Given the increasing number and profile of Muslims in Europe (I am no longer surprised to see women in burkhas when I am out shopping) the Nova Research Centre's (www.novaresearch.eu) surprised me. Its most recent newsletter presented the results of a number of surveys about attitudes of Muslims living in Europe.
And there are a lot of European Muslims, more than 38 million if you include those in Russia. So are they all "good Muslims". Do they pray, give, fast, deal with money, and live the rest of their lives as the Koran and Islamic tradition commands?
From France, 2008:
- only 10% of Muslims consider religion very important in their lives
- 60% say they never pray
From Belgium, 2005:
- only 10% of the Muslim population were 'practicing Muslims'
From a study of Islamic Imams in Sweden, 2004:
- as few as 15% of second-generation Muslims in Sweden could be considered 'religiously active'
From Russia:
- out of 20 million officially self-identified Muslims only 35-45% practice regularly
From the UK, 2007:
- 21% of Muslims had consumed alcohol, 65% were paying interest on a normal mortgage, 19% had gambled, whilst 9% admitted to having taken drugs
What can we conclude from this? At the very least that living a life based on one's cultural religious background is just as hard for "Muslims" as it is for "Christians". Maybe that gives us something in common!
Photo used by kind permission of Graeme Weatherston: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=330
