Growing Islamism in Europe Results in Backlash from Majority Community

By New Age Islam Staff Writer 25 June 2024 A 14-Year-Old Autistic Boy Was Suspended for Inadvertently Dropping the Quran Main Points: 1. Muslims held rally demanding Islamic caliphate in Germany. 2. An Imam in France was deported for calling French nationa flag satanic. 3. Extremist preacher Anjem Chaudhary of London was sentenced to 5 years for supporting ISIS. 4. 'Muslim Patrol' in East London imposes Shariah Law in the area. ------ Europe and America have granted refuge to immigrants from all over the world under their age old democratic values and inclusive approach and also granted them social, political and religious rights. Taking advantage of the tolerance, inclusive approach and secular and democratic values of the European countries, the Muslims from the Muslim majority countries of Asia, Africa and Europe have found refuge in the US, UK, France, Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Germany etc. and settled there for better life and future for their children. As a result, Muslim population in Europe grew to 3 to 4 per cent in Europe in the last one hundred years. The Muslims migrated to Europe in the wake of social, political and religious strife, wars and civil wars in their respective countries. Some major events that caused large scale displacement of Muslims were the 1971 war of independence of Bangladesh, the 20-year war in Afghanistan, the civil war in African countries and the civil war in the Middle East that started in 2011. During this period alone, 1.3 million people migrated to European countries due to large scale displacement of the Muslims from Iraq, Syria, Libya and other African countries. This caused the problem of illegal immigration in Europe leading to a number of social, economic and political problems in host countries. With the growth in Muslim population in the European countries, the problem of Islamism and religious extremism also became distinct with the passage of time. The Islamist organisations of the Middle East and the Indian sub-continent started appointing preachers and imams associated with their sect or ideological schools in the mosques and Islamic centres in Europe. These preachers and imams had a hostile attitude to the majority population of their adopted countries because they were mostly Christians, the People of the Book in Quran's words. But the preachers declared these Christian majority countries Dar-al-Harb (enemy territory) and presented the majority community as the enemies of Islam and Muslims though they enjoyed all the religious rights in these countries. They were granted land for building mosques and educational institutions. They were allowed to preach and propagate their religion peacefully. They were allowed to pray and hold demonstrations. Still a section of preachers preached extremist ideas among the immigrant Muslims. After the emergence of the ISIS, they have even started demanding the imposition of Sharia Laws and establishment of caliphate in some countries. In April this year, a radical organisation Muslim Interaktiv of Germany held a rally in Hamburg demanding a caliphate and abolition of democracy in Germany. In February this year, an imam of France, Imam Mahjoub Mahjoubi was arrested and deported to Tunisia for calling the French national flag 'satanic'. A preacher of UK, Anjem Chaudhry was sentenced to five and a half years in jail for openly supporting the ISIS. The Muslims of East London started 'Muslim Patrol' imposing Sharia Law in the area. The members of the patrol harassed Christians for drinking wine in their area and harassed women wearing skirts. As a reaction, Christians started 'Christian Patrol'. This caused tensions between the two communities. Recently, the Islamist organisations of Pakistan and Bangladesh have been trying to impose blasphemy laws by threatening people with punishment for blasphemy. A 14-year-old Autistic student was suspended for inadvertently dropping the Quran. All this has evoked reactions and concerns among the British, German and French people over the future of their society and now they have started expressing their concerns over the growing Islamism and extremism among the immigrant Muslims. A fortnight ago, a rally was organised by a far right activist Tommy Robinson in London. The protesters held placards that read: "This is London, not Londonistan" and "We want our country back." This reflected their fear of their country being overtaken by the extremists. During the election campaign UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also said that Islamic preachers spread poison and declared that Islamists would be deported. Demands have been made for strict screening of foreign preachers before granting them visa. His government has even formulated a plan to resettle all illegal immigrants to the unsafe African country Rwanda. The majority of illegal immigrants being the Muslims, they will form the majority of the deportees to Rwanda. The growing population of immigrants and the growing number of illegal immigrants, mostly Muslims have compelled the European governments to chalk out plans to solve the immigrant problem. The growing Islamism and extremism of extremist and militant Islamic organisations have further exacerbated the problem. The majority community now feels threatened by the Muslims. This fear has further been fuelled by far right activists and politicians like Le Pen in France, Geert Wilders in Netherlands, Georgia Melony in Italy and Rasmus Paludan in Sweden. Rishi Sunak is also tilting to the far right ideology so far as his approach to Muslims is concerned. He includes pro-Palestine protesters in the universities of the UK among the Islamists and has cancelled visas of students calling them a threat to the society. He seems to be influenced by the Jewish lobby. A Lebanese PhD student of Palestinian origin Amina al Ashka was denied visa after she was awarded a scholarship by the London School of Economics. Other students have also suffered due to Rishi Sunak's anti-Palestine policy. To him, supporting the cause of Palestine is also Islamism and extremism. That's why, a section of the activists and scholars of the UK have not supported Rishi Sunak's deportation plan or his stance against pro-Palestine students. The European governments have every right to legally deal with terrorism, extremism and religious fanaticism and Islamic countries have co-operated with them in the war on terrorism. The UK, France, Germany or Netherlands rightly take legal action against extremist preachers who spread hate and create differences between communities but there is a difference between Islamism and social and political activism.. The Islamist preachers have added to the problems of the immigrant Muslims in European countries. Through their extremist and sectarian ideas, they are creating the same environment in the Muslim society in Europe which they left in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. ----- Urdu Article: Threat Of Local Reaction To Muslim Extremism In Europe یوروپ میں مسلم انتہا پسندی کے خلاف مقامی ردعمل کا خطرہ URL: https://www.newageislam.com/radical-islamism-jihad/islamism-europe-backlash-majority-community/d/132572 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism