Is Islam growing in Europe because the natives are converting to Islam?

François Chevallier

Lives in Paris Updated 3y

Is Islam growing in Europe because the natives are converting to Islam, or is it because foreign Muslims keep migrating to Europe?

Mostly because foreign Muslims keep migrating to Europe, mainly through marriage. But also because religiosity is on the increase among Muslims in general. The birth rate of Muslims is higher than the average than that of European natives, and the more religious the higher.

The number of people in Europe who convert to Islam is relatively small but growing. Figures are hard to get, and even harder to interpret. Strangely enough, for all countries, the latest data available in that respect dates back to a decade. In 2010, there were about 100k converts in the UK and 60k in France, with a few thousands conversions every year. So if it grows at the same rate, that would be 0,2% of the UK’s population now, and less for other countries.

Ten years ago, there were more converts of European natives to Buddhism than to Islam. Also, among those who convert by personal conviction, a very high proportion comes from non European minorities. In France, famous examples of converts are sportsmen or musicians of African or Caribbean background.

But the main factor behind conversion happens to be marriage. If you marry someone from a Muslim family, chances are you will be pressured to convert to Islam at least formally. According to Muslim law, a non Muslim woman who marries a Muslim is considered as converted de facto, but only a part of these women lives the Muslim way. A non Muslim man who wants to marry a Moroccan woman will for instance have to convert at least formally (recite the “shahada” in front of an imam at the consulate) for the marriage to be considered legal by Morocco.

Within immigration itself, marriage again is a major factor. In France for instance, the main cause of immigration is no longer work, but “family”. There is a “bride flight” phenomenon among Muslim born girls, as a substantial number refuse to marry Muslim men. The remainder of men have no trouble finding brides in their country of origin, as arranged marriages are common, and living in Europe is giving them a superior status. Thus, Muslim men born and/or raised in Europe marry women who aren’t, which reinforces the Muslim identity of their families.

The birthrate of Muslims is higher than average. Polygamy has been regularly quoted as a factor, but in a very exaggerated way though. It is rare or non-existent in MENA, and only prevalent in Muslim Africa. In France, there is a famous case similar to George Floyd, who was Adama Traoré. His father was from Mali, a major immigration country for France, and it was found out that he had four wives and had fathered 17 children. Polygamy is more a question of tradition than it has to do with Islam, but whatever, it doesn’t seem to give good results. Children from such families have enormous chances to drop out of school and be involved in crime. In the Traoré family, almost all males had spent time in jail.

“Muslim” is somewhat of a catchword, covering many different realities. Just as you may have a Christian background, and nothing to do with evangelists or fundamentalists, many Muslims in Europe only have a Muslim background and not necessarily a Muslim lifestyle. But there is such a thing as a “great awakening”, that has developed steadily after the soar of oil prices in 1974.

Re-islamization of Muslims has occurred to various extents in all Muslim majority countries, with the help of funds coming from KSA or Gulf countries. This trend has affected Europe too. When in 1983, French people of Maghrebi origin had organized a march on the model of the Civil Rights movement, the word Islam appeared nowhere back then and there was not a single hijab around.

Since then, the situation has changed dramatically. Affirmative action has been the rule, and assertive Islam has been used as a political weapon to separate Muslim background minorities from the European majority. If anything, the number of practising Muslims, who identify as “Muslims first”, has increased by predication and proselytism. Different polls show that the number of Muslims putting sharia law above national law is on the increase, and especially high among young people. When their name indicates Muslim background, kids may be pressured by their Muslim peers to eat halal food, and to wear hijab if females.

Some Muslim preachers may be very well groomed, but they however support an Islamist agenda, spreading Islam the soft way and courting politicians to get concessions. A perfect example has been Tariq Ramadan. He is a Swiss national of Egyptian descent, actually the grand-son of Hassan al Bana, founder of the Muslim Brotherhood. He was regarded wrongly as a moderate by the media, while it turned out that he received 35k€ a month from Qatar to make conferences in Europe, mostly in France. He was actually backed by sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi from Qatar, who is anything but a moderate. Ramadan’s career was ruined by a sex scandal, but plenty of similar young wolves are already appearing to occupy his place.

The problem in Europe is not that Islam is a different religion : there is no “buddhist problem” for instance. But there is a trend of pushing Muslims to set themselves apart from the rest of society by asserting their identity more and more, and to support values which are not compatible with Europe. The problem in Europe is that criticizing Islam openly is tantamount to a death sentence, as countless examples have already shown. Ex-Muslims are more common than it seems, because those who speak out are regarded as “traitors” by the majority, and risking their lives.

The U.S.A does not have a similar problem because there is only 1% Muslims there, compared to 10% in Western Europe. Moreover, Muslim migrants have to go through a selective immigration process that only lets in the more affluent and educated. This is fortunate, because if there were 10% Muslims in the US, the confrontation of Islamic mentality and American gun culture and feistiness would have triggered bloody clashes long ago.