generation together, are counted as Muslims, since they originally come from a Muslim country. Having said that, there is no question about the fact that the number of people in Europe who consider themselves as practicing Muslims is growing indeed. They are mainly concentrated in the major urban areas in Western Europe. Consequently, the picture is quite different from country to country. Muslim presence is very limited in the East and in Nordic Europe, but increasingly dominant in the largest cities of Western Europe. Muslims make up twenty-four percent of the population in Amsterdam; twenty percent in Malmo and Marseille; fifteen percent in Paris, Bradford and Birmingham; and ten percent or more in London and Copenhagen. 116 However, these concentrations should be seen in relation to population figures for the EU as a whole. When we do that, we see that Muslims account for an estimated four percent of its total population, i.e. 20 to 21 million people. The four European countries with the largest Muslims communities, both in absolute numbers and in percentage of the general population, are France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands. The following table outlines the estimated numbers (in millions) and the percentages of the total population: Table 10.1 European countries with the largest Muslim communities (numbers are in millions). Country Total population Muslims % of total population France 64 4.5-5.0 7.0-7.8 Germany 82 3.0 3.7 United Kingdom 59 1.5-2.0 2.5-3.4 Netherlands 16 0.7 4.4 116 Timothy Savage, When Town Halls Turn to Mecca, The Economist, 6 December 2008. Quoted in John Micklethwait and Adrian Woolbridge, God Is Back, p. 279. 1 7 0

Evert Van De Poll Growth prospects for Muslim communities Several demographic studies point out that this percentage will rise in the short term because of continued immigration and high birth rates but that it will stabilise within a few decades at 10 to 15 percent. The reasons are twofold. Under the pressure of public opinion, governments will limit immigration. Moreover, there is an increasing emphasis on assimilation. Inasmuch as Muslim families succeed in integrating into society, and adapt to the European way of life, they are expected to have less children. Demographers like Youssef Courbage expect demographic growth of the Muslim communities in Europe to slow down in the near future, provided immigration does not rise dramatically. As Muslim Europeans rise on the social ladder and attain more prosperity, they argue, their families will be smaller as is generally the case. We see this effect already in the more prosperous Arab countries. Moreover, it can be expected that more Muslim women will have paying jobs in the future, which usually results in postponing the age at which they give birth to their first children, as well as limiting the number of children per woman. 117 Quoting recent demographic studies, Philip Jenkins supposes that quantitative growth of the Muslim population in Europe will continue. Countries with large Muslim communities such as France, Germany and the Netherlands will probably have significant Muslim minorities of ten to fifteen percent in 2o25. In that year (which is only thirteen years from now!) the total number of Muslims in Europe will probably have risen to about twenty-eight million, with twenty-four and thirty-eight million as low- and high-end projections. By 2050, countries like France and Germany might be dealing with a Muslim population of twenty percent (in France, perhaps even twenty-five percent). At the same time, Jenkins puts the picture for the whole of Europe in perspective, so as not to give way to exaggerated pictures of the future of Europe: by 2025 the continent of Europe will perhaps have forty million Muslims out of a total population of 500 million, i.e. only eight percent. This total amount could increase to fifteen percent by 2050. 118 The Muslim population will indeed increase in the short term, but not so drastically that it will soon become a majority in Europe. Prospects are that the number of Muslims will remain constant as a minority. Having said this, there might well be Muslim majorities in many provincial towns and some major cities in Western Europe. A case in point is Brussels. One fifth of its multiethnic 117 For a detailed discussion of this topic see: Youssef Courbage and Emmanuel Todd, Le rendez-vous des civilisations. 118 Philip Jenkins, God s Continent, p. 119. 1 7 1

Europe and the Gospel: Past Influences, Current Developments, Mission Challenges population of 1.2 million belongs to the Muslim community. If current developments continue (autochthon Belgians settling in suburbs, migrant families concentrating in the inner city), the administrative capital of Europe will have a Muslim majority within thirty years! 10.2. Muslim Presence Becomes an Issue The presence of Muslims arouses mixed feelings among the majority population. Public opinion about immigration largely focuses on this category. There is a widespread feeling among the majority population that Muslim ways of life are incompatible with the modern character of European societies. Repeatedly there are debates about ritual slaughter, women refusing medical care from male doctors, prayer in the streets in the absence of a mosque, the construction of mosques financed by Arab countries, the question of whether or not to allow minarets adjacent to these mosques including amplified daily calls to prayer, etc. A sensitive issue is whether Muslims should be allowed to wear headscarves and traditional dress that shows their religious allegiance in state schools, hospitals, and public buildings. In some countries Muslims can set up their own private schools in which Islamic religious education is an integral part of the curriculum. Other countries have problems with that. Similarly, there is debate about Islamic banks, hospitals, recreation areas, sport clubs, and so on, that would allow Muslims to maintain their religious customs. Reasons for misgivings Why would all of this be a problem? Isn t religious tolerance one of the European core values? Why do secularised people feel threatened by the visible presence of Muslims whereas they don t seem to care much about the presence of African Christian migrants, nor about Asian communities practicing Buddhism or Hinduism? The main reason is that Muslim communities in Europe are often associated with Islam worldwide, in two regards. First, they evoke the image of societies dominated by traditional Islam, in North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia. Most Europeans might find these countries interesting as tourists, but they would not like to live in a society like that. They suspect that a Muslim-dominated context is at odds with the European values to which they are attached: democracy, human rights, the separation of state and religious institutions, individual freedom of conscience and expression, a Western lifestyle, and so on. Because Muslims are associated with such countries, they are often perceived as strange elements in a Western society. 1 7 2

