Category Archives: Islam in Europe

Dueling Manifestos

Islam and Christianity, Islam in Europe, Islamophobia, Terrorism Issue


A manifesto for a Muslim-free Europe, an Infidel-free Middle East

by Imran Khan, Al Jazeera, July 24, 2011

I have just finished reading a terrifying document. It’s called 2083: A European declaration of Independence.

It’s full of advice for the budding Christian martyr. Handy tips on how to build bombs and make poisons; on how to use video games to hone your shooting skills.

I came across it on a far right website.

At 1511 pages long it’s a work of extreme prejudice – against Muslims predominantly.

Ultimately, the author wants a Muslim-free Europe.

The author’s name is Andrew Berwick. He datelines the document London 2011. He spent 3 years of his life writing it and clearly believes, with a passion, every single word.

The Norwegian media claim this document is written by Anders Behring Breivik, the suspect behind the brutal attacks in Norway.

At the end of the book are pictures of Breivik himself, dressed as a blond haired and blue eyed hero of the Knights Templar.

Christian crusaders, the book suggests, have returned and are alive, well and living in London.

His last diary entry is dated 22 July 2011. There seems to be little doubt that Berwick is Breivik.

I have covered extremists of all hues for a decade now. What worries me about this document is the parallels that exist between this and another document found in a Manchester, United kingdom flat in 2005.

That document was dubbed the ‘al-Qaeda military manual’. It has a similar theme to the 2083 document – An infidel-free Middle East; Handy tips on bomb making, etc. Continue reading Dueling Manifestos →

From Pamela Geller to Anders Behring Breivik

Islam in Europe, Islamophobia 101, Terrorism Issue


From Pamela Geller to Anders Behring Breivik — how Islamophobia turned deadly in Norway

By Paul Woodward, War in Context, July 23, 2011

When terrorism has a white face it invariably gets marginalized in the popular narrative. The lone wolf, the outsider, the sociopath — in many cases these portraits of misanthropic, isolated individuals who turn to violence are quite accurate.

The Oslo killings, however, should be seen in a different light since there is a wealth of evidence to suggest that the perpetrator of this atrocity, even if it turns out he was acting alone, was very much part of a political movement — a movement whose leading ideologues regularly appear on Fox News and have high public profiles.

Anders Behring Breivik, the 32-year-old Norwegian man widely assumed to be responsible for the mass murder that took place in Oslo yesterday, is being referred to as a Christian fundamentalist in many press reports. Continue reading From Pamela Geller to Anders Behring Breivik →

Gems of Arabic Literature #1: Wise Words

Books You Should Read, Islam in Europe, Literature, Orientalism, Travel


With the virtual flood of book digitalization online quite a few obscure books are now available online either at archive.org or through Google. I recently came across a gem: a translation of a high school Arabic text used in Aden by the British at the start of the 20th century. The title page is shown above. The text has translations into English of classical Arabic texts, including fables, anecdotes and travel accounts. The full text can be downloaded as a pdf here. I include an anecdote about Salah al-Din below. Continue reading Gems of Arabic Literature #1: Wise Words →

Darwinism (but not a woman’s body) exposed in France

Bible and Holy Land, Islam and Christianity, Islam in Europe, Islamophobia, Turkey


[Webshaykh’s Note: The pseudoscientific nonsense of Harun Yahya has upended the recent burqa controversy. It is one thing to cover one’s body from head to toe, and quite another to cover one’s mind from the consensus of all contemporary science. In a sense arguing that only atheists accept “evolution” is not unlike those who insist that a woman’s body must be totally taken out of view. Both do a disservice to Islam by only encouraging the negative stereotyping so prevalent against Muslims in the West.]

Muslim creationists tour France denouncing Darwin
By Tom Heneghan, Religion Editor, Reuters, May 16, 2011

AUBERVILLIERS, France (Reuters) – Four years after they first frightened France, Muslim creationists are back touring the country preaching against evolution and claiming the Koran predicted many modern scientific discoveries.

Followers of Harun Yahya, a well-financed Turkish publisher of popular Islamic books, held four conferences at Muslim centers in the Paris area at the weekend with more scheduled in six other cities.

At a Muslim junior high school in this north Paris suburb, about 100 pupils — boys seated on the right, girls on the left — listened as two Turks from Harun Yahya’s headquarters in Istanbul denounced evolution as a theory Muslims should shun.

“We didn’t descend from the apes,” lecturer Ali Sadun told the giggling youngsters. Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, he said, was “the scientific basis to defend atheism.” Continue reading Darwinism (but not a woman’s body) exposed in France →

Iraq, Islam and Sweden

Anthropology/Sociology, Immigration Issues, Iraq, Islam in Europe, Terrorism Issue


Swedish-Iraqi immigrants protest in central Stockholm, where a car bomb exploded two days ago December 13, 2010. The placard on left reads, “Swedish Iraqis against terrorism”. REUTERS/Bertil Ericson

The recent bomb attempt in Sweden has been linked to an Iraqi who grew up in Sweden. Not much has been written about the influx of Iraqis to Sweden, whose open door policy in the past has led to it being a haven for refugees. However, one of my students, Sarah Skiold-Hanlin conducted an ethnographic project on Swedish reactions to the Iraqi community in the summer of 2008. Her research paper, an Honor’s Thesis in the Department of Anthropology at Hofstra, is available online and I recommend it for anyone wanting more information on the subject of Iraqis in Sweden.

