Muslims of the West (Europe) (part 1)

Every nation and culture do contain some people who belong to minority or groups which have a different identity than majority. These people do lead a different and interesting lives, which are sometimes quite challenging too.

West has a good number of immigrants and other minority groups including Muslims. I would like to give some insight into the lives of Muslims living in West especially in Europe. My views are based upon my personal interactions, discussions and reflections etc.

There are two main groups of Muslims living in Europe. 1) the ones who are native to the West: most of them converted to Islam, 2) migrators (permanent and temporary). In this and next post i would write about Native Muslims of the Europe then i will write in context of migrated ones.

Native Muslims could be divided into two main groups: First Group the generation which entered the world of Islam somewhere between 1930 and 1980. Second Group the ones who converted to Islam after 1980.

1) First Group: I did not had good chance to learn about this group of Muslims but still some of the things i can share. There are quite a few such people who belonged to different nations in Europe and converted to Islam at some stage of their lives. Some of the points attached to this group of people are as follows.

• Their main sources of conversion to Islam had been books, rare contacts to Muslims and visits to Muslim states
• They had to fight quite hard to sustain with a faith and religion which was not of mainstream. It is never an easy task to take steps in opposite direction of masses.
• they had not many sources for the information about Islam since resources of information and individuals were not in great number at that time. Muslims also were quite feeble and unfocused in those days. So these converts had to fight very hard to learn and also to practice their religion. If those converts had come across a practicing Muslim in Europe, it was like a surprise and gift for them!
• there were even those who converted to Islam but due to many factors, like lack of knowledge, social challenges, lack of guidance and contacts etc, could not hold strongly to Islam. It resulted either abandoning of Islam by them or very weak practice of it.
• The level of the prejudice was naturally higher in that period of time since world was not quite open and networked at that time, in addition to that religious authorities were stronger than today.

2) Second Group: These are the ones who have entetred the world of Islam in last two decades and most of them are young. Some of the important factors about this group of people are

• They have many diverse sources of information and guidance e.g. books, internet, other media, migrated Muslims, easy access and traveling to Islamic states etc.
• they also face similar social challenges as have been faced by older generation of converted Muslims but intensity and nature has been changed.
• main challenge for this group of people have been recent happenings at International level where Muslims are supposed to be part of problems. So this group has to face the normal treatment of suspicions and hate. To face pressure due to such happenings is a bit hard for the ones who are new to the Islam!
• Another big challenge for this group of people has been too much and diverse information. They have to deal with heavy flow of information coming from different diverse sources and it is even hard for the born Muslims to analyze and judge that flood of information. They have to deal against different sects in Islam and sometimes get confused whom to take as true:-)
• they really need to be quite active and alert to withstand many challenges of modern and fast life i.e. career, earning, education, social trends etc. This makes it harder for them to learn and practice Islam. They also get into troubles when environment and needs around them seem to be in conflict with their faith, although in my opinion it happens in many cases because of yet not complete picture of Islam. One needs to learn and reflect well to be able to make connections between Islam and realities on ground.
• Lack of understanding and practice of Islam by born Muslims makes it difficult for them to stay focused and motivated. They sometimes get disappointed when they see Muslims being divided, careless towards Islam, lacking confidence and having inferiority complexes! How a new person will feel if he/she observes that the Muslims are themselves destroying their religion?

Few more Challenges for Converted Muslims and their Characteristics:

