Muslim associations in Malmö and Lund - a snapshot [part 2]
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 StenbergIf 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 upwards of 500 visitors.
The Study
The present study includes 24 Muslim associations. A search of the keywords islamiska, muslimska, muslim, muslimer and islamic at the Allabolag.se website yielded a total of 47 hits on associations and organizations related to Islam in Malmö and Lund. An additional 12 were found without the help of the above keywords. 11 of a total of 59 were located and were sent questionnaires through personal contacts and through visits in autumn 2007. In the autumn of 2008 a further 36 questionnaires were distributed to associations in Malmö and Lund. Of the total of 59 identified organizations, only 24 responded. The reason for the large number of non responses in this study is partly because 21 of the 36 questionnaires sent out in autumn 2008 were returned with the addressee is unknown indication. The remaining 14 associations identified have chosen not to participate. The number of Muslim associations identified in this study should not be regarded as absolute. Only those organizations that responded to the survey are presented.
In the course of the research, numerous mosque visits were undertaken, and comprised interviews with members as well as video footage of the Friday sermons made. Parts of some of the interviews are appended at the end of the study.
It is difficult to determine the extent of religious commitment. This study thus focuses on organized religious Muslim groups, but also examines the religious daily life of Muslims in the area. [15] That is, the focus is on what we choose to call everyday Islam rather than an abstract theological study that describes how Muslims should be in accordance with different conceptions of Islamic ideals. At the same time from a non-Muslim point of view, expectations of Muslims in terms of the practice of Islam can be synonymous with naive notions about particular atire, sexual conservatism, food habits, rituals, and fixed. Assumptions and beliefs shape the images of Islam in Swedish society and influence how Muslims are expected to practice their religious traditions. Religion is often seen among both Muslims and non-Muslims as a single universal, specific, clearcut "Islam".
The total sum of registered members, according to the associations looked at, amounts to about 9000. The number unfortunately does not provide a completely accurate picture of how many of these are practicing Muslims. Even in this case there are a number of factors that are pertinent. To begin with, many associations have several non-registered members participating in community activities, which means that the number of participants can be significantly higher, and also, there are people who are registered in more than one Muslim association. Other factors that come into play may be that many women are not registered members of any association and do not participate in any activities, but practice their religion at home. This means that a further distinction can be made between pacticing Muslims and active members of Muslim associations. An additional category should be added in order to not exclude religious Muslims who are non-practicing. Furthermore, in most organizations a distinction should be made between passive and active members, that is, paying and non-paying members. Another factor that should be taken into consideration is that only one person in a household / family can act as the registered user (that is, pay membership dues), while several others in the family are active in associations and participate in their meetings regularly. It should also be noted that the associations' own statistics, can be somewhat exaggerated. The figures may give an indication of how many active Muslim association members are in the area. Consequently, Malmö's Muslims are not a homogeneous group in terms of approach to Islam, but they belong to a pluralistic mass comprising several Muslim trends and a range of ethnic and political affiliations.
Islam has basically two major denominations- Sunni and Shi'a. Somewhere between 85 and 90% of all Muslims in the world belong to the Sunni denomination. Although Shi'a Muslims are a minority in the Muslim context, they form a majority in countries such as Iran, Azerbaijan, Bahrain and Iraq. In Lebanon, there are also numerous, but there is no census that can determine the size of the country's Shi'a population. [16] Sufism can be understood as a label for movements within Islam whose unifying substance comprises various piety rituals. Sufism is mainly encountered in the Sunni community but can also be found among the Shi'a denomination and has some similarities to both Jewish and Christian mysticism [17].In Malmö and Lund all of Islam's major trends are represented, including the Ahmaddiya. Two out of a total of 24 organizations presented here, the Al Hussein Cultural and the Lebanese cultural association in Malmö belong to the Shi'a tradition. In Lund there is one organization with a Sufi orientation - the Sufi Cultural Centre, and another one in Malmö - the Semerkand Association, together with one belonging to the Ahmadiya. The rest belong to the Sunni tradition. Many of the associations can also be categorized in terms of ethnicity. Consequently, there is one association with predominantly Turkish ties, one with Lebanese, two with Bosnian ties, one comprising mostly Iraqi members, one Albanian, and Islamic Relief whose members are mostly from Afghanistan. Most associations and their communities constitute part of larger networks, linked to organizations in their home country or to one of Sweden's three Muslim national organizations. [18] The associations in Malmö and Lund currently supported financially by the National Board for State Aid to Religious Communities (SST) are the Islamic Center & the Muslim Students in Lund, Islamic Culture, the Al Nour Drita Assembly, the Malmö Islamic Assembly, the Bosniak Islamic Assembly and the Malmö Muslim Assembly. Other organizations are for the most part self-financed through membership fees or supported by study groups from different educational and other national and international organizations.
