Towards a European Islam

The year 1989 was the year of the 'affairs': Rushdie in Britain and headscarves in France. The public and politicians suddenly noticed that Islam had established a visible presence in the cities of western Europe. This book follows the develop-ment of Islam in the region through this watershed. Tracing the Muslim presence from the eighteenth century, the author pays particular attention to Britain since the 1950s. The process of settlement and the growth of the second generation provides the context for an assessment of Muslims' relationships with government, changing family structures and responses to the education system. As the gener-ations change, so some common issues begin to emerge among Muslims across western Europe: how to pass the faith on to the next generation, and whether to seek to apply traditional Islamic family law. Another important issue is the growing impatience at European society's unwillingness to adapt, and the consequent rise of radicalism. The last part of the book considers how relations between religion and state and the attitudes of the churches have influenced the context in which European Islam is emerging out of a search for a meaningful place in the wider society.