Mosque Conflicts in European Cities: Introduction

This brief paper introduces the special issue on mosque conflicts in Europe, which draws on research results of the Network of Comparative Research on Islam and Muslims in Europe. The paper first provides basic data on the numbers and distribution of Muslim immigrants in Europe. Reflecting a dialectical approach in which Muslims both affect, and are impacted by, European culture, the paper introduces the issue of the islamicisation of European public space, with special reference to mosque construction, which represents the evolution of Islam from the private to the public sphere. Sources and causes of resistance to mosque-building are identified, and various national contrasts—based on the papers that follow—are drawn.