In UK alone, 50,000 enter the fold every year
New York| Rupee News | July 20th, 2008: In a recent interview with the BBC, British Home Secretary Jack Smith made some interesting observations about the rapid spread of Islam in Europe.
According to Smith, around 50,000 Britishers are converting to Islam each year and since 2001, four lakh Britishers have converted to Islam. He said the Muslim population in Britain has reached 20 lakh and followers of Islam are now the second biggest population in Britain after Christians. He even suggested setting up an Islamic University in Britain given the overwhelming population of the Muslims in that country.
The momentum and intensity with which Islam is spreading in the West has puzzled the policy makers, religious scholars, researchers and media there. The conversions have especially gained unimaginable momentum after 9/11. Most of the researchers believe that the fast erosion of the religious and cultural values in the Western societies is pushing its people towards Islam that offers a more comprehensive, well-knit and value-oriented cultural, social and family structure.
According to a recent report in the prestigious Time magazine, hundreds of new mosques are coming up in the West and most of the European cities now get to hear Azan (call for prayer) five times a day. In Rome a grand mosque is coming up at a whopping cost of $3 crore for which the land has been donated by the local government.
According to Dr Mehmood Siddiqi Saidi, Director, European Muslim Minority Board, while as per a recent UN report the Muslim population in Europe is 21 million, in actual it could be around 50 million. As per the data available at islamicpopulation.com, in 2006 the Muslim population in Europe, including Russia, was around 50.70 million.
With the increase in Muslim population in Europe, the number of mosques and Islamic centers is also growing speedily. While in Britain there were only 13 mosques in 1963, at present there are 600 mosques and 1400 Islamic organizations in the country.
France, with a population of 60 lakh Muslims, has 1300 mosques and Islamic centers in addition to around 600 Islamic organizations. The Muslims in France have a 24-hour radio channel. The estimated population of Muslims in France would reach around 80 lakh during the next 15 years.
Italy has a population of 10 lakh Muslims with 450 mosques and Islamic centers. According to reputed Italian magazine The Journal, in next 200 years the European society would almost entirely accept Islam as the only religion.
Germany has a Muslim population of 40 lakh with 1400 mosques and Islamic centers. The Muslim population ration in Germany is around 4 per cent. In Canada the conversion rate to Islam has been almost 130 percent between 1991 and 2001. In Switzerland around 6000 Christians converted to Islam after 9/11.
According to San Diego University researcher Jan Wax, by 2020, out of every four persons in Europe, one would be a Muslim. The ratio of Muslim youth (between 45 and 50% of the Muslims) to EU youth is between 16 and 20%. In other words, in a few years Muslims will constitute 16 to 20% of the European workforce, and could therefore influence policies and decision-making.
Albania has proportionally the largest Muslim population in all of Europe, with the exception of Turkey, which is situated at the crossroads of Europe and Asia. According to the most recent census results, Albania’s Muslim population is estimated at 2.2 million, or 70% of the country’s total population. Although Albania was officially an atheist society during the Communist period, and all public expression of religious beliefs was banned, today most Albanians are practicing Muslims.
Following Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina has proportionally the second largest Muslim population in Europe, with 40% of Bosnians, or 1.5 million people, who practice Islam.
In Western Europe, France is followed by the Netherlands, which has over 945,000 Muslims, making up 5% of the population.
one day the whole western world will be islamic
Oh, NO it won’t yaseen. Not as long as I’m alive. I am a Christian and that will NEVER change.
brother ISLAM does not keep a pistol to some ones head and says to him “be muslim”
no body wil enforce u to leave christanity,atleast try to study the teachings of islam once.after that u will be better able to decide whether u should remain a christian or u should accept the true religion islam.
I don’t see why there is such a fuss about the growing Muslim population in Europe. I myself am one. Not a convert, but a Muslim born in Bosnia and Herzegovina. European Muslims(at least those born as such) are no different from Christians in any way except one: we pray differently to God. One thing i don’t support are members of the Wahabi movement. These people are taking their religious beliefs to the extreme, and that is unhealthy. So i hope that new European converts will carry on living their lives in similar manner as when they were Christians. There is no need for overzealous actions, and some type of ascetic lifestyle, to prove that you are a true believer. Religion is carried in your heart, and is a private matter.
That is at least how we in Bosnia and Herzegovina see it and practice it. One statistical correction: Bosnia and Herzegovina has Muslim population of some 2.5 million and they constitute some 46-48% of total population.