June 27.2018 StAnselm4000.txt
ReplyDeleteSaint Anselm in fervent prayer we turn to you. Please help us in this crisis.
We need your help.
You must know that Muslims are coming into the country. The vast majority are kind and gentle that we like to have join us but a few are senseless killers.
We have turned to you because the need we have was caused by the writings of a
man in circumstances very similar to your own. He even lived in your own
time.
You are well qualified to challenge his writings and correct the effect of
his error.
You became well known when you were Archbishop of Canterbury and even better known when you proved the existence of God using only the power of reason.
Another man, a contemporary of yours, also wrote on the power of man to reason
but his work and yours are diametrically opposed. Yet your lives ran
in parallel. You were born in 1033 and this man, al-Ghazali, was born in 1058.
You died in 1109 and he died in 1111. The two of you could have been brothers.
But oh how different you both are.
Whereas you used the power of reason for good, he denied the use of reason. And
that led the world of Islam into chaos and evil.
Before al-Ghazali did his teaching, the Islamic world engaged totally in
reason and it was realized that through it man could come to know the Creator.
But then al-Ghazali closed the door to the use of reason and, perhaps
unintentionally, drove Islam into evil.
Al-Ghazali's erasure of the use of reason has allowed some people to latch on to inspirations from an evil source and carry them out with religious fervor: unreasonable and deadly religious fervor.
You can see the disasters it has caused and continues to cause. The atrocity
on 9/11 is well known. The San Bernardino couple, on a whim, and without reason
attacked and killed 14 of the husband's co-workers at an office party. Without
any cause or any reason they killed and were then killed themselves leaving their
infant child without parents. Why? What good came out of this atrocity? Whom did
it benefit? No one! It was done for no reason. Saint Anselm help our
Muslim brothers bring reason back.
The abolishment of reason and the introduction of evil are not
only worthless but counter productive and vile. They kill and maim the victims
and cast a pall of evil, an evil blanket, over all members of Islam. All of
them are possible terrorists. And there is no way to know who is and who isn't. This has led not to fear as much as to anger and hostility among non-Muhammadans and it has led to the Creator's anger, downright anger.
Through his teaching, Al-Ghazali is responsible for the death of millions.
He changed the trajectory of Islam.
Now we call on you Saint Anselm to change it back. You will need help. A
first choice is the Holy Spirit through Our Blessed Lady, Mary. She is in the
Qur'an. She is respected and in some places there is a strong devotion to her by
Muslims. So enlist the help of our Blessed Mother. We just recently had the 100th
anniversary of her appearance at Fatima where her miracle of the sun was
witnessed by 70,000 people. And we take special note that it was in Fatima that
she appeared! That is also the name of Muhammad's favorite daughter. That can't
be a coincidence. There must be some reason that Mary appeared there. She must have a particular affection for Fatima the town, Fatima the daughter, and for all Muslims. I think she is anxious to take part in reversing the course that al-Ghazali charted for Islam. She wants to prevent the despicable, evil, chaotic path of wanton destruction al-Ghazali has opened.
Before al-Ghazali, Islam, having been influenced by Aristotle and Socrates,
embraced reason. Now many embrace evil and strike for no apparent reason.
To me the reason is the blind embracing of inspirations from an evil source..
Give us all the inspiration to love the Creator, follow the Ten Commandments, and to use the gift of reason to bring everyone peace and hope.