Islamic fundamentalism is not a marginal phenomenon in Europe

Extended ideologies but not universal
Koopmans’s study, based on a survey in 2008 of 9,000 Europeans, compares the religious fundamentalism of immigrants and the children and grandchildren of Turkish and Moroccan Muslim immigrants (Sunni Muslims and to a lesser extent Alevites) of Turkish and Moroccan origin, and native European Christians (Catholics, Protestants, Seventh Day Adventists, Jehova’s Witnesses, and Pentecost believers) in Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, and Sweden, countries with a long generational history of immigration.

“Broadly speaking, between 40 percent and 45 percent of European Muslims have fundamentalist religious ideas, that is, they agree with the three definitions of the term. Austria is the country with the highest percentage, 55 percent, while Germany has the lowest, 30 percent,” explains Koopmans.

According to the Koopmans, fundamentalism is not a marginal phenomenon among Muslims in Western Europe. “Although a majority of Muslims have more liberal views of the religion, this minority of fundamentalist Muslims is significant,” he says, adding that although these attitudes are widespread, “they are not universal among European Muslims.”

The results show that if first and second generations are considered and if each definition is taken independently, almost 60 percent would return to the roots of Islam, 75 percent think there is only one interpretation of the Koran possible to which every Muslim should stick, and 65 percent say that religious rules are more important to them than the rules of the country in which they live.

“However, in second generation Muslims the levels are slightly lower (between 50 percent and 70 percent),” Koopmans says.

According to the study, Islamic fundamentalism, also known as Islam, prevails in Europe if compared to Christian fundamentalism, in which only 4 percent of Christians shared the ideas of the three statements of the definition. Among Protestants, fundamentalism reached 12 percent.

“All fundamentalists are strictly religious but this does not mean that all strictly religious individuals are fundamentalists. Strict religiosity is more frequently associated to Islamic fundamentalists than to Christians,” claims Koopmans.

In addition, Christian and Islamic fundamentalism decrease when the social and economic status is higher, “and this is even more so among the Muslim community,” the sociologist found. Nevertheless, “although in Europe religious fundamentalism is more widespread in Islam, in the United States it is Christian fundamentalism, especially among Protestants, which has the greatest support,” observes Koopmans, who points out that the data from the study cannot be extrapolated to the rest of the world.

In Spain, with a more recent history of immigration, and for this reason not included in the study, followers of religious fundamentalism, in particular Islam, reach similar figures. A study conducted by the American PEW Research Center revealed that Islamic fundamentalists make up more than 30 percent of the followers. “In fact, there is not much variation in the European countries,” Koopmans says.

Hostility toward out-groups
The reactions generated as a result of the latest attacks in the French capital have merely served to fortify a growing Islamophobia and rejection of Muslims. “But Islam is not the problem. Nor is it true that a majority of Muslims have fundamentalist ideals,” Koopmans says.

Religious fundamentalism is not new. Since the nineties, these attitudes are found among Christians and in Islam, remaining stable in the case of the latter.

“What is relatively recent is the growth of violence, linked to the situation in Syria and Iraq, and which has served to aggravate the problem,” maintains Koopmans. Other studies claim that between 10 percent and 15 percent of EU Muslims are prepared to use violence to defend their faith.

Although violence does not necessarily form part of this ideology, hostility toward other out-groups including homosexuals, Jews, and Westerners (in the case of Muslims) or Muslims (in the case of Christians) is evident. As a whole, Muslims are shown to be more hostile toward the three out-groups mentioned above, with between 25 percent and 30 percent rejecting these groups. Christian hostility is not as much as 5 percent.

Independently, however, Christian fundamentalists show greater hostility toward Muslims (more than 50 percent) and toward Jews (between 30 and 35 percent of Christian fundamentalists were revealed to be hostile). In the case of Islamic fundamentalists, more than 70 percent of followers feel hostility toward homosexuals, Jews, and Westerners.

“Religious fundamentalism is closely linked to hostility toward other out-groups,” says Koopmans. Social and economic levels, though, also have a bearing. Individuals with a high social and economic status are more tolerant and less xenophobic.

— Read more in Ruud Koopmans, “Fundamentalism and out-group hostility. Comparing Muslims and Christians in Europe,” WZB-Mitteilungen (December 2014); Koopmans, “Religious Fundamentalism and Hostility against Out-groups: A Comparison of Muslims and Christians in Western Europe,” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 41, no. 1 (2015): 33-57 (DOI: 10.1080/1369183X.2014.935307); and Koopmans, Religious Fundamentalism and Out-Group Hostility among Muslims and Christians in Western Europe, WZB Discussion Paper SP VI 2014-101 (Berlin: WZB, 2014)