Evert Van De Poll Secondly, there is uncertainty as to whether the Muslim community as a whole will find the synthesis between the practice of Islam and the framework of a modern Western society amenable. Quite a number of individuals have, in fact. One finds perfectly integrated Muslims at all levels of society, in all professions. I personally know an imam of a mosque who is also surgeon and head of a department of a public hospital; he is perfectly attuned to the culture of his secular and Roman Catholic colleagues; his children take piano lessons in order to learn classical music. All the while he does not make a secret of his religious convictions. Respect for the Creator is important for him. Because we have this respect in common, he is willing to collaborate with me and other Christians in the public realm. Similar examples exist in plenty. And yet, while it is well known that the large majority of the Muslims in Europe are moderate, law-abiding people, quite willing to live by the rules of a democratic, pluralist society, there is a feeling among other Europeans that this will not remain so. They fear that an increasing number of their Muslim neighbours will follow more traditional forms of Islam, or even fall prey to radical groups avowedly opposed to Western society. Whether or not this fear is justified is a matter of debate, but it does exist. Such fears are usually not so much fostered by facts and statistics but by single events with with media coverage. Public opinion about Muslims in Europe is not so much associated with people like the surgeon I just mentioned as with militant conservative Islamic groups campaigning for the introduction of Sharia, the traditional Islamic law. As one sees more veiled women and bearded men in long dresses, these fears are amplified. For a few years now, British Muslims have been allowed to apply certain elements of Sharia law when it concerns internal matters of their community. This gives additional food for thought and brings us to a third element that comes into play. 10.3. The Fear for Violent Anti-Western Radicalism There are doubts as to whether Muslim communities will keep their distance from radical forms of Islam that are vehemently anti-western. Surely, fundamentalist preachers are active all over Western Europe. Apparently their main objective is to keep the young generation in these communities from drifting away from their religion, either into delinquency or into a secular, materialist European lifestyle or into both. Not only do they insist on strict observance of Islamic traditions, but also on resistance to a Western or a Christian society which they denounce as decadent and godless. Why would this be problem in a multicultural society? Why can t we accept the presence of communities with radically different lifestyles? What is the 1 7 3

Europe and the Gospel: Past Influences, Current Developments, Mission Challenges difference between particular groups of conservative and Orthodox Christians, whose lifestyle is quite different from society around them, but whose presence is not a problem? We call them fundamentalist, but we don t sleep a minute less quietly for that. On the contrary, Muslims fundamentalism arouses suspicion and fears, even though, from a sociological point of view it is similar to Christian and Jewish fundamentalism. Public opinion does not follow academic reasoning, though. It suspects that the radical Islamic groups are fertile ground for terrorist networks trying to recruit young people for Jihadist operations. The terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers in New York (11 September 2001), the Atocha Railway Station in Madrid (September 2004) and the Oxford Street Subway Station in London (July 2005), have made a deep impact on the Western European mind. The vehement reactions all over the Muslim World to the cartoons of Mohammed published in a Danish newspaper some years ago, easily confirms the image of a Muslim community fallen prey to fundamentalism. It is true that second- and third-generation migrants in Muslim communities are attracted by radical versions of Islam. It is also true that some of these young people, born in Manchester, Marseille, Madrid or Munich have gone to the tribal zones of Afghanistan, or some other place in the Middle East, in order to be trained in urban warfare, terrorist attacks, setting up secret networks, etc. The internet has proven to be a particularly useful means to spread Jihadist ideas and embroil people in militant networks. Islamic extremism is a disturbing phenomenon because of its anti-western stance combined with its militant attitude and its acceptance of violence as a means to propagate its cause. What makes it even more disturbing is that Jihadist groups are not confined to such remote places as Chechen, Afghanistan, Mali or Iraq; they also recruit French, British, Spanish and other European citizens. This is a challenge, not only for governments, but also for churches who are called to be peacemakers, even in a multicultural society. Social researchers clarify the context that contributes to the rise of radical Islam. Unemployment, discrimination and inferior housing conditions create a sense of exclusion. This causes an identity crisis among young generations of Muslims. Their parents and grandparents wanted to become French like the French, Germans like the Germans, but integration failed. Many of these young people are involved in drug trafficking and crime. This generation seeks identity and personal value. When fundamentalist groups catch up with them, they turn to Islam. In a surprisingly short period of time they can radicalize. Some of them are willing to engage in violence in the name of Jihad. All of this takes place. However, we should beware of exaggerating the phenomenon. Consider for instance the most recent terrorist attack to date. In March 2012, a young French Muslim, born of Algerian parents, killed three soldiers, a rabbi and three children in a Jewish school in Toulouse, acting as 1 7 4