I attach Sarah’s introduction below, but encourage you to read her entire paper:

“One place where many Iraqis have found refuge from the war is Sweden,” stated Renee Montagne, the host of NPR’s Morning Edition. This was her opening line as she introduced the news story titled: Sweden Begins Sending Iraqi Refugees Home. The story aired March 25, 2008. Renee goes on to explain how the “many Iraqis” numbered somewhere in the range of 20,000. A momentary flash of elation followed this opening as my mind began turning over the meaning, estimating its possible weight. Perhaps Sweden, a nation with which I have close family ties, could help rectify the political actions of my country of birth. But like trying to dam the Mississippi River with a box of pop sickle sticks and a bottle of Elmer’s Glue, the flow of refugees fleeing the war in Iraq is far to numerous for one small Scandinavian country to hold. Renee’s voice fervently interjected as she continued washing away my melodic dreams of relief and solution to the persistent humanitarian crisis plaguing so many civilians. “The Swedish government is stopping that flow of Iraqi refugees and sending some back home against their will,” she reported. Continue reading Iraq, Islam and Sweden →

A Philosophical Tale

Books You Should Read, Islam and Christianity, Islam in Europe, Islamic Sciences, Literature, Scholars


While teaching Hofstra’s Honors College Culture and Expression course this term, I suggested the text Hayy ibn Yaqzan by the Andalusian Muslim scholar Ibn Tufayl, who died in 1185 CE, as an antidote to the otherwise “Great Western” bent such courses inevitably take. Ibn Tufayl’s 12th century text is a brilliant fable built on the author’s knowledge of earlier philosophical arguments by Greek (including Plato and Aristotle) Neoplatonist and Muslim (such as Al-Farabi and Ibn Sina) intellectuals and also on the best science of his day. The plot revolves around a child stranded or spontaneously generated (take your pick) on an island, brought up by a nurturing doe and then growing through basic logic from an empirical youth to an enlightened mystic. In effect the hero, Hayy ibn Yaqzan, comes to the ultimate state of being a Muslim without ever having heard of Muhammad or being introduced to Islamic rituals and law. Ibn Tufayl turns St. Augustine’s “original sin” on its head, although still arriving at belief in one God as a First Cause, Prime Mover or Prime Sustainer.

The book is worth a read, since so many European intellectuals did in fact read it after it was translated into English by Simon Ockley in 1708. If you have ever read Robinson Crusoe or Tarzan, this book is worth checking out for its literary prehistoric value. Ibn Tufayl presents a strikingly modern view on the role of symbolism, no matter what you think of his ultimate theological spin. Here is an example from late in the book, once Hayy has gone as far as reason will take him:

Having attained this total absorption, this complete annihilation, this veritable union, he saw that the highest sphere, beyond which there is no body, had an essence free from matter, which was not the essence of that one, true one, nor the sphere itself, nor yet anything different from them both; but was like the image of the Sun which appears in a well polished looking-glass, which is neither the Sun nor the looking-glass, and yet not distinct from them. And he saw in the essence of that sphere, such perfection, splendour and beauty, as is too great to be expressed by any tongue, and too subtle to be clothed in words; and he perceived that it was in the utmost perfection of delight and joy, exultation and gladness, by reason of its beholding the essence of that true one, whose glory be exalted. Continue reading A Philosophical Tale →

Ibn Tufayl’s Fable

Books You Should Read, Environment, Islam and Christianity, Islam in Europe, Islamic History, Islamic Sciences, Literature, Scholars, Sufism


What would happen to a child growing up on an island outside any human society? In real life such a scenario would be absurd. No child could survive from birth on his or her own, despite exotic accounts of feral human babies being reared by animals. But as a thought experiment, it makes an intriguing story. Such is the philosophical fable spun by the Andalusian Muslim scholar Ibn Tufayl over eight centuries ago. I have just finished teaching this text and the lessons in it are fresh in my mind.

If you have never read this classic fable, it can be found online in the original 1708 translation into English by Simon Ockley. A more recent translation by Lenn Evan Goodman is available from Amazon. The author was a distinguished Muslim intellectual who borrowed from the earlier Greek icons Aristotle and Plato, as well as the commentaries by earlier Muslim philosophers like Ibn Sina (Avicenna) and al-Farabi. His fable combines logical arguments, inductive scientific observation and a form of intuition that leads to a union with the One. Continue reading Ibn Tufayl’s Fable →

Lauren Booth on Lauren Booth

Gender and Sexuality, Islam in Europe, Islamophobia 101, Journalism and Media, Palestine


I’m now a Muslim. Why all the shock and horror?

by Lauren Booth. The Guardian, November 3, 2010

It is five years since my first visit to Palestine. And when I arrived in the region, to work alongside charities in Gaza and the West Bank, I took with me the swagger of condescension that all white middle-class women (secretly or outwardly) hold towards poor Muslim women, women I presumed would be little more than black-robed blobs, silent in my peripheral vision. As a western woman with all my freedoms, I expected to deal professionally with men alone. After all, that’s what the Muslim world is all about, right?

This week’s screams of faux horror from fellow columnists on hearing of my conversion to Islam prove that this remains the stereotypical view regarding half a billion women currently practising Islam.

On my first trip to Ramallah, and many subsequent visits to Palestine, Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon, I did indeed deal with men in power. And, dear reader, one or two of them even had those scary beards we see on news bulletins from far-flung places we’ve bombed to smithereens. Surprisingly (for me) I also began to deal with a lot of women of all ages, in all manner of head coverings, who also held positions of power. Believe it or not, Muslim women can be educated, work the same deadly hours we do, and even boss their husbands about in front of his friends until he leaves the room in a huff to go and finish making the dinner. Continue reading Lauren Booth on Lauren Booth →