What perspectives for Islam and Muslims in Europe? An Overview

In this analysis, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, a Journalist and writer, examines the evolution of the relationship between Islam and the West, retracing a shared history and providing insights on multiculturalism in Europe.

What perspectives for Islam and Muslims in Europe? An Overview

Identifying Diversity – Muslim demographics in Europe

Accurate data is hard to obtain because most nation-states and the EU do not yet identify people by their religious affiliations. This is for historical reasons- the ghosts of the Holocaust remain as a reminder of the dangers of such data. Census systems vary and in many countries it is the place of birth, which is recorded. No figures are available for converts, apostates, people with a ‘sleeping’ faith of no major consequence to their lives, those who feel culturally part of Muslim countries but are not practising Muslims, people with a revived Muslim identity, people who see themselves as culturally linked to Muslim traditions and ‘political’ Muslims who are engaged in battles for equality but may not be strict adherents. For obvious reasons illegal immigrants who are Muslims or the fluid populations of asylum seekers would increase official figures if they existed.

Multiculturalism in Islam

Muslims in Europe and the west in general are as diverse as the world itself because Islam spread to the far corners of the globe and accommodated itself to the different cultural ecologies whilst implanting a universal set of basic, minimal principles which were binding to all – the Ummah. Development and scholarly debate have also always been part of the different Muslims civilizations through the ages. This is not surprising. With 14 centuries of history, 1.3 billion adherents on every continent, the soul of Islam rings with hundreds of different tones. The Koran itself says this human variety is what Allah created for the world.

Take the example of Britain. There are 1500 mosques and 100 Muslim schools in Britain today. They share the same fundamental faith but differences in language, culture, class, different histories, geographical, racial and ethnic variations make it absurd to talk about ‘the Muslim Community’ as if it was monolithic and in any way politically uniform. The major schisms between Shia and Sunni Islam led to further divisions into distinct faith and ethnic groups, a process which is still carrying on. Wahabi theologians who have inspired some of the most hard-line new conservatives among Sunnis are not accepted by most Sunnis around the world who are traditionally more tolerant and pragmatic than these new firebrands. Each new generation brings its own values to the faith of the family and not in entirely predictable ways. These days young western Muslims in some families are more orthodox than their parents; other young Muslims of the same age find their families oppressive and alien and the rest find ways to live within the fold and change the older members to accept modernity. Class makes an enormous difference, too. Pakistani Muslims from the middle classes of Karachi have less in common with the working class ‘tribal’ Muslims of their own rural areas than with white members of the Conservative party in Britain.

Europe and Islam: Shared Histories

The relationship between Islam and Europe goes back centuries. Islam and Europe have both constantly made and re-made each other in spite of the blood that has been shed on both sides. From the European renaissance onwards Islam has been an integral, vivid part of Europe and Britain. Muslim intellectuals gave back to Europe the ideas of the Greeks which the dark ages had buried. Their own discoveries in maths, science, sociology, astronomy and medicine infiltrated European cultures and studies. Kipling’s irreconcilable East and West is and always was an absurdity. The croissant, the crescent shaped bread roll, eaten everyday for breakfast in Europe, is a symbol of the Crusades. Painted blue tiles and geometric design, coffee houses, the beauteous domes in Florence and Venice – and the Brighton Pavilion – factories, modern technology, the film industry in Muslim countries, countless other ideas have flowered and travelled between Christians and Muslims.

Yet both sides persist in disseminating the idea that there can be no common ground between the two. Again the history of Britain is a good case study.

The historical connection between Islam and Britain did not begin with mass immigration from the subcontinent in the fifties, but this has become established story among indigenous Britons and most British Muslims too. Both sides have lost sight of the long view. The writer Nabil Mater noted in his book on Islam in Britain 1558-1685: ‘ Muslims and their Arab-Islamic legacy were part of the religious, commercial and military self definition of England.’ These exchanges- trade, artistic, scientific, political – have carried on in spite of wars, mutual demonisation and ideological confrontations.

