Islam in Europe: Not a Fort but A House With Many Doors

When we talk about Muslims in Europe we have to think of a palette with many different colours. It is impossible to form any general picture of European Muslims because of the profound diversity among them, e.g. in how they interpret the Qur’an, how they implement Islamic faith in daily life and how they participate in European society. We learn most about Islam as a lived experience in Europe, not from Islamic text books, but from the Muslim people who read them. We are never in contact with Islam, but we can come in contact with a Muslim and his or her Islam. Islam cannot answer questions, but Muslims can, we can talk to ‘them’ and ‘they’ to us. Islam often is interpreted as univocal while Muslims constitute a cacophony of different voices. Understanding this will help us to prepare a way to best reach out to them with the love of Christ and not use a one-size-fits-all approach in evangelizing Muslims. In this workshop we will look at 15 of the most predominant kinds of Muslims that can be identified in Europe.