Thank you so very much for your response. When I visited Serajavo in 1970 we could not find a single mosque. It was the end of Ramadhan and we could not find Eid prayer.
In the 80s the Serbs came down and told many of the people with Muslim names that they were Muslims–worst these Bosnian Muslims would die because of their inheritance.
We do not support any one sect but are very interested in the historical aspects of the growth of Wahabism. I have written several articles on this subject. Let me find them and I will post the link right here.
Islam has faced the brunt of the Neocon agenda this decade. It is agrowth industry. The Wahabis are bad from Saudi, the Shias are bad in Iran, the Sunnis are bad in Pakistan…each sect is demonized for a purpose and with a list. The demonization of any sect is fitna and all need to be careful of the propaganda. There are good Saudis and bad ones, like in any religion.
Islam was spread in the Subcontinent via Sufiism–Arab Armies never conquered Hindustan or Bangladesh or Indonesia.
Various reform movements were started. Abdul Wahab was one of them. He was against the “bidaa” which was creeping into the religion in terms of grave worship and idolatory.
The current issues with Saudi support is geo-political. The same Wahabis were good guys when funding the war against the USSR which destroyed the Soviet Union. The same guys were good guys in the Western press when they were helping Bosnia. The same guys were good guys when they were helping the Neocons in Chechniya. They are now bad guys becuase they are fighting the occupation forces in Afghanistan. Some hypocracy and some geo-political changes.
We thank you for your correction. I don’t remember where it was, but kindly provide a reference so that we can make the correction.
Was Salaam
Dear All,
Kindly make this clear – there is no God but Allah!. Why are you pushing your endless life, which everyone has to face after death, towards HELL where falsehood has to face severe punishments from Allah.
I suggest kindly go through the wordings of the God in ‘Quran’, which is the true message of Allah, at least once or consult any local Islamic scholar to clear your doubts and to know the truth. This is not for Islam but for ones own gain.
Don’t analyze Islam by seeing neighbors or any media. This can not be helpful, if some one dies in the same state of non-believer, he has to face the fire from hell and various punishments from God. One who wants to judge Islam then please read the “Quran” and life of Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) through authentic Islamic books from authentic stores.
Accept Islam with your own WILL without any doubts. No one can spread nor anyone authorized by Allah! to spread Islam by horror or terror. It’s up to ones own will whether he accept Islam or not. And it’s up to Almighty! to whom he bless.
I invite all humans to the true and the ONLY religion acceptable in front of the God i.e. ISLAM, as practiced by his last messenger MOHAMMED (PBUH) and his true companions.
I promise & bear witness “THERE IS NO GOD BUT ALLAH (SWT). MOHAMMED (PBUH) IS THE LAST MESSENGER OF ALLAH (SWT).”
Kindly note -
No religion is true & peace but “ISLAM”.
No religion is acceptable to the God but “ISLAM”
No faith can take ones to paradise but “ISLAM”.
No one can protect from HELL but “ALLAH”.
No way of life can acceptable to Allah but “MOHAMMED (PBUH)”.
Allah? Allah, the One and Only! Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not nor is He begotten. And there is none like unto Him.
Please don’t put yourself in dark just by not reading message (QURAN) from ONE & ONLY GOD – Allah (SWT).
I WISH I KNOW ENGLISH TO REPLY BUT PRAISE AND THANK TO GOD THERE ARE PEOPLE DO THIS
SEARCH AND YOU WILL FIND
YOU ARE MY BROTHER IN HUMANITY
THE MESSEGE OF ISLAM IS TO GUIDE YOU IN PEACE TO KNOW GOD THE ESSENCE IS LOVE AND PEACE
KEEP THINKING YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT GOD YOUR CREATOR NOT YOUR FREIND GOD HAS NO NEED TO TORTURE YOU GOD LOVE ALL BUT YOU TORTURE YOURSELF DONT LOOK AT WRONG PEOPL IF THEY MADE YOU HATE YOURSELF LOOK TO ISLAM ITSELF AND GOD FORGIVE YOU YOU ARE CREATED BY GOD DON NOT HATE YYOURSELF COS GOD WANT YOU NEAR HIS FORGIVENESS YOU ARE HUMAN AND YOU MAY BE WRONG BUT DO NOT GO AWAY FAR FROM BLESS