Islam is not new to Europe.^[1] The year 711 CE^[2] is often quoted as the time when Muslims from North Africa entered Spain; however, the first official contact point was probably when Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) sent the messenger Dihya ibn Khalifa^[3] to Heraclius^[4] in 628 CE.^[5] Soon after, in 652 CE, Mu`awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan^[6] sent troops into Sicily.^[7] Since such times, Muslims have interacted with Europe in one form or another. In fact, it would be fair to say that Islam has been a European phenomenon for large part of its history—almost 800 years of Muslim civilization in Spain, and over 250 years in Sicily. Along with this establishment of European Muslim Communities, there were also other meeting points—the brief presence in southern France, the conflicts in Austria, and of course, the Crusades.

In more recent history, the world has seen Europe reaching into other parts of the world during colonialism and after that the arrival of Muslim migrants into Europe seeking jobs and a better life. For Islam and Europe to learn to accept each other, it must be pointed out that the common history of Islam and Europe is not only a picture of doom and gloom, but contains innumerable instances of exchange of learning, mutual development, and partnership. European scholars now live in a climate where they are ready to admit the tremendous influence of Muslim civilization to the makeup of Europe: the contribution of Ibn Khaldun^[9] to sociology and history, of Al-Razi^[8] and Ibn Sina^[10] to medicine, of Al-Khuwarizmi^[11] to mathematics.

The common usage of words such as alcohol, alchemy and algebra are derived from Arabic (see appendix 1). The pilgrimage of Europeans to the centers of learning in Cordoba, Toledo, and Granada in Muslim Spain are all testimonies to the contribution of Muslims in the formation of Europe. The wisdom of the ancient Greeks was preserved and annotated by the Arabs, such that the writings of Aristotle, Euclid, Galen, Archimedes, and others, were translated into Arabic and later into Latin.^[12] In fact, Arabic can be seen as one of the classical languages of Europe.^[13]

In the words of Montgomery Watt, “Thus, through trade contacts and through political presence in Spain and Sicily, the superior culture of the Arabs gradually made its way into Western Europe. Though Western Europe was in contact with the Byzantine Empire, it took over far more from the Arabs than from the Byzantines. When one becomes aware of the full extent of Arab experimenting, Arab thinking, and Arab writing, one sees that without the Arabs, European science and philosophy would not have developed when they did.”^[14]

Read in This Article

• Europe Today

• Images of Islam

• Is Islam a Threat?

• Muslims in Europe Today

• The Future

Europe Today

Today, early in the new millennium, it is more important than ever to remind ourselves of the positive historical partnership of Islam and Europe. Today, we see in Western Europe around 10 million Muslims. The 1990s saw a dramatic rise in the number of Muslims that have become “visible.” Muslim organizations are proliferating very rapidly; there is a large growth in the number of mosques. It is also interesting to observe that there is a steady trickle of those who are converting to Islam. Islam has become a point of hot debate: What will be the future of these Muslims in Europe? Are they a fifth column? Are they a source of fundamentalism in a tolerant Europe? Are they a threat that needs to be contained and assimilated before they endanger the stability of Europe? Thankfully, not all quarters of Europe are obsessed by such questions.

It is very true, however, that a great deal of mistrust regarding the Other prevails, both on the side of some Muslims and on the side of certain elements within Europe. François Leotard, as French defense minister, stated, “Islamic fundamentalism is as dangerous today as Nazism once was.”^[15] Huntington’s theories, though largely rejected, continue to have their devout followers. Throughout Europe, Islamophobia seems to be on the increase.^[16] On a more general level, former UK Conservative Party chairman Lord Tebbit’s views on cricket are well known,^[17] and he added, “You can’t have a whole load of different cultures in one society; you have one culture for one society. ... Multiculturalism is a divisive force.”^[18]

Although these opinions may not always be of the mainstream, they have their significant effects on minority communities. This can create a siege mentality among those who already carry the inherited memories of colonialism. With the notable exception of a few countries, Islam is still not officially recognized by Europe. Of course, Islam is here, that is the reality, but official recognition has its impact on outlook, funding, status, and so on. Western Europe has developed very different models for dealing with Islam. Austria, Spain, and Belgium have legally recognized Islam. Sweden is willing to fund certain activities for Muslims as long as they are represented through organizations of a particular minimum size. In France, no religious community has official recognition. The establishment of Laicité in 1905, prohibits any expression of religion in public life. It was on this basis that the headscarf incidents arose. It is, however, important to note that the French president is traditionally buried in Notre Dame, and the Jewish yarmulke is tolerated. So, there does seem to an informal, flexible application of the law. Germany still refuses to accept that it is a country of immigration; hence, the immigrants are known as Gasterbeiter, or guest workers, even after three generations. Britain, although not legally recognizing the Muslim community, has largely accommodated and accepted the diversity of its minorities.

