A galaxy of Muslim thinkers, scholars and leaders from all over the world are attending the two-day conference.

ISTANBUL – A galaxy of Muslim thinkers, scholars and leaders from all over the world flocked to Istanbul to attend a conference, which kicked off on Saturday, July 1, on the challenges facing European Muslims and the opportunities within their reach.

The two-day conference, themed Muslims of Europe: Challenges and Opportunities, aims at bringing together Muslim intellectuals and leaders from various ethnic and linguistic backgrounds to look at some of the most pertinent issues that face European Muslims and their societies.

Issues such as integration, citizenship, identity, Islamophobia and media representation, faith and its public role, and combating extremism top the agenda.

The focus for this conference is Europe because there is a common legacy of migration, minority status and culture that is distinct.

The event will help promote dialogue within European Muslim communities and explore the need for positive integration in a European context.

In addition to six plenary and breakout sessions, the conference also features a number of lectures by prominent Muslim scholar Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, Sheikh Abdallah Bin Bayyah and Amr Khalid.

The two-day conference is arranged by a steering group representing a number of major European Muslim organizations and figures.

Key participants include Muslim intellectual Tariq Ramadan, American scholar Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, British singers Yusuf Islam and Sami Yusuf.

Turkey is considered the model location for holding this conference, as it represents the virtual line that separates "the East and the West" and "Christianity and Islam."

It is also the sole country with a Muslim majority that is queuing to join the EU.

Cooperation

In his opening speech, Turkish Minister of State Mehmet Aydin said "we should not blame each other because there are many problems that we should join hands to work them out."

He highlighted some of the reasons hindering the integration of Muslims in European societies.

"There are many reasons behind the weak integration of Muslims into there respective European societies as their stay in these countries is regarded 'transitional', the matter which does not make these countries take the suitable measures that may ease the integration of these Muslims."

Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), said integration is easier said but done.

He criticized the depiction, by some, that Muslims are "the enemies from within", a smeared image which both parties should work to eliminate.

Sheikh Ali Gomaa, Grand Mufti of Egypt, said the conference "should be the start for us to do something and not only to speak because we should have been working on this many years ago."

Palestine

Qaradawi asserted that Muslims should be "upright without being inclusive and they should work for integration but not assimilation."

In his address, Qaradawi condemned the escalating Israeli aggressions against the Palestinian people and urged the organizers to include this in their final declaration.

He also took issue with the absence of Europeans from the conference, saying he expected to see Muslims and Europeans present.

"There is no harm in doing this; i.e. holding a meeting for Muslims to come to have a mutual understanding of their own issues then they can present themselves clearly to the other," noted the senior scholar.

"Islam calls for human brotherhood as we all belong to one Creator, Almighty Allah, and to one father, Adam."

Qaradawi urged Europeans to positively recognize the existence of Muslims among their ranks, noting that there are many native Muslims in Europe especially in the Balkan.

He noted that "some Europeans do not want those who are different from them in terms of color, faith or race, but this is against the diversity that characterizes the whole creation of God. We want all human beings to respect diversity and variety."

Qaradawi asserted that Muslims should be "upright without being inclusive and they should work for integration but not assimilation."