• Social dealings: They have been facing difficulty to deal with social setup which has a bit different direction and philosophy of life. In general European societies are not very strong in spiritual aspect and trends are generally materialistic oriented. However, Islam and other religions do give very high priority to spiritual aspect and belief in Unseen. These Muslims have to face opposition and hard questions from their family, friends and other fellows. which is a natural phenomenon. It is one of the biggest challenge to find a life partner(wife/husband) having close/common philosophy of life. Here, females are a bit lucky that they find partners(from a big number of Muslims coming from other countries) but for the males is a bit harder.
• Learning and Patrctice: As mentioned earlier, it is quite hard for the converts to learn and parctice due to many factors. This leaves them into a state where they confess in a new faith but find it difficult to know and follow demands of the faith!!!
• Some Prejudices: As a natural phenomenon, it is always hard to believe and follow a philosophy which majority of a society does not follow!!! This naturally brings them to face few prejudices.
• Question of attachment: It is hard for the converts to find a social belonging and balance. They have to make a good/right balance between national attachment and religious attachment. It is hard task.:-), i know it very well.
• Practices of other Muslims: They get a bit confused and disappointed at some points when they observe the attitude of many Muslims who show ignorance towards Islam and strange behavior. This is definitely an irritating factor. However, fortunately there are quite a few good Muslim examples too which keep people moving forward.
• Suspicious: Converted Muslims don't rely upon born Muslims(mainly migrated ones) and show some sorts of suspicions towards them, it has been my personal expereince too:-). Some of the reasons for it could be
  

1. contradicting actions of Muslims
2. differences of cultures
3. sects
4. lack of Islamic knowledge and lack of broader exposure of it
5. greed and cheating by Muslims e.g. in business or marriages etc. There have been cases where Muslims did get married only to get nationality etc and then left their partner after fulfillment of vested interests, it creates bad feelings.
6. Muslims expect the new comers to be as much dedicated suddenly as an ideal Muslims should but it is hard for a new one, and sometimes he/she feels overly pressurized since he/she can't be immediately like an Arab or Asian Muslim!
7. backgrounds and nationalities do play a role in getting familiar and trusted. Naturally, one feels best with a person belonging to same nation or group.

• Contended, Ambitious and Sincere: They are normally quite contended at their decision to accept Islam and feel quite satisfied internally at it. In addition to that they are ambitious and sincere in learning and practicing new religion and if find proper and correct channels in this context then make very fast and good progress. However, if they stuck in a bad group then might lose track.
• Intelligent: Are normally quite intelligent because, firstly they come to a big decision and it needs a lot of reflection and courage, secondly they learn many cultures and get diverse knowledge.
• Are not Blind followers normally: Converted Muslims normally follow things with maximum understanding, reflection and self conviction. This might not be the case with a born Muslim who takes things as granted ones and normally correct but for a new one it is hard to digest things without understanding. Although it is quite important habit to analyze and understand but sometimes might create problems also. One can't go beyond a certain limit of exploration in case of faith(not because God is afraid of it rather because we get confused there) and for a person having been and thinking in a dominant materialistic world, it is sometimes hard to digest the unseen things or which he/she can't understand e.g. a person who sees only external factors will not easily understand existence and working of Angels.
• Language and Culture: Quraan was revealed by Allah(God) in Arabic language and in Saudi Arabia to the Prophet Muhammad(PBUH), he then taught, explained and demonstrated Quraan to the people. So the best way to learn Islam is to learn Arabic language and Arabic history first. However, this takes time and efforts, Arabic is much different from most of the currently used European/Western languages. Some people also get a bit worried by the huge differences between current Arabic world and teachings of Islam or history of Islam!
• A bit weak at Worship: I observed people (including born Muslims) with different concentration and dedication levels while making worship especially prayers including five obligatory ones. I could not find the exact reasons for it that why some of the Muslims, who are even very logical, knowledgeable and good at practice of Islam, do struggle in getting concentration and strength in their prayers. May be it is because of strong belief on the seen things, system where we live is based upon external and visible factors, prayers are not considered to be very important since one visibly doesn't see loss if not performed, one does not see strong rationale behind it etc.
  

However, beside all the challenges faced and due to their strong/special characteristics there is a big number of converted Muslims including women who stand firm and confident at the path of Islam. There are those who left far behind even the born Muslims in knowledge and practice of Islam. After facing initial challenges and difficulties, which are natural, they really emerge as strong and balanced personalities.

I hope, i was able to give some useful information about the native converted Muslims of Europe. In next post, i would try to mention few of the solutions to the normally faced challenges by converts.

Feel free to comment.