exploring muslim identities in europe & north america

Meet the Somalis is a collection of 14 illustrated stories depicting the real life experiences of Somalis in seven cities in Europe: Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Leicester, London, Malmo, and Oslo. The stories allow readers a unique insight into what everyday life is like as a Somali in Europe. Meet the Somalis is based on the firsthand testimonies of Somalis in Europe interviewed during six months in 2013. The Somali community in Europe is a vibrant, diverse minority group, including people of Somali origin born in Europe, Somali refugees and asylum seekers, and Somalis who have migrated from one country in Europe to another. There are no accurate figures for the number of Somalis in Europe, but on the whole they are among one of the largest minority groups. The illustrated stories focus on challenges faced by Somalis in their respective cities in Europe and issues raised in the Somalis in European Cities research, including education, housing, the media, employment, pol...

Spyros Sofos, professeur de sciences politiques à Lund, commune de la même région, et auteur de divers essais sur l'Islam, le nationalisme et l'Europe, nous explique les raison et les conséquences de l'islamophobie grandissante dans la localité de Malmö. Qu'est-ce qu'être musulman? Tout d'abord être musulman signifie tellement de choses différentes ! L'Etat Suédois a une vision très restreinte de ce qu'est être musulman. En effet, à Malmö les populations dites “musulmanes” viennent d'Iraq, de Bosnie, du Liban, d'Iran, de Turquie, d'Afghanistan, de Somalie ou du Pakistan. Ranger toutes ces communautés dans un seul bloc appelé "musulman" est erroné : il existe des musulmans très pratiquants et d'autres beaucoup plus séculaires, comme les Bosniaques. En fait, certains jeunes ne sont même pas pratiquants du tout, mais leurs parents le sont, on peut dire qu'ils sont culturellement musulmans. L'Islam est-elle une religion...

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 History The first large groups of Muslims arrived in Sweden during the 1960s and 1970s.[19] They mainly consisted of guest migrants from Turkey and former Yugoslavia, and were then followed by a wave of family reunification –widespread during the late 1970s and early 1980s. During the mid-1980s, asylum seekers from Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Turkey started arriving in Sweden and at the end of the decade they were joined by asylum seekers from Somalia and Kosovo. [20] The subsequent Yugoslav disintegration meant that a large number of Muslim Bosnian refugees came to Sweden, the majority of whom have settled in Malmö. [21] To all these different Muslim migrants one should add a number of Swedes who have converted to Islam. Despite their s...

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...

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...