Evert Van De Poll he said, in the name of Islam. Fortunately, he was quickly identified, and caught in his apartment. He resisted the armed forces until he was shot dead. Police discovered later that he was planning a whole series of similar attacks. This dramatic episode triggered strong reactions from government and police services. All over the country, young Muslims suspected of being part of networks planning terrorist attacks, were arrested, some of them convicted and put in jail. However, it also became clear that radicals are few in number. In October 2012, a network of French-born young radicals was rounded up. Their leader, thirty-two-year old Jeremy Louis Sidney, had been identified as the one who had organised the grenade attack on a Jewish kosher shop in the Paris suburb of Sarcelles one month earlier. Sadly, such acts of anti-semitism are recurrent in France. As police caught up with Sidney, they discovered that he and his network were preparing for other violent attacks on Jewish targets. Sidney had recorded rap songs, and posted them on the Internet, a common way of promoting Jihadist ideas. Analysts tell us that the number of French citizens prone to becoming involved in terrorism should be put at a few thousand at the highest, i.e. 0.05 percent of the total Muslim population. 119 The same phenomenon of European-born Jihadists is known in Spain, Belgium, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Germany. Probably, their number can be estimated to be the same percentage as in France. Even though these people can be extremely dangerous, their number is very limited, as compared to the rest of the Muslim population. So we should not conflate the entire community with this minority of extremists. Religious or national identity, which comes first? A last point merits our attention. In European countries, the state has taken over many functions hitherto exercised by the church (education, medical care, social welfare, marriage, civil registration, etc.) With the increase of the functions of the state, Europeans are encouraged to identify with the state. National identity becomes primary, religious identity optional. In earlier times, this was not the case. People identified with local or regional communities and with their religious group at the same time. This shift is typically European, but it can also be observed in other western countries. On the contrary, most Muslims have a different outlook when it comes to religious and/or national identity. This makes a comparison interesting. Generally speaking, Muslims give priority to their religious identity. This certainly has a bearing on the self-identification of Muslims in Europe. Even 119 Cf. Ces jeunes islamistes français prêts à devenir terroristes, La Croix, 9 October 2012, p. 2-3. 1 7 5

Europe and the Gospel: Past Influences, Current Developments, Mission Challenges those Muslim citizens who feel French, German or British will not necessarily give priority to their national identity. This is important to keep in mind when trying to understand their stance in society. The following table, based on recent surveys, shows the breakdown, in percentages, of what people s primary identity is, national or religious, in various countries. 120 It shows striking differences between Europe and other regions. Figure 10.1 Religious and national identity in selected countries in 2011. 120 Muslim-Western Tensions Persist, Pew Research Centre, 2011, page 5. http://www. ab.gov.tr/files/ardb/evt/1_avrupa_birligi/1_6_raporlar/1_3_diger/pew-global-attitudes- Muslim-Western-Relations-FINAL-FOR-PRINT-July-21-2011.pdf [28 April 2013]. 1 7 6

Evert Van De Poll Muslim views on Religion and State When it comes to Islam in our societies, the media and politicians invariably insist on the separation of church and state, even though they conveniently forget to translate this principle into separation of mosque and state. It is clear that Islam has another tradition. It is a comprehensive religion. Religious life and social life are inseparable. A central notion in Islam is the community, the ummah. Even so, the vast majority of Muslims in Europe seem to accept the principle of separation of state and religious institutions. Whether this will continues to be the case, remains to be seen. What will happen in places where the Muslim community is becoming a sizeable minority and their religious practice increasingly visible? Some radical Islamic groups strive to increase the influence of Islam in European societies. At the same time, moderate voices within the Muslim community advocate the Europeanisation of Islam (called Euro-Islam ), similar to the way in which Enlightenment principles have changed the position of Christianity in society. It remains to be seen which of these options will win the day. Modern European societies are based on the principle of pluralism. The Finnish missiologist, Risto Ahonen, may well be right in suspecting that the growing Muslim population will put this principle to the test by calling into question many western cultural values and demanding the introduction of Sharia law. The great majority of Muslims living in Europe have adopted a secular way of life. Nevertheless, the growing Muslim population will force secular Europeans to choose sides. 121 Philip Jenkins argues that some Muslim circles are seriously bent on creating a Muslim-ruled Eurabia in Europe, the creation of which, in their view, will be made possible by growing immigration and high fertility rates. 122 Even though such an idea may seem like wishful thinking, Muslims might acquire a majority position in some areas. This in turn might well lead to introducing Islamic Sharia law, at least as far as the Muslim community in specific areas is concerned, in matters of marriage, heritage, family law, etc. During a seminar in Leuven, Christine Schirrmacher, a German missiologist and noted expert on Muslims in Germany, made it clear that we should distinguish between the Muslim community for whom Islam is a culture and a religion and those individuals and organisations within this community who have a political Islamic agenda. The first seek integration with the freedom to practice their 121 Risto Ahonen, The Postmodern Culture of Conversion as a Challenge to Mission. Paper presented at the Mission Conference in Edinburgh, 2010. 122 Philip Jenkins, God s Continent, chapter 5. 1 7 7