Images of Islam

Over the long interaction between Europe and Islam, many negative images of Islam were built up, some of these politically motivated, others due to religious differences. In the medieval era, it was commonly understood that Muslims were idolaters who worship Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), or that Muhammad himself was a magician or, in other instances, the devil Mahound or the antichrist. Islam was portrayed as a religion of falsehood, a deliberate adulteration of the truth. Furthermore, it was a religion of violence that was spread by the sword. Muslims were people who were obsessed with carnal desires and self-indulgence; fornication and homosexuality were seen to be justified by the faith. Many of these ideas were concocted to create an alliance of Christendom to fight the Crusades, to show that the Other was living in darkness, hence justifying the need to convert them or fight them.^[19] It is also interesting to note that even today, some of those images, as well as other new ones, still exist.

Is Islam a Threat?

Let us consider for a moment the condition of Islam in the modern world. The Muslims can be seen as living in two general situations: first, as minorities in the West, in China, and so on, and second, in conditions where the majority is Muslim. To consider the first situation, it would take a great stretch of the imagination to describe those minorities as composing a threat to Europe or the West. These communities themselves are afraid of the environment they live in. There is a very real possibility that the cultural and religious values, the ethical norms of the migrant settlers will be eroded by the second and third generations. Such communities are too busy being defensive to pose any threat to the established order within which they live.

Looking at the Muslim world, the power politics are not so different. There are some 56 Muslim states, but most Muslims will have serious reservations as to the “Islamicity” of these states. Most of these countries fall within the category of developing nations, or, until recently, the Third World; they are drowning in debt to the IMF, World Bank, and to the developed world. In terms of technology, they are always trying to catch up to the Western world: The influence of Western media and the process of globalization dominate them. Some have minerals or raw nuclear or oil resources, but the prevailing political ties are such that it is usually very difficult to use these in any way that is against Western interests: The Gulf war was a testimony to that. One could look at this whole situation from a different perspective and see that the state of Israel exists among a sea of Muslim states, none of which seems to like its presence, but none of these states is powerful or independent enough to alter the situation. The events that unfolded in Bosnia seemed to have a deep emotional impact upon Muslims around the world, but the international Muslim community was unable to have any serious political effect. In fact, the only help they could offer seemed to be to collect money for charity organizations. How then, could such an international community pose a serious threat to the established might of the West?

Muslims in Europe Today

As it stands, the Muslim community, which is a very young community, (in the United Kingdom 75 percent of the Muslim community is estimated to be under the age of 35^[20]) has its own problems. A large number of the youth face an identity crisis, torn between the culture of their parents and that of their environment. It is in this context that the Islamic revival within Europe must be placed. Muslims in Europe have been subject to at least three major waves of self-awareness.

First, in the late 1970s, the Iranian revolution had a major impact on the Muslim world, even on those Muslims living in Europe, regardless of their stance towards the Iranian Revolution; this was a sign of Islam reaching prominence.

Second, Salman Rushdie’s Satanic Verses in 1989 led many Muslims in the United Kingdom, especially youth, to search deep within themselves and question their role in a society that seemed to disregard their faith and their rights. The issue of hijab or foulard has had a similar effect in other European countries.

Third, the Gulf War, Bosnia, and other recent political events have caused a tremendous stir within the Muslim community. There seems to be some shifting of the goal posts. When Iraq was opposed to Iran, it was seen as reasonable to arm Saddam Hussein; but when he invaded Kuwait, he had to be stopped. The Serbs, however, were, by and large, allowed to slaughter the Bosnians. Legitimate elections in Algeria were cancelled in the name of protecting democracy, while the Turkish army arrogantly interfered in the democratic process and was allowed to hold the nation’s politicians hostage. When the United States supported the Afghans against Russia, they were freedom fighters; but when Palestinians struggle for independence, they are terrorists. The image of Islam is still one of violence and terror stemming from jihad, even though, perhaps all the acts of jihad in the last 100 years have been defensive struggles for freedom and self-determination. When a bomb explodes in Cairo, it seems quite reasonable for a reporter in Bradford to stop a young Muslim on the street to ask his or her opinion on the matter, but no one thinks of asking a Copt in Egypt about the strife in Northern Ireland.

