Islam and Muslims in Europe: a summary by EICRI
Many think that Islam in Europe is a fairly new phenomenon, something that began to form around a century ago. What most people don’t know is that Islamic influence and muslims have been in Europe more than 13 centuries ago.
History
Islam gained its first foothold in continental Europe in 711 with the Umayyad conquest of Hispania. They advanced into France but in 732, were defeated by the Franks at the Battle of Tours. Over the centuries the Umayyads were gradually driven south and in 1492 the Moorish Emirate of Granada surrendered to Ferdinand V and Isabella. Muslim civilians were expelled from Spain and by 1614 none remained in Spain.[2] Islam entered Eastern and Southeastern Europe in what are now parts of Russia and Bulgaria in the 7th[3] and 13th century, respectively. Following the Muslim conquest of Persia, Islam for the first time penetrated into regions that would later become part of Russia.[4] The Ottoman Empire expanded into Europe taking huge portions of the Byzantine Empire in the 14th and 15th centuries. Over the centuries, the Ottoman Empire also gradually lost almost all of its European territories, until the empire collapsed in 1922. However, parts of the Balkans (such as Bosnia-Herzegovina, Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Bulgaria and Montenegro) continue to have large populations of native, European Muslims. Transcontinental countries, such as Turkey, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan have large Muslim populations.
Statistics
Numbers are everything. How many inhabitants of Europe identify themselves with a religion, with Islam in particular? We have extracted key statistics from a Pewforum research dating back from 2010. In short, most Europeans adhere to the christian religion (mostly catholic), while Islam is the second largest religion. Christianity is losing ground in Europe while Islam is getting a serious footprint on the ground. The swift change of demographics can also be remarked in socio-economic fields and in politics in particular. More and more muslims take stage in different key positions. In 2015 and 2016 for example, the Dutch politics was enriched with the appointing of Ahmed Aboutaleb as the major of the port city of Rotterdam, while Khadija Arib, just like Ahmed Aboutaleb a native Moroccan, took stage as the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Dutch lower house (Tweede Kamer) of the bicameralparliament.
The estimated numbers are as follows:
- Religion – amount – (percentage)
- Christianity – 558,260,000 – (75.2%)
- Islam – 43,490,000 – (5.9%)
- Religious unafilliated* – 134,820,000 – (18.2%)
- Other – 5,980,000 – (0.7%)
- Total ‘religious’ – 607,730,000 – (81.8%)
*The religiously unaffiliated include atheists, agnostics and people who do not identify with any particular religion.
Total inhabitants of Europe in 2010: 742,550,000.
Islamophobia
2016 marks the fifteenth anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, in which almost 4,000 people lost their lives. 9/11 didn’t only change New York, Washington DC or Pennsylvania; it changed the whole world. Muslims are perhaps the people who felt the backlash the most. On September 11th 2016, family members, officials and dignitaries will observe a moment of silence, again, for those who died. But how do western people view Islam and Muslims? What about the Muslims themselves: are the different communities coming closer to each other, or are they driven apart more than ever? Take a look at our publication titled: Fifteen years after 9/11, islamophobia is still on the rise
Summary
History
Statistics
Religious freedom
Anti-Islam suppositions
Modern Muslims
Demographics
Race
Education and income
Conversion to Islam
Mosques
Culture
Politics
Integration of muslims in society
Main Islamic Organizations in the EU
Political
Research and think tanks
The EICRI-institute embodies a think tank which is an independent, nonpartisan research organization specializing in addressing the most pressing challenges facing the European Muslim community and in bridging the information gap between the European Muslim community and the wider society.
Muslims’ views of the EU
European Muslim life after the September 11 attacks
Unislamic terrorism in Europe
Islamophobia
What will the future bring?
SUMMARY
Islam and Muslims in Europe
EICRI is the front-runner in observing the muslim population in Western-Europe. As of 2016, the situation in which the muslims live is changing like never before. Islamophobia, terrorism, hate-crimes; these and other subjects have a large impact on the lives of muslim inhabitants in Europe. It’s important for all to know that Islam gained its first foothold in continental Europe in 711 with the Umayyad conquest of Hispania. They advanced into France but in 732, were defeated by the Franks at the Battle of Tours. Over the centuries the Umayyads were gradually driven south and in 1492 the Moorish Emirate of Granada surrendered to Ferdinand V and Isabella. Muslim civilians were expelled from Spain and by 1614 none remained in Spain.[2] Islam entered Eastern and Southeastern Europe in what are now parts of Russia and Bulgaria in the 7th[3] and 13th century, respectively. Following the Muslim conquest of Persia, Islam for the first time penetrated into regions that would later become part of Russia.[4] The Ottoman Empire expanded into Europe taking huge portions of the Byzantine Empire in the 14th and 15th centuries. Over the centuries, the Ottoman Empire also gradually lost almost all of its European territories, until the empire collapsed in 1922. However, parts of the Balkans (such as Bosnia-Herzegovina, Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Bulgaria and Montenegro) continue to have large populations of native, European Muslims. Transcontinental countries, such as Turkey, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan have large Muslim populations.
%
Christians
%
Atheists
%
Muslims
%
Other
It’s clearly visible on the map on the left that most muslims are concentrated in big western cities like Paris, London and Berlin. Germany and France have the largest Muslim populations among European Union member countries.
According to the latest research outcome, as of 2010, there were 4.8 million Muslims in Germany (5.8% of the country’s population) and 4.7 million Muslims in France (7.5%). In Europe overall, however, Russia’s population of 14 million Muslims (10%) is the largest on the continent.