Europe and the Gospel: Past Influences, Current Developments, Mission Challenges religious customs. They want to be part of the larger German society. The latter seek to change the rules of democratic society, introduce elements of Sharia, and ultimately extend the Ummah ( the land of Islam ) to Europe. As far as we can gather from available surveys, the majority of the Muslim community does not support this political agenda. 123 Important questions How, as Christians, do we respond to the presence of Muslims in our midst? Much could be said in answer to this question. In keeping with our generalist approach to trends and issues in Europe, we emphasize only two points. We present them in the form of questions, indicating that they merit much more reflection than we can offer in this chapter. Muslims and the European experience Firstly, there is a fundamental issue underlying the various political reactions to the multicultural society. It seems to us that the bottom line is the concern that the European character of society be maintained. Discussions about the place of Muslim communities highlight this concern. They turn around one question: will our Muslim fellow citizens find a compromise between their religious practice and the basic values of democracy, pluralism, tolerance, equality of men and women, separation of institutional religion and state, and so on? Will mainstream Muslims find a synthesis between their tradition and the western model of society? Will they identify with the country in which they live, in the same way as other religious communities do? All of this boils down to the intriguing question whether Islam in Europe will evolve towards an Islam of Europe, enabling Muslims to consider themselves not as aliens in the socio-cultural context of their country of residence, and definitely not in opposition to it, but as German, Dutch, British, Spanish or Italian citizens, and as such heirs of Europe s religious and cultural heritage? But then, the ball is not in one court only. Will the other Europeans accept fully integrated Muslims who also maintain their religious practice? Tolerance has always been understood to be a key element of modern democratic societies, and now it is being put to the test. Will Europeans apply this principle to their Muslim fellow citizens to the same extent as they claim it for themselves? As for us, we would hope that our Muslim neighbours will fully participate in the ongoing European experience, and that our societies will be open to them to playing a role. 123 Christine Schirrmacher, in a lecture on Reactions to apostasy in the Muslim community, given during the Doctoral Colloquium of the Evangelical Theological Faculty in Leuven (Belgium), 5 September 2010. 1 7 8

Evert Van De Poll Relate to Muslims and witness of our faith Secondly, Muslims constitute not just a social and political issue. We are constantly influenced by all kinds of human, worldly reasoning, varying from naïve multiculturalism to xenophobic nationalism. But ours should be another approach. Whatever the way in which they practice their religion, whatever their attitude to their European environment, whatever their view on the place of Islam in society, these are men and women for whom Jesus has sacrificed his life, for God so loved the world. So the challenge for us is to critically assess our attitude in the light of the Biblical commands to love our neighbour as ourselves and to be a witness of what God has done for us through Jesus Christ. Our impression is that few Christians develop personal relations with Muslims, and that churches do little to create bridges between them and the Muslim community in their neighbourhood. We do not want to overlook the exceptions to this general picture, but for many believers in the pew the world of Islam remains a distant and unknown reality, even though it is present at their very doorstep. In times past, missionaries had to make extensive preparations and travel far to communicate the Gospel to Muslims. Today millions of them have become within reach of Christians in Europe. Imagine the huge task for missionaries in a Muslim country to adapt to the culture, gain confidence, talk about Jesus and develop a community of followers of Christ. The barriers are enormous! But now, Muslims have come to us. They speak our language, take the same trains, send their children to the same schools, work in the same office. All of this creates many occasions to relate to them, get to know them better, and give them the opportunity to see how Christians live. The basic question is, what image of the Christian faith are we giving our Muslim neighbours? What do they hear us say? It is up to individual Christians and church communities to take an interest in their concerns in terms of housing, work, schooling, and so on. We can pray for them. We can learn more about Islam, study differences of doctrine and practice. We can seek ways to dialogue in order to learn about their experience, religious or other, and share our faith. 1 7 9

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