And so the paradox continues today in literature, films, and other cultural products. In Hollywood films, for example, Muslims are ‘reel bad Arabs, lecherous sheikhs, personality free maidens, bomb-blowing terrorists’ and yet there is a romance about desert nomads on camels and curvy belly dancers. Arab food, Sufi music, poetry and thought, Arabic calligraphy are much loved in the west. But Islamaphobia is on the increase. Muslims too show white people as depraved, godless, sex-mad alcoholics yet cannot resist western freedoms and lifestyles. To the chagrin of Islamic purists, there is no going back to the days of the Prophet. London, milk shakes, Beckham, James Bond, MTV, liposuction, The Royals, the V&A and other western products are now entrenched in the modern Muslim psyche and cannot be excised.

The complex history of this contact stretches back over a millennium and it is time for Europe to start teaching this history. There has been much conflict too, starting with the wars of conquest by Muslims in the Iberia in the 7th Century, through the Crusades which began in the 11th century, the rise of the Ottoman Empire (1600-1918) and the various struggles for and against colonial domination after the first world war. But through the wars and clashes immense mutual respect was also evident as was deep love between individuals.

Arguably we may not have had the Indian Raj if Mughal Emperors had not taken to the traders of the East India Company who arrived in India in 1608. One of the first arrivals, Captain William Hawkins, rapidly became a trusted confidante of Emperor Jehangir. Subsequent traders brought the emperor harpsichords and raunchy pictures of Venus and Cupid. Jehangir gave them licence to trade, which soon led to armed control and then a takeover by the British government. An enormous painted panel in the House of Commons shows British merchants mingling with Mughal high society, paving the way for colonial domination.

In famous art galleries across Europe, orientalist painters depict Muslims as ruthless barbarians- holding bloody swords or fainting white women mostly – but in the same spaces, you can see other pictures paying homage to Muslim men and women, their lands, aesthetics, markets and deserts. Cairo, Amman, Beirut became centres for the modern art movement in the thirties attracting innovative European painters such as Paul Klee whose pictures of Tunisia fetch a fortune today.

Colonialism was organised around racial and cultural hierarchies, but even within this paradigm, Monotheism was a strong bond between Christians and Muslims. In the 18th Century mixed race relationships between British empire builders and aristocratic Muslim women were much approved of. There is a painting by Francesco Renaldi showing General William Palmer, a powerful Ambassador, with his begum Bibi faiz Baksh, a noblewoman and their children. General James Achilles Kirkpatrick fell in love with a fifteen-year old Muslim Princess, Khair un-Nisa, converted to Islam and married her. Islamic art and design inspired Lord Leighton, an aristocrat, who incorporated these into his house in Holland Park, now a museum.

The 19th century was more forbidding but yet Queen Victoria herself had Muslim servants looking after her children and her favourite, Abdul Kareem, was given palatial suites, had his portraits painted, and got so close to the queen, it quite shocked the nation.

The end of the First World War brought an end to the Ottoman Empire and the long period of humiliation for Muslim countries world wide.

As trade and travel accelerated between Britain and Muslim countries, Yemenis and Bangladeshi lascars settled in South Shields in Yorkshire, Liverpool and Cardiff, the East End of London. Muslim sailors, soldiers and workers helped keep the great empire going receiving little recognition and low wages. The first mosques in Britain were set up in Woking and Liverpool at the end of the 19th century.

The two world wars brought even greater Muslim contributions to Great Britain. How many people today remember the countless Muslims who fought German Fascism?

Socio-economic and Political Context

Major post-war Muslim settlements in Europe are made up of post-colonial groups. Most of them were once ruled by the countries they settled in. Germany is different. Turks make up most of its Muslim population but it was not a colonial power in Turkey. It did have close ties with the Ottoman Empire though.

The shared memories have come down the centuries and indigenous Europeans are still finding it hard to behave as equals with nations they once thought of as lesser beings to dominate and control.

More recent arrivals include Muslims fleeing countries in chaos under oppressive regimes or the wealthy international elite. Iranian, Iraqis, Indian Muslims, Somalis, Bosnian, Kosovan, Afghan and other Muslims have added to the diversity and mix. The central Mosque in London can have up to a hundred different nationalities, dozens of languages, black, brown and white, from Afghanistan to Argentina, praying together on Friday, all different, yet all equal before Allah.

In truth there is as yet no common or agreed set of domestic and foreign policies in the EU to cater for Europe’s Muslims. With enlargement this would obviously be one area, which requires urgent attention.

