How cultural and religious pluralism shapes Europe: The role of Muslim minorities

The presence of ever-increasing numbers of immigrants in the European social landscape is not merely a quantitative fact with different consequences for many social and cultural dynamics. Changes in the quantitative levels of so many different indicators are producing qualitative changes: nothing less than a different type of society. Even if it is not the only case in point, Islam—and in particular Islam in Europe—is often considered the most problematic and problematized expression of this process. Islam has burst upon the European public space as a topic of debate and, especially, as a hot issue on the political, cultural, social, religious, and academic agenda. This paper argues that the ‘Meccan’ and ‘ummic’ characters of European Islam can help de-Islamize the discussion, shifting the level of analysis from Islam to Muslims. The Time factor, with its inherent change, also plays a role in interpreting differently the presence of the Muslims in Europe.