7.6 Repression due to fears of Islamic Extremism or Political Islam

In France, mass arrests and deportation of thousands of illegal immigrants from Northern Africa are justified based on fears of terrorist attacks, similar to those which have already occurred in Paris over the past several years.

In the Czech Republic, a town council denied the permit for the building of a mosque, arguing that it would become a center for terrorism.

In Uzbekistan, where the majority of inhabitants are Muslim, the government suppresses groups that oppose state appointed religious authorities. Muslim leaders have been detained and harassed for acts perceived as insubordination. As a result of such allegations, three mosques have been closed and the "disappearance" of several Muslim leaders has been reported.

The second category of the key challenges issues facing Islam and Muslims in European countries include:

Can a Muslim live a pious or just life in a society where Muslims are a minority? Some Muslims wonder. Some non-Muslims (especially some agenda-driven pundits and Islamophobes) also raise a question: Can Muslims be loyal citizens in the West? These questions may not be burning issues or the reflections of widely held views, but these are certainly present in contemporary debates and discourses about Muslim minorities in the West.

The emerging of new interpretations of Islamic Shari'ah to cope with the host countries legislations and...

7.6 Repression due to fears of Islamic Extremism or Political Islam

...legal systems, something let to emerging of Euro-Islam and the Islamic identity.

It is worth mentioning here that it was not, however, in the field of religion n alone that Islam imparted a new glow of life to Europe. There is not a single department of European revival which is not indebted to Islamic thought. During the Middle Ages, the Muslims were the leaders of the intellectual world. They were the pioneers in the various fields of knowledge and learning. When later Europe embarked on its quest for learning, all its knowledge was derived from Islamic sources. The Muslims made two contributions to knowledge. They preserved all learning of the ancient world in Arabic translation. They also made their own contributions. Islam produced the greatest scientists, the greatest physicians, the greatest philosophers, the greatest geographers and the greatest historians of the Middle Ages. In the Middle Ages, the Universities in the Muslim lands were the greatest centers of learning. These Universities, particularly in Spain were attended by scholars from Europe.