 The topic of the roundtable "The European Union and Islam" was the position and perspective of Islam and Muslims in the European Union. The roundtable was held on April the 6th at the Faculty of Political Science, organized by the Center for European Studies (CES). The cause for the round table was the presentation of the book "Islam from the inside" by Mirza Mešić, the Imam of Zagreb. Professor Damir Grubiša, head of the CES, assistants at the Faculty, Hrvoje Šprehar, PhD and Nataša Beširević, MA, Ruben Hasanbegović, PhD, from the Institute of Social Sciences Ivo Pilar, as well as the author of the book himself, Mirza Mesić, the Imam of Zagreb, spoke in the presence of a large number of students and university professors, representatives of diplomatic corps in the Republic of Croatia, as well as the head of the Islamic Community in Croatia Mufti Šefko Omerbašić about the challenges of multiculturalism, the Islamic heritage in Europe, relations of countries in the EU according to religious communities, the problems and prejudices of the entry of Turkey into the EU, current media reports and publications about Islam, and finally upon the book "Islam from the inside".
Multiculturalism – a collapsed EU project?
If we consider the fact that 16 million Muslims live in the EU and over 55 million in the whole Europe and that, according to forecasts, in 2050 25% of European population will be Muslim, the integration of Muslims in the European Union looks very clear. However, the integration must not be carried through assimilation, but exclusively through dialogue, what the EU itself promotes through the concept of multiculturalism and interculturalism, which means unity in diversity.
EU, in addition to advocating the concept of multiculturalism, has adopted several important documents to promote dialogue with Islam, particularly Islam and the EU in 2007 and Muslims in the EU: discrimination and Islamophobia.
How applicable is the motto of the EU - United in Diversity, and the tendency for the EU to continue nurturing its multiculturalism and interculturalism as a multi-identity community is the basic problem of Islam in the EU, stressed the Head of CES Professor Damir Grubiša, speaker of the roundtable. Opposing with remarks made by some European leaders about multiculturalism as a failed project, Professor Grubiša highlighted the question of the EU’s real committment to trying to integrate all cultures, races and religions that are present in it, the question of the attitude of citizens toward this issue, or whether multiculturalism is a viable concept in the EU at all .
As Grubiša noted, Islam is the foundation of the European identity because from the Islamic civilization come many important inheritances that are nowadays an integral part of the culture of the West. Professor Grubiša pointed out that the Bologna University was not literally the first university in Europe because that model of scientific-educational institution is taken from the Islamic civilization, dating from the 9th century when there were universities in Grenada, Seville and Cordoba. Libraries and coffee shops should also be counted among the inheritance of Islamic culture. The book written by Imam of Zagreb Mirza Mešić has also touched many issues that concern citizens of Europe, were they Muslims or not, as pointed out by Professor Grubiša.
Relation of state and religious communities in the EU
As an important part of understanding the relationship of Islam and state structures, a comparison of the relation of state and religious communities in the EU is very interesting. That topic was brought up by Hrvoje Špehar, PhD, Research Assistant at the FPS, a Catholic theologian and expert on secularism. Speaking about relations between state and various religious communities in the EU, the four models stand out. The first model is that of a lay/secular republic, in which fits France with its lay/secular political system i.e. strict separation of church and state.
 The second model is typical for Germany and is characterized by cooperation between church and state - the state signs agreements with religious communities.
The state church is typical for the third model. Great Britain is an example of such a system with a dominant, i.e. (nominally) privileged religious community/church.
Dr Špehar, among these three models, introduces a fourth model, in which he includes Croatia, and calls it a transitional model of cooperation between church and state which is characteristic for transition countries in Eastern Europe. At the heart of the EU's relations towards religious communities there is the Euro-laic notion, i.e. the model of the relation between the European Commission and the churches, religious communities and associations of the humanistic, agnostic or atheistic worldview. He stressed that only with the mandate of Jacques Delors, the President of the European Commission, occurs the institutionalization of relations and dialogue between the European Commission and the religious communities in the EU.
With the Treaty of Lisbon, the EU is developing "eurolaicism", based on following principles: subsidiarity, the positive social role of religions and recognition of their specificity against civil society organizations, positive neutrality, the recognition of confessional pluralism, legal basis, which does not pursue discrimination against religious and other beliefs. Dr Špehar noted that the changes were the key for the institutionalization of dialogue between the EC and the religious communities and churches, within the political development of the EU, which is getting more intense, as well as the attitude within churches/religious communities towards building a united Europe, and towards the institutions of the EU.
