Large scale movement following WWII

Demand for unskilled labor to rebuild Europe

From Bangladesh to Britain

Escape from Algerian War>French Algerians to France

Moroccans and Turks to the Netherlands and Scandinavian countries…asylum seekers

 

1980’s: Europe-born Muslim children come of age

Demand public recognition of their religion

Demand for halal food

Explicitly forbidden substances

Pork meat (i.e., flesh of pig)[Qur'an 2:173]

Blood[Qur'an 2:173]

Animals slaughtered in the name of anyone but Allah. All that has been dedicated or offered in sacrifice to an idolatrous altar or saint or a person considered to be "divine"[Qur'an 2:173] [Qur'an 5:3]

Carrion[Qur'an 2:173]

An animal that has been strangled, beaten (to death), killed by a fall, gored (to death), savaged by a beast of prey (except that which you may have slaughtered while it was still alive){{cite quran

Food over which Allah's name is not pronounced(or at least not in a name other than Allah)[Qur'an 6:121]

Alcohol and other intoxicants[Qur'an 5:090]

Demands (cont’d)

Allowed to dress in a recognizably Islamic fashion

To build mosques

Timing

Khomeini in Iran…fears about Islam in Europe

Anti-immigrant trend in many countries

 

Political opposition in Britain

"You build a mosque and then what happens? You have Muslim people moving into that area, all the shops become Islamic, all the housing will become Islamic and that will be a no-go area for anyone else," ….

Similarities and Contrasts

Similarities

Most Muslim residents or their parents came from former colonies

Most had some knowledge of the host country’s language and customs

Language serves as a potentially uniting element across political groups

Early migration by single men

Contrasts

South Asians in Britain

Pakistan, Bangladesh, India primarily

About 60% of Pakistanis from Mirpur

Settled in origin-specific areas, e.g., London Area

North Africans in France

Algerians, Moroccans, Tunisians, Turks, and West Africans primarily

Did not settled in origin-specific areas

In Britain

When families joined their men, they settled in a few key places

In France

Men came to work in the 60’s and 70’s staying in large public housing where several nationalities were mixed together.

Because of greater diversity in France, settlement was more wide spread

In Britain

The way Muslims migrated reinforced transnational ties to home

In France

The political culture of secularity (laïcité) plus government policy caused a marked split

Officially Muslims treated as citizens

In everyday life, prejudice--maghrébian

In daily life, assigns others to categories

Features of appearance

Bengali corpses

Sent to Bangladesh for burial

Relatives can visit the grave and pray for the soul

In spite of Islamic prohibitions

Embalming

Burying soon after death

Pakistani language

Speaking Urdu

Maintains an ethnic/regional consciousness

Transcontinental marriage

Religious associations; for Sufi’s--saints

Islamic religious practice promotes a sense of a worldwide community among ordinary Muslims

Rituals and histories; shared duties and practices

Requirement to pray in Arabic; recitation of the Qur’an

Annual pilgrimage

Development of global jurisprudence

Praying five times a day

Specific networks of authority, learning and communication

Examples

Meccan jurists

Cairene muftis

Al-Jazîra television—Yûsuf Qardâwî

Authority sites

Opinion on Islamic law—fatwa

Muslims pay attention to different sources of authority

Dâr al-islâm

The abode of Islam

Countries under Islamic principles

Dâr al-harb

The abode of war

Countries not under Islamic principles

Not all Muslims comfortable with this division

Dar al-a’ahd

Abode of treaty

Protection given to religious minorities through international law

Dar al-da’wa

Abode of predication

Emphasizes possibilities open to Muslims

Case Study: Bank Interest

Rule of Islamic law: It is prohibited to lend or borrow at interest

Fatwa:

Muslims should take steps to avoid borrowing at interest; however, Muslims in Europe could take out a mortgage on a first house.

Doctrine of "extreme necessity"

While living in non-Muslim countries, Muslims may make contracts that violate Islamic law

The Argument

Two schools of traditional Sunni legal interpretation

Hanifi

Hanbali

Muslims cannot change the institutions that dominate life

If forbidden to benefit from banking institutions, then Islam would have weakened the Muslim. This contradicts the principle that Islam should benefit Muslims

Two approaches

See Islam as not centrally relevant to life in France and distance oneself from the legal and institutional aspects

Religion as individual and international

Philosophy/spirituality

Keep religion out of the public sphere

Distance oneself from involvement in the culture in order to best live as a Muslim

Young Muslim movement

Seek to change political life as coalitions of Muslims rather than coalitions of secular citizens

Separatists

Promote eventual recreation of Islamic state: Hizb ut-Tahrir

Those who keep to themselves: Tablighi Jama’at

Distinctive feature of the French experience

Both colonial history and current policies push toward integration—identity as a French Muslim vs. movement toward an Islamic state

Now demanding equality/respect as in our civil rights movement in the 60’s

Young Muslims now demanding sermons in Mosques in French

"Proper French Attitudes"

Mix of carrots and sticks

Headscarves out at school but some mayors giving land for mosques

Free language lessons to increase chance of employment

A taste of mystic Islam—The Sufi

Rumi

Sacred speech (poetry)

Brief film