In France and Britain in particular the attitudes of dead Empires still remain in the national psyche (although in Britain this is now shifting up to a point and in France too) and racial, religious and ethnic inequalities remain in place. Economic exploitation of these migrants has gone on for decades. Salman Rushdie once said the Empire had just imported cheap labour from the colonies so they could carry on as arrogantly as before. As Europe develops a knowledge economy and as old industries dye and outsourcing to cheaper countries becomes commonplace, Muslims are finding themselves at the bottom of the heap.

Research shows that Muslims of both genders are among the least qualified, least upwardly mobile, most impoverished of the ‘ethnic minority’ Britons. In comparison, Chinese, Indian and African Asian Britons are doing significantly better and some have surpassed white Britons in achievements. Researcher, Professor Tariq Modood is concerned that ‘the confluence of the continuing severe disadvantage of Pakistanis and Bangladeshis and the rise of an anti-Muslim prejudice, marks one of the biggest challenges to racial egalitarians in Britain today. 80% of Muslims live in households where the income is below the national average compared to 25% of non-Muslim households.

Facing new dilemmas and challenges: Young Muslims in Europe

This deprivation is creating serious dilemmas for young Muslims who feel the state has denied them opportunities or dignity. Some of them are concluding that they have no option but to opt out of national life. A young Muslim man interviewed for a report spoke for many when he said: “As Muslims we are being forced by the system to make a choice – either assimilate, compromise ourselves, or separatism whereby we create our own institutions.”

There are other serious internal problems too which are afflicting the various communities. Large numbers of young Muslim men in some towns – often with poor education and opportunities- are turning to lives of lawlessness – drugs, pimping and other anti-social activities. Their numbers in prisons has doubled in a decade. Some Muslim communities are completely dislocated from national life and politicians are now turning their attention to these relatively new problems.

Extremist views can appeal to young people living impoverished lives with little hope and much undirected fury. As one British government report found ’Alienation is most acute where there is both social and economic deprivation.’ Too many young Muslims are emotionally homeless. Racism makes them believe they cannot belong in Britain and their communities expect them to think of themselves as people from elsewhere. Hard line mullahs from Pakistan and Arab states entice these young people into embracing a militant Islam which bewilders their own families.

But there are positive developments too. Newspapers, voluntary organisations, cultural institutions reflect an emerging British Islam which is vibrant and confident. These young British Muslims are firmly rooted in this country, which they challenge, change, portray and sometimes upset. The country in turn imbibes them with values, expectations and possibilities. But the essence remains attached to something old and invaluable. There also signs that there is a gradual emergence of a modern European Islam with support for EU Imam training establishments and new assessments of the evolution of the faith as people embrace their complex lives.

The Emergence of a Euro-Islam 

Young and older Muslims now aware of the crisis in the world, are re-examining their beliefs, identity and notion of citizenship. There is talk of a ‘Reformation’, of belonging to Europe. Tariq Ramadan who advocates an ‘independent European Islam’ is advocating a return to basic principles and a wholesome interaction with their western countries. He and others reject the ‘them’ and ‘us’ mentality. He writes: ‘Loyalty to ones faith and conscience requires loyalty to one’s country’ Professor Bassam Tibi who coined the term ‘Euro-Islam’ insists that the integration of Europe’s Islam depends in much part to the adoption of a form of Islam that embraces an international morality and value consensus, an Islam which accepts democratic civil society, pluralism, equalities and the separation between religion and the state.

Islam as Threat?

Islam is perceived as a threat to the west and not only since the September 11th attacks in the US. Since the Iranian Revolution in 1978-9 and the oil crisis precipitated by the Arab oil states, the faith and its followers have been viewed with suspicion and worse. The Muslim outrage over Rushdie’s Satanic Verses, the outrage of the west over the fatwa and other confrontations have created the impression of a clash of civilizations, an impression which is being turned into reality by both sides. Islam is the third largest faith in Europe, the fastest growing religion in the world and it is visible. There are growing numbers of converts to Islam mostly middle class individuals, the majority of them white women. They are not ‘some kind of liberal Islam-lite’ says one convert Joe Ah med Dobson, son of a British MP, but proud orthodox Muslims.

