One for All?

Several European countries have a general Islamic association, the intention of which is to represent all Muslims in that country. However, opinions differ as to what constitutes representation. Nimet Seker compares the situation in various countries

The Grand Mosque in Paris (photo: Arian Fariborz)
Muslims already are a part of Europe - but how are they represented?

​​The recently-formed Co-ordination Council for Muslims in Germany wants to achieve legal equality for Muslims and serves as their official representative. Many countries already have such associations, which seek to represent the majority of Muslims and engage in dialogue with the state. But to what extent can the associations meet these requirements?

Spain: contract with the state

Muslims represent 2.5 per cent of the Spanish population. The majority come from North Africa although the number of Spanish converts increases every year.

Islam was afforded official legal status in 1992 in a co-operation agreement between the state and the Spanish Islamic Commission (CIE), which is made up of two federations. It represents all mosques which consent to be listed in its register. The CIE has two general secretaries instead of a president. Decisions are only taken when both federations are in agreement.

Listed communities are represented by a council of leaders. An estimated 30 per cent of communities currently belong to the CIE. All other communities and Muslims who do not feel represented by a particular Mosque are not covered by this agreement.

Because secularism is one of the Spanish state's fundamental principles, there is no real legal basis for an agreement of this kind with specific faiths. The state has, however, also signed a similar agreement with organizations representing both Christian confessions and with the Jewish community. Islam has, therefore, been placed on an equal legal footing with the other major religions.

Austria: criticism from within the ranks

The position of Islam in Austria is clear: Islam has been recognized as a religion since 1912 and the Islamic Faith Community in Austria (IGGiÖ) has enjoyed the status of a public corporation since its foundation in 1979.

Because of this, the Austrian model is often held up as an example, but - and this is a large "but" - although the IGGiÖ seeks to represent all Muslims, the Shiite and Alevi living in Austria do not feel represented by the IGGiÖ in the slightest; nor do they wish to be. Instead, in 2006 the Alevi submitted an application to the Austrian Ministry for Religious Affairs to have Alevism recognized as an official religion.

Criticism has also been voiced by the Sunnis. They claim that the IGGiÖ does not represent their interests and allege that its structures are undemocratic.

The most significant criticism, however, concerns membership. Only those who pay the annual subscription fee are considered to be members and have the right to vote. The majority of Muslims in Austria are not entitled to vote because they do not pay the subscription fee. The IGGiÖ does not release information about votes or lists of members.

It has happened that fees have been returned without comment and applications for membership thus rejected, as was the case with Günther Ahmed Rusznak, secretary general of the Islamic Information and Documentation Centre and a harsh critic of the IGGiÖ.

Moreover, although almost 70 per cent of Austrian Muslims are of Turkish extraction, the IGGiÖ leadership is almost exclusively made up of Arab Muslims. This means that the IGGiÖ's status as a state-recognised body is at risk.

"French Islam" by state decree?

Although the French Council for the Muslim Faith (Conseil Français du Culte Musulman) was founded in 2003 at the instigation of the then interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy, it is only informally recognized as a representative by the state. The council's legal status corresponds to that of a registered charitable association.

Some 88 per cent of the 4,032 delegates from French mosques voted in council's first elections. The number of delegates is based on the size of each mosque; there are also 25 representatives at regional level.

Despite this high level of representation, the CFCM is continually criticized for failing in its responsibility to represent Muslims, particularly given that the French government influences the selection of candidates for all important posts within the CFCM. After all, Sarkozy succeeded in installing his preferred candidate, the Imam of Paris's central mosque, Dalil Boubakeur, as the head of the CFCM.

The French state is patently looking for a proponent of "liberal" Islam as their Muslim representative, someone who, for instance, would assist with the enforcement of the law banning religious symbols in schools.

This is exactly what upsets French Muslims, who do not consider such policies to be in line with their interests. Other critics, however, consider the council to be too radical, as one of its member federations is said to have close links to the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.

The United Kingdom: disagreement on the political angle

The Muslim Council of Britain was founded in the UK in 1997 with the support of the Labour government. It fulfils its responsibility of representing all Muslims in so far as it brings together a number of organizations from across the spectrum of British Islam. It therefore manages to represent around 70 per cent of British Muslims.

The MCB used to have a good relationship with the Labour government. However, since the London bombings, many Muslims feel badly treated and misunderstood.

The MCB has to meet the difficult twin objectives of lobbying to enable stricter forms of Islam to be practiced on the one hand, and of meeting the British public's expectation of a firm rejection of terrorism and Islamist acts of violence on the other.

That is, however, the least of their worries; although most British Muslims hail from the Indian subcontinent, they do not form a homogenous body.

The substantial group of Sufist Barelwi is poorly organized and does not believe that the MCB can really represent all Muslims because it is dominated by the Deobandi, who practice a stricter form of Islam and are politically organized.

The Barelwi are represented by the British Muslim Forum, which does not belong to the Muslim Council of Britain.

Although there has been no agreement with the government on Muslim affairs in the UK, the construction of Muslim primary and secondary schools is funded by the state.

Nimet Seker

© Qantara.de 2007

Translated from the German by Steph Morris

Qantara.de

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