"European Islam" in practice-in the Bosnian city of Sarajevo

The current debate about Islam in Western Europe is predominantly theoretical by nature and fails to adequately reflect on the experience of and knowledge about inherently European Muslim societies. Consequently, the debate lacks a sound empirical foundation and has started to live a life on its own. The authors of this article challenge the assumptions beyond this debate about Muslims, such as Muslims being a religious group incapable of embracing democratic and secular principles or accepting social plurality. Meanwhile, the authors also challenge the idea that the so-called European values are the key to the acceptance of Islam as a "European religion". This conclusion is derived from empirical studies conducted in the Bosnian city of Sarajevo, where they studied the way these Bosnian Muslims-who have been European from the outset and Muslims for centuries-relate to several key elements from the "European Islam" debate and their resulting self-image. © 2012 Copyright Institute of Muslim Minority Affairs