Western Europe and Its Islam

Book excerpt: Immigration from North Africa, Asia and elsewhere meant a large influx of Islam into Western Europe. In each country, Muslims organized in various ways and established numerous institutions such as mosques, cemeteries, "halal" butchers, schools, broadcasting organizations, and political parties, and slowly but surely the outlines of Muslim communities begun to emerge. The development of those communities is not a matter of Muslims only, but the product of their interaction with the wider environment. The development of the process of institutionalization is the result of their consultations and conflicts with parties involved, particularly with agents from the host society. As Muslim immigrants become ever more a part of Western European societies, the establishment of their institutions both illustrates and affects the processes of sociological, political and legal change that are currently taking place. This book, based on interdisciplinary research, examines the establishment of Muslim institutions in Western Europe, and particularly focuses on the role played by agents from the host society and the political and ideological positions adopted by them in reaction to claims from Muslims.