Muslims are increasingly presumed to be terrorists – even though in the last decade more Muslims have been victims globally of non-Muslims and of other Muslims than the other war around. Look at the deaths in Bosnia, Israel, Iraq, Iran, Kosovo, Chechnya. Most non-Muslim Europeans have also come to believe that Muslims cannot live with the post-enlightenment values of Europe, with modernity or human rights. Many western Muslims reject these assumptions. They live perfectly easily as modern Muslims and feel these prejudices are meant to keep them from their rights. Feelings of exclusion can only intensify as a result.

The perception of Muslims as a threat has led to an alarming increase in hate crimes and hostile attitudes towards Muslims. There has also been a marked deterioration in positive attitudes towards minorities in general and the attractiveness of populist racist parties is growing. Some European Politicians are using this atmosphere to further alienate opinions against immigrants and Muslims. This is happening at a time when there is an acceptance in the EU that with present low birth rates and without an inflow of immigrants, standards of living and economic growth will be severely affected.

European Muslims in Public Life

There is no sign as yet that the European states understand the degree to which Muslims of their countries are excluded and marginalized from influential public positions. The low economic position of the majority of European Muslims and lingering loyalties to old homelands are important factors which contribute to this state of affairs. There is a tendency too to seek unelected power brokers from the various Muslim groups ( an old colonial model of management) but this model may now have become more of a problem than a solution as young Muslims and women reject the idea that they must always be ‘represented’ in this way when other Europeans can be diverse, individual citizens with affiliations to their faith and ethnicities. In some countries new lobby groups of Muslims are emerging to tackle Islamaphobia and to promote political ambitions.

There is an interest in Islam growing in the wider population and informed European Muslim academics, journalists, writers and broadcasters are now appearing in mainstream media outlets. These voices help to challenge prejudices and presumptions.

Muslim political representation throughout the EU is small. The Netherlands has seven MPs, Britain has three plus four in the House of Lords, and France has none. Local politics is bringing in more Muslims in Britain and elsewhere in Europe. European leaders are failing to tap into the potential that exists with millions of European Muslims could form a sustainable bridge between Islam and the west as they are people of both, Islam and the west.

There is a growing crisis in Germany and France over the hijab, the headscarf which an increasing number of school girls have started to wear. President Chirac’s latest move to ban headscarves in educational establishments has created protests throughout the Muslim world which feels their religious symbols are targeted whilst Jewish and Christian people are not similarly harassed if they wear religious symbols. There are Muslims in Europe who would agree with the French government but feel the conflict is being managed badly and will result in confrontations rather than dialogue and agreement.

Domestic Consequences of Foreign Policy Decisions

The war in Iraq had unpredictable consequences in Europe. A genuine moment of integrated and shared concern emerged in all capitals as the anti-war movements gathered pace. EU countries are coming to understand how deeply connected are foreign and domestic policy issues today. The Middle East crisis plays itself out in European streets, h omes and places of worship; ‘the war on terror’ similarly. Other examples include the dispute over Kashmir and the EU’s relationship with the theocracy in Iran. European public opinion has turned viciously against asylum seekers, most of whom are Muslims. Nobody wants Muslim migrants any more.

This adds to the disillusionment of British Muslims who see their human rights violated by western governments, by bad governance in Muslim nations, by the powerful in Chechnya, India, Palestine and other places.

September the 11th has only deepened the sense of alienation. The attacks were felt to be an abomination, and initially the British government and media were careful not to blame Islam and all Muslims for the terrorism. There was no surge in animosity against British Muslims, although tensions have since increased and British Muslims are expressing resentment at the intrusive, illegal and unfair treatment they claim they receive. They have become more engaged internationally, connected with the Ummah through the internet. The Republican US government and Tony Blair are regarded with increasing hostility. However, completely unexpectedly, the war against Iraq has brought Muslims closer to their compatriots who came out against the war. For the first time, Muslims and non-Muslims came together with a strong political message.

In all EU countries there is sense of rage and despondency among Muslims that their own countries remain undemocratic and often oppressive. Radical groups form around these grievances and this too then becomes fertile soil for extremism.

