It’s still too early” “

According to some estimates, some 17 million Muslims are now living in the European Union. There were only 800,000 in 1950. It’s not easy, however, to furnish accurate figures, because Islamic religion makes no provision for a register of believers, of the kind we have in our parishes, and also because most European states reject the identification of their own citizens on the basis of their religious beliefs. Faced by these figures, is it permissible to speak of a European Islam? And what characteristics might it have? Meanwhile, growing Western Islamophobia is fuelling the prejudice of a radical and violent Islam. We discussed the matter with Father Hans Vöcking , of the secretariat of COMECE, Commission of the episcopates of the European Community. He is an expert on relations with Islam. In recent days he was in Doha, in Qatar, to participate in the Conference of Christian-Islamic dialogue promoted by the Pontifical Council for inter-religious dialogue. Can one speak of a European Islam? “I think it’s still too early to speak of a European Islam. We need to give Muslims time and opportunity to develop themselves in the society and culture of the Old Continent. But a reflection within Europe itself about what might be the Islam of the future is also needed”. Do you think a process of integration is already taking place? “We can already ascertain that national Islamic communities are becoming integrated in Europe by observing the relations between politics and the Churches. The question for the Islamic world is how to incorporate itself in this system that reveals differences from one country to another. But that’s not their main concern”. What’s that? “The great challenge posed to Islam, especially in Europe, is that of secularisation. Integrating oneself in Europe means coming to terms with pluralist societies, each with its own political, philosophical, social and religious history. The ‘positive’ values of the French Revolution and secularisation also form part of this history. With these values, too, Islam must come to terms”. Don’t we have to recognise that young Muslims of the second and third generation are already showing signs of secularisation? “They are those young people that have passed through the school system in their host country. They are ‘permeated’ by our secularised culture. They are seeking a form of Islam compatible with this European society. Their basic question is: ‘How can I live as a Muslim in this society?’. Their quest seems to be heading in the direction of a spiritual Islam. But it’s not a generalised phenomenon”. Why? “Because there are also young Muslims who prefer to enclose themselves in the ghetto of a fixed and immobile Islam, sometimes with harsh features. Then there’s a group seduced by the goals of a militant Islam”. Could the political debate in Europe on secularism versus religion and on religious symbols slow down the trend towards a spiritual Islam? “I would say, rather, that it poses another challenge to Islam: that of understanding what is essential, and what is superfluous, in religious practice. In other words, is the Islamic heascarf, about which so much is being spoken in France, essential in expressing one’s own faith or is it only a cultural factor? The issue of the headscarf has been taken up by the Islamist movements that want to transform it into a political claim. I am optimistic, however, that, in due course, a spiritual interpretation of the Koran can be achieved, so that it may become a guide to Moslems to help them come to terms with pluralist societies. It’s a long-term process that needs to take place in freedom and without any imposition or influence”. In the formation of a European Islam what influence is exerted by the fragmentation of Moslem groups? “Islam in Europe is in a diaspora situation. The various groups are trying to get organized. The fact that they don’t have a single spiritual guide or a single structure is a hindrance. It hampers them in their political relations with States, and in their recognition within society. It’s a long-term process that will have a positive outcome. The same was the case also for the Christian Churches”. Daniele Rocchi Sir correspondent in Doha, qatar