Turkey in the EU – influence of Islam on the pre-accession process
Following the discussion of laicism and eurolaicism, there’s an interesting case of Turkey as a predominantly Muslim country and candidate country for the EU membership. If Islam, as Turkey’s cultural and religious curiosity, will pose problems for its entry into the EU, was a subject about which research assistant Nataša Beširević, MA spoke.
Questions of attitude towards Cyprus and the Kurds and the influence of the military on daily life in Turkey are often mentioned as arguments against Turkish EU membership. However, as reasons for the possible problematic entry of Turkey into the EU, research assistant Beširević highlighted a population of 72 million people who would give Turkey a big demographic and political weight in the EU. What is also problematic is the question of the external borders of the EU which would spread on the Asian continent in case of Turkish accession, with another sensitive issue: should the EU be present in Asia and what does that mean for the future expansion? In addition to external, there is the issue of internal EU borders; should Turkey be "cut off" or integrated to control problems such as drug smuggling and human trafficking?
The question of the EU funds wasn’t neglected either: how would the accession of Turkey, which has about 35% of the population engaged in agriculture, impact on the structural and cohesion funds of the EU?
But the most controversial question of Turkish accession to the EU is the cultural/religious identity, especially the perception of Islam in the EU. Beširević noted that the Copenhagen criteria for EU membership does not mention the issue of religion, but the matter of perception of the rise of political Islam in the EU is extremely strong, which supplements individual statements of European leaders on dubious belonging of Turkey to the European civilization. However, there are some strong arguments supporting the thesis that Islam would not affect the eventual entry of Turkey into the EU.
As a first argument we have the public opinion in Turkey and the EU: most Turks are Muslims who support the secular state, only 3% of EU citizens consider Islam to be a problem of the Turkish accession to the EU (most of them indicate economic problems).
Second argument concerns the historical development of secularism in Turkey: because of the strong heritage of the "father of the Turkish state", Mustafa Kemal, there is a strict separation of state and religion in Turkey, and no Turkish party (including Islamic) questions secularism.
Third argument concerns over modern Islam in contemporary Turkey, while accenting the paradox that the EU demands from the Turkish government to accept less laic attitude towards Islam since the current Turkish government is very strict and restrictive towards the Islamic religious community.
Islam in media and journalism: from trivialization to understanding
Dr Zlatko Hasanbegović from the Institute of Social Sciences Ivo Pilar referred to the problems of professionalism/objectivity of information in the media on current events related to Islam and the prevailing sensationalism and frequent phobia in the news. He also mentioned that most of the literature on Islam is reduced to its trivialization and simplification for the purpose of appeasing the audience (mostly the superficial and ignorant), which has no intention to go deeper into the issue and wants an easy reading on current issues. Within such literature, emphasizes Hasanbegović, mentioned attitudes range from extremely islamophobic works, to the works of Islamic authors who are trying to bring Islam to the reader who is not familiar with it.
In a certain sense, the presented book of Mirza Mešić fits the genre of relatively light reading, but it stands out with the unique insight that Mešić provides as an Imam and political scientist. Hasanbegović considers that the author has successfully brought his own feelings, thoughts and experiences into the book while getting deep enough into the subject, and that the book can be considered a quality literature for both professional and laic readers.
 Islam from the inside - an integral part of European identity
After introductory lectures on Islamic heritage, secularism and laicism, as well as a case study of Turkey, the author of the book, the Imam of Zagreb, Mirza Mešić, MSc, briefly introduced his first book, "Islam from the inside", stating that it is a compilation of articles from his column, and touches some very current and interesting issues such as women's rights in Islam and the relations between Islam and politics.
His main thesis is that the intolerance against Muslims comes from ignorance of the Islamic tradition, and that the Islamic civilization is a heterogeneous civilization not reducible to the Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism.
The book is intended for a wide reading audience, especially non-Muslims who want to get to know not only the fundamental teachings of Islam, but also the Islamic views on some current preoccupations of man in contemporary society.
Mešić also touches on some fundamental misconceptions and prejudices that are often associated with the Muslim religion. The author points out that Islam is "faith, religion, morality, culture, geography, civilization, dialogue and challenge, and uses the phrase "Holy peace" as the correct interpretation of the teachings of the Qur'an, instead of "Holy War", an expression that unjustly attributes bellicosity to Islam. The Imam of Zagreb ended the presentation of his book at the Faculty of Political Science with the thought that Muslims in Europe should not "assimilate" or "integrate", but should be viewed as an integral part of European social and cultural identity. "Europeans should not be afraid of Muslims who got closer to Islam, but of those who have drifted away from it", concluded the Imam of Zagreb. |