As a rule, this has created disappointment and has contributed to a sense of resentment and rejection. Some elements of the Islamic revival have tapped into those tendencies of rejection and anger, and have given an outlet through a discourse of vociferous denunciation of the West and all things Western. However, the Islamic revival is not all a negative reaction; it is largely a positive journey of self-discovery and, in fact, for an increasing number of young people, it enables them to discover an alternative to their parental culture—a European Islamic culture. This is brought about by a process of shedding the cultural baggage of the Asian or Arab Islam, to return to the basic and fundamental principles and to apply them in a European context. This process can only be a healthy one for Europe, for it creates people who are confident of their identity: They are European Muslims. They want to contribute to its future, to build a better Europe for themselves and for their children. In the words of Khurshid Ahmed, “It would be a tragedy if we became prisoners of the past.”^[21] As such, Muslims also need to address some issues within their quarters.

Just as Muslims claim that Islam is not monolithic, they need to understand that Europe is not monolithic either. There are many in Europe who are prepared to look objectively if not sympathetically to the problems that Muslims face. Furthermore, it is important to note that the struggle of the Islamic movements is not one against the West or Europe; rather it is a process of community and self-development, as Hasan Al-Turabi says: “The West is not our preoccupation. We are concerned with the constructive regeneration of our societies by mobilizing our souls and minds, not fighting ‘Great Satans.’ Except when a policy is directed against Islam, the West is not the enemy for us.”^[22]

Contact with Europe has enabled Muslims to learn much; in fact, while there is pride that Europeans learned from the establishments of Al-Andalus, there also needs to be gratitude for Muslims now studying in Oxford, Cambridge, and London universities. Many of the revivalist movements have absorbed ideas,^[23] methods, even structures from European models. Encounters with modern Europe have prompted Muslims to engage in internal debates on a variety of issues such as democracy, pluralism, the role and status of women, concepts of dar al-harb, and so on. In fact, the whole worldview of Muslims is undergoing changes. In 1992, in a fiqh seminar in France on the theme of Muslims in the West, a group of leading Muslim scholars discussed some of these ideas. One of the objections they raised to the concepts of dar al-harb and dar al-Islam was that a fundamental characteristic of dar al-Islam is security, but how can we call the Muslim world dar al-Islam when there is so much dictatorship and persecution of even Muslim scholars and activists? Similarly, how can we call the West dar al-harb, when such Muslims often have to leave their own countries and seek political asylum in the West?^[24]

The Future

The way towards learning to accept each other, and therefore being able to live with each other, may not be easy; it is a delicate process indeed, but there is no other alternative. It will take time, as negative images have been built up over centuries and these will not be replaced overnight. In fact, both Europe and Islam need to understand themselves better in order to be able to understand each other,^[25] for notions of the self and the Other exert a mutual influence.

In my opinion, the greatest responsibility lies in the hands of the majority, the host community, Europe. Minorities can be dealt with in two different ways: (1) Cultural diversity can be accommodated, even celebrated, which will make the minority feel welcome and hence willing to engage with the society; or (2) diversity can be feared and eliminated by expulsion, suppression, or forced assimilation. The former is the path of pluralism and seems to be the most sensible approach. Any attempts to eliminate the Muslim identity will only cause more problems in the long term. One only needs to look at the differences between the Muslims in France and in the United Kingdom to see the effect of the different models practiced. Granted, French and Algerian history continues to be a significant obstacle, but French Laicité and notions of cultural unity themselves place tremendous burdens upon the Muslim community. The idea is to avoid ghettos and exclusion zones; the result, however, is a community that continuously feels threatened and is on edge, so much so that it is, on the whole, unable to even think of itself as French.

Today, Muslims may represent a different culture, but we need to remember that cultures are the result of eclectic processes; cultures are never static. Was Christianity not once an Eastern phenomenon? But in time it rooted itself in Western society. Curry, kebab, pizza, and burgers are all now established elements of British culture, yet they were not originally British.

Muslim societies have traditionally been plural.^[26] Muslim theology reminds mankind that diversity is a natural and positive factor in life, in which peoples should come together to learn about each other.

[O mankind! We have created you from male and a female and have made you into nations and tribes, so that you may come to know one another. Verily, the noblest of you in the sight of God is the one who is most conscious of Him.] (Al-Hujurat 49:13)

[And if God had so willed, He could surely have made you all a single people.] (Al-Ma’idah 5:48)

Pluralism, therefore, gives an avenue for the future of Europe to be strong, stable, and peaceful. Muslims need to come together with their fellow human beings, irrespective of faith, to work together for the common good, just as Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) entered into the hilf al-fudul.^[27] The alternative to pluralism would be to anticipate and prepare for some sort of clash of civilizations or elimination of one or the other, and that would be a terrible blow to both Europe and Islam. It would be a very sad moment indeed for opportunities lost.

* Dilwar Hussain, is a Research Fellow at the Islamic Foundaion and can be contacted by email: dilwar@islamic-foundation.org.uk.