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Muslim associations in Malmö and Lund - a snapshot [part 2]

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originally published as  'Muslimska föreningar i Malmö och Lund – en ögonblicksbild' in islamologi.se on December 2nd, 2010 and translated from the Swedish original by Spyros A. Sofos By Erica Li Lundqvist & Leif Stenberg If we compare with the Lund municipal statistics from 2006, 136 different countries of origin are represented, with the largest group coming from Nordic countries (21%) followed by Germany (7.1%), the US (4.9%), Poland (4.8 %) and Iraq (4.7%). A total of 1635 people originate in Asia, with Iraq being the single largest country. The district of North Fäladen has the largest proportion of foreign nationals (1468), representing 13% of its population. [13] According to Imam Ali Ibrahim, of Lund's Islamic Center, there are approximately between 4 and 5,000 Muslims in the town, however, not all of them practicing. [14] During a typical Friday visit, for example, to the mosque, there are around 90 people while the larger festivals can attract u...

Muslim associations in Malmö and Lund - a snapshot [part 1]

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translated from 'Muslimska föreningar i Malmö och Lund – en ögonblicksbild'  originally published in islamologi.se on December 2nd, 2010 and translated by Spyros A. Sofos By Erica Li Lundqvist & Leif Stenberg During a visit to the urban district of Rosengård in Malmö in order to photograph the "cellar mosques", we suddenly got lost in the suburban jungle. A group of children and young people noticed us wondering and asked us what we were doing. "We are looking for a mosque", we said, after which they replied in chorus: "There are many!" And they pointed in all directions. The development of Muslim neighbourhoods in Malmö and Lund has been gaining momentum since the first Muslim community was established in Malmö in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Today, Islam is a natural, albeit controversial, part of Swedish society. Nevertheless, very little commentary on Islam in Sweden is premised on comprehensive empirical investigation. [1] A prob...