Author: Abu Mohajer
The Islamic world and Europe have gone through a history full of ups and downs of interaction and confrontation. The history of the introduction of Islam to Europe dates back to the 7th century AD, and its starting point can be seen in the letter of the Prophet of Islam to the Roman Empire. The first contact between Islam and Europe dates back to the year 711 when the Islamic army passed through the Strait of Gibraltar under the command of Tariq bin Ziyad. But an important part of the current Muslim population in Europe is the result of Muslim immigration, especially after the Second World War. This has caused non-Muslims to directly learn about the spiritual, divine and human capacities of Islam, and Islam has also been able to gain its place in European countries.
Today, other Muslims in Europe, as the largest religious minority, have become an undeniable fact. Even their role in some developments of the European society cannot be ignored. In addition to all this warm welcome to Islam and Islamism, there are also damages towards the Muslim community in the West, especially in Europe. In this article, we will analyze the main damages and at the end we will present the result of the discussion.
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Deidentification Identity refers to a set of basic characteristics and characteristics of a person, which follows five components. 1) Geography 2) History 3) Economy 4) Culture 5) Education. (Najafi, Musa, Identity, p. 26). Man’s beliefs and convictions are a part of the cultural component that actually forms the most fundamental pillar of his identity. Because an important part of our perceptions about ourselves and others is the result of our beliefs, worldview and religious teachings. Therefore, throughout human history, any system that seeks to create a new direction in society, has gone to change identity (in the field of beliefs) or, in today’s terms, de-identification. De-identification is the same as de-ideology, and ideology also includes beliefs, values, and perhaps the sanctities of a nation. This unknown phenomenon is the biggest known damage in Islamic societies, which has systematically affected Muslims, especially in the West and Europe. Erasing the identity of Muslims in a targeted manner by European countries is considered their most fundamental challenge. Because European system builders have realized that if a nation forgets its identity or considers it worthless, it will naturally lean in the other direction. Therefore, by focusing on the family system, society and education and by imposing it through the collapse of the family structure and the separation of the child from the warm center of the family, they are trying to reduce the means of religious and cultural influence to the lowest level and the ground for the efficiency of the identity of to make the previously defined European smooth as much as possible. In addition to targeting people’s religious identity, this harm also marks their national and ethnic identity. It weakens and destroys religious beliefs and feeds by inducing the ineffectiveness of Islamic religion and culture through rumors and spreading lies. The prospect of this de-identification is the de-idealization of Islam and the replacement of the European intellectual and value system instead of the religious and national identity of Muslims. This process actually facilitates the acceptance of “European Islam”.
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European Islam in recent decades, the increase in the population weight of Muslims in Western societies, especially in Europe, has made people aware of their cultural-identity differences from other citizens of these societies. The occurrence of some events such as September 11 added to the importance of this issue. Of course, facing this phenomenon (increasing Muslim population in Europe), the European governments considered various solutions and adopted different policies. Among the solutions is “Euro-Islam” or European Islam. European intellectual and political circles, after failing in many models of integration and convergence of Muslims in European countries, came to the conclusion that by presenting a specific model of Islam under the name of European Islam, which has its own characteristics, components, and propagation methods, they can to control the perceived threats of the presence of Islam in Europe, especially political Islam. This is how European Islam was widely promoted by Western Islamologists, government officials, and the media. The main concept of “European Islam” is to redefine an interpretation of Islam that does not conflict with European values. In other words; European Islam means the secularization of Islam. The verbal equivalents of European Islam, which has become fodder for the colonial media, are human rights-friendly Islam, European-friendly Islam, acceptable Islam, modern Islam, globalized Islam, and sometimes the term moderate Islam. Western-European programmers cover all these terms on three The aspects of European Islam emphasize: 1) tolerance; But not from the perspective of Islam, but from its broader European perspective
2) pluralism; The purpose of emphasizing this aspect is to abandon Muslims’ idea of superiority and seniority of the Qur’an
3) secularism; meaning the separation of religion from politics. (Majidi, Mohammad Reza, Mohammad Mahdi Sadeghi, “A critical reflection on the concept and idea of European Islam”, Foreign Relations Quarterly, 4th year, 1st issue, spring 2013, p. 120)
Therefore, after the challenge of de-identification, the issue of European Islam, or severely shaved Islam, is considered one of the most dangerous harms facing the Muslim community in Europe; Because the West is seeking to achieve two goals in the form of this program; 1) Presenting the followers of Islam 2) Creating division among Muslims and dividing them into extremists, moderates, etc. In other words; It means that they have targeted both the principle of Islam and the Muslim generation.
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Islamophobia is stated in the concept of Islamophobia as follows:
Fear, prejudice and irrational discrimination against Islam and Muslims. (Alipour et al., “Strategies to prevent and deal with Islamophobia”, p. 104; Alireza et al., “Reviewing the phenomenon of Islamophobia and Quranic strategies to deal with it”, p. 381). Also, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation writes in the definition of this term: excessive fear of Islam and Muslims and everything related to this religion such as mosques, Islamic centers, the Holy Quran, hijab, etc. (Emadi, Sayyed Mohsen, “What is Islamophobia and the duty of Muslim governments” In general, it can be said that the phenomenon of Islamophobia in the West, especially in Europe, is on several levels; 1) Government. 2) Parties and groups. 3) The media. 4) public space and in several ways; 1) Violence: physical attacks, destruction and damage to property and verbal attacks. 2) Discrimination in citizenship rights. 3) Prejudice in the field of media and everyday interactions. 4) Rejection and expulsion from politics and government, management and responsibility, is emerging. (Sabaghan and Khaksar, “Social Manifestations of Islamophobia and Anti-Islamism in England”, pp. 144-150; Morshidizadeh and Ghaffari, “Islamophobia in Europe, Roots and Factors”, p. 124). This is one of the most important issues that has had a negative impact on the situation of European Muslims. The growing trend of this ominous phenomenon is in Europe. This is while certain factors in European societies are trying to present a false image of Islam. This extreme approach has caused some groups and parties in European countries to consider Muslims as a threat to their existence, political and secular norms. The major part of this damage by the media is fueled by a kind of analysis and misinterpretation of Islam, which, with the expansion of this trend, has caused future damage to the Muslim community in Europe. l) Negative feelings and persecution of Muslims, on the other hand, the daily bombardment of public opinion with a flood of Harsh expressions and on the other hand the lack of proper facilities and equal opportunities for Muslims to respond and enlighten public opinion have caused a serious impact on the public opinion of the European people. The formation of negative mentality towards Muslims as a result of suspicion and the spread of negative news in Europe has created and increased the fear of Muslims. And naturally, when fear and hatred of Muslims spreads in the society, the ground is prepared for hostile actions and persecution of Muslims.
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b) imposing restrictions on Muslims
One of the other harms of this phenomenon is the imposition of restrictions on Muslims. Especially on some religious ceremonies or imams of mosques in such a way that the security systems of European countries impose a series of restrictions on imams and religious leaders.
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c) Discrimination and double vision
