From Britain to Greece, and Spain to Slovenia, Muslim immigration and the accompanying rise of Islam are transforming the European way of life in ways unimaginable only a few years ago. What follows is a brief survey of 20 noteworthy stories involving Islam in Europe during just the month of September 2013.
The French government has announced a plan to post a “secularism charter” in all public schools in France by the end of September.
Ramadan was a major topic for public discussion and the month-long holiday received heavy press coverage from print and broadcast media in all parts of Europe, a reflection of the rising influence of Islam across the continent.
Police in the suburbs of Paris are working to restore order after hundreds of Muslims went on a rioting spree to protest the simple identity check of a Muslim woman who was wearing a full-face Islamic veil.
More than 1,000 Muslims from across Europe are currently active as Islamic jihadists, or holy warriors, in Syria, which has replaced Afghanistan, Pakistan and Somalia as the main destination for militant Islamists seeking to obtain immediate combat experience with little or no official scrutiny.
Legal battles over the use of Islamic headscarves in public and private spaces are brewing across Europe.
A chronological review of some of the main stories involving the rise of Islam in France during 2012.
Research data provides empirical evidence that Islam is well on its way to overtaking Roman Catholicism as the dominant religion in France.
The Socialist government in France has inaugurated a new mega-mosque in Paris as a first step towards “progressively building a French Islam.”
The Paris offices of the satirical French magazine Charlie Hebdo were destroyed in an arson attack after it “invited” the Islamic Prophet Mohammed to be its “guest editor.”
The French government has enacted a new law prohibiting Muslims from praying in the streets. But on the first day of the ban hundreds of Muslims defied the law by taking over streets and sidewalks in Paris and other French cities to pray.
Islamic extremists are stepping up the creation of “no-go” areas in European cities that are off-limits to non-Muslims.