Treated as citizens? Muslims in Europe

In Britain, more than any of the other states the answer to this question would be a resounding ‘yes.’ They are equal to other Britons at least in terms of their stated rights. The reality is somewhat less positive, but at least they can assert their rights in courts. In France, Muslims do not feel they are given the same rights and opportunities as others. Ideological confrontations between traditionalist Muslims and the secular government make integration harder. In Germany, Turkish Muslims have finally been enabled to get German citizenship as the country abandons its principle of jus sanguinis) but as EPC Dialogue participants heard, these ‘passport Germans’ are not treated as equals yet.

Shared Values and the British Experience

True equality is not having to apologise for your colour or family and identity but a stable nation must have core, common values, otherwise it is only a collection of villages where people battle each other for resources and recognition but feel no attachments to anyone outside their own enclosures.

Questions are now arising about the limits of diversity and the values, which bind people together. For example: laws protect British children against corporal punishment in schools. Should Muslim madrasas (religious schools) be exempt from this? If they are, are Muslim children getting less protection than Christian children in Sunday Schools? Other issues are more contentious. This has created new tensions and reinforced the idea that Muslims are not respected or given the right of choice. World-wide campaigns have been launched to protest. But there are many European Muslims who agree with the French government yet are critical of the way this order was passed.

The place of religion in the state is being questioned with new vigour through the EU. Are state funded religious schools divisive, even though most have high academic standards? Why an established Church of England when church attendance is going down and other faiths are thereby relegated to a second-class status? Should secular values always take precedence over religious values in the modern world?

Women in Islam

The post-war migration f lows initially were mostly male, women came later. Some of these men took up with white partners and then faced identity crises. Expectations were and still are that the women would keep alive the traditions, cultures, faith. But in the most conservative families, dynamics change, cultures become porous and the pressures on women and girls are immense. Children lead separate lives within and outside the home and there are inevitable conflicts.

Values – independence, individuality, choice- inevitably enter their bloodstreams and although some families accommodate and even encourage these changes, others find it intolerable. Mothers who have had more proscribed lives react in two ways; they either want their daughters to be more independent or, terrified of repercussions from their families and communities, impose tight restrictions.

There are Muslim families in Britain who take their daughters out of school when they reach the age of fourteen. Forced marriages are still (and some believe a growing) problem. Female suicide and runaway rates among these families are disproportionately high.

Research shows Bangladeshi and Pakistani women have lower educational attainments and lower economic activity than other British Asian women and that part of the explanation for this is located in cultural and religious belief systems which locate women in the domestic sphere.

There is a success story too of Muslim women forging ahead but there are many more obstacles in their paths. For ambitious and educated Muslims women, Islamaphobia has become a concrete ceiling and they are fighting against this. Middle-class Muslim women – still a minority in Britain – are able to exert power and access all that is good about their faith and cultures without being imprisoned by either. We now see Muslim women in Oxford and Cambridge and other universities and a number of writers, activists, lawyers, doctors, painters, politicians, city brokers and journalists- unthinkable fifteen years ago.

The hijab is proving to be another fascinating issue. Younger Muslims are taking on the hijab, and burkha. Others reject these garments and there is considerable coercion which creates further tensions. The symbolism of the veil has a long history in the western and eastern imaginations believes lecturer Reina Lewis describes ‘Standing as a beacon of tradition or an emblem of progressive modernity, the veiled or unveiled, de-veiled or re-veiled, woman has been a feature of divergent struggles over decolonisation, nationalism, revolution, Westernisation and anti-Westernisation.’

Conclusion

There are signs of a gradual emergence of a modern European Islam, an Islam that embraces an international morality and value consensus. At the same time, there are very real issues affecting Muslims in Europe and issues such as employment, racism and identity, which need to be addressed. In order to make integration work, the dialogue among the different communities needs to be improved and mutual rights and obligations need to be recognised. The rights, responsibilities and circumstances of Muslims in Europe vary widely. There is not just one Islamic phenomenon, but several. Much more needs to be done to deepen European understanding and policy toward the European Union’s Muslim citizens.

In October 2002 the European Policy Centre and its strategic partner the King Baudouin Foundation launched an Integrated Work Programme around the questions raised by the rights and responsibilities of Muslims in Europe and the European Union’s relations with Islamic countries. This personal overview of the complex issues involved has been prepared by the distinguished writer, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown. An extensive report of the first Policy Dialogue, held on 9 December 2003, in context of this integrated work programme can be found on the EPC website.

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