Sharing Lives

This book argues that the single greatest hindrance to Christian witness amongst Muslims in Europe is fear. Many European Christians fear that Europe will gradually turn into Eurabia, or Islamic domination of Europe, and they ignore the efforts of Muslims to adapt to the European context, a situation pointing to a future scenario of Euro-Islam, or Islam being Europeanized. The author argues that instead of an attitude of fear, which leads to exclusion, Christians should develop an attitude of grace, which leads to embrace. After analyzing books and courses developed to help Christians relate to Muslims, he concludes that these mostly concentrate on providing information and skills, instead of dealing with one's attitude. Because of this the author developed a short course to help Christians overcome their fear of Islam and Muslims and to encourage Christians to share their lives with Muslims and to share the truth of the Gospel with the purpose of attracting them to Christ. Bert de Ruiter (1958) works with OM Europe as Champion Muslim Ministries in Europe. Bert obtained a Master of Arts in World Evangelization and a Doctor of Ministry in Muslim-Christian relations. During the past 25 years Bert has been ministering in almost 50 countries around the world to help Christians share their lives with Muslims. Bert and his wife live in Amsterdam, the Netherlands and have two children and one grandchild.

Échantillon de lecture
Chapter One

The Future of Islam in Europe

Introduction

One's attitude to Islam colors one's perception of the future of Islam in Europe and one's perception of the future of Islam in Europe influences one's attitude to Islam and Muslims. In this chapter I will look at two scenarios concerning the future of Islam in Europe, which are in opposition to each other. Eurabia is a term coined by the British-Swiss Jewish historian Bat Ye'or and describes the expectation that Europe will be Islamized.[i] In contrast Euro-Islam is a concept introduced by Bassam Tibi, a Syrian born Muslim and German citizen, which sees Islam becoming Europeanized.[ii]

An attitude of fear of Islam and Muslims is often caused by or gives support to the expectation of Europe becoming Eurabia. Not only among Europeans in general, but particularly among Christians in Europe, the Eurabia scenario seems to receive more support popular than the Euro-Islam scenario. For example, a questionnaire carried out by me among several groups of Christians in the Netherlands, shows that 60 percent of the respondents agree with Geert Wilders, a Dutch MP and head of an extreme right party, who warns against the growing Islamization of the Netherlands and Europe.[iii] In September 2008, I received an e-mail from a Dutch Christian citing examples of how Europe submits to the demands of Muslims.4

Those who expect the Eurabia scenario consider Islam to be a problem in Europe. They speak of a clash of civilizations pointing out that Islam threatens European values of secularization and freedom of speech. They refer to extreme Muslims who reject European values and who seek to establish a Khalifat in Europe in which the shari'a law becomes the constitution. People with an attitude of Islamophobia often agree with or only see indications that support a Eurabia scenario, but they seem unable or unwilling to see the developments that support a Euro-Islam scenario.

Those who expect the Euro-Islam scenario point to Islam's adaptation to Europe as seen in the emergence of Islamic political and civic leaders and associations. They point, as well, to changes in religious authority, changes in describing Islam's status as a minority culture, a desire for gender equality, and changes in interpreting the meaning of shari'a.

In this chapter it will be argued that the majority of Muslims are willing to find their place in Europe. Therefore a Euro-Islam scenario is more likely than a Eurabian scenario. Nevertheless there often is reluctance on the part of European governments and citizens, including Christians, to create space for Islam and Muslims resulting in an attitude of cold tolerance.

Background on Islam in Europe

Islam has increasingly become part of Europe's social, cultural and political and religious landscape. In the course of a few decades, it has become Europe's second religion after Christianity. The arrival of millions of Muslims in Europe from the 1960s has permanently changed the future of Europe and has been called "the greatest religio-demographic change on the European continent since the time of the Reformation"5

Since the 1950s Western Europe has seen the arrival of migrant workers and asylum-seekers, many of whom come from Muslim countries. For the first ten years the only arrivals were men of working age, whose main aim was to earn money to send back home and then to return home. This expectation never materialized largely due to changes in immigration laws. They decided to stay in Europe and their families came to join them. This radically altered the structure of the Muslim community in Western Europe leading to new social and religious priorities and demands on the host community.

In the Eastern part of Europe, the emergence of the Balkan Muslim population as an autonomous political actor is one of the majo