Can the Balkan Muslims Help Europe Represent Islam?
Can the Balkan Muslims Help Europe Represent Islam?

Summary/Abstract: These days, much discourse about the integration of Muslims into European societies takes place at the level of European and national identity narratives. Denying that Islam is part of what ‘defines Europe’ and its nations subsequently brands Muslims as eternal foreigners, shaping exclusionary public attitudes towards them and justifying public policy that curtails Muslims’ religious freedoms. In the light of the possible EU integration of predominantly Muslim societies in the Balkans– Bosnia, Kosovo and Albania – these narratives could change, recognising Islam as a substantial element of European identity and thereby facilitating Muslims’ social inclusion. While such a scenario seems attainable at the intellectual level, the article argues that this result is, in fact, unlikely to come about in practice. Using an interview with Xhabir Hamiti on Kosovar Islam as a point of departure, the author suggests that it is more likely that ‘the Balkan Muslims’ will be defined as an exception to Islam, suitable to European ‘culture’ – which will maintain other Muslims in Western Europe as tolerated, yet fundamentally foreign.

• Details
• Contents