“The Dutch And The Jaahiliyya”

Introduction

I am writing this essay for my Political Economy course at the FHW in Berlin. When I was brainstorming about a topic I had a few ideas. I choose the topic “The Dutch and the Jaahiliyya ” because it is something I have been wanting to write about for a long time. In my personal life I come across this topic more and more and that is also why I think it is good to know something more about it. The research that is necessary to write this essay will provide me with a lot more background information and this may help me to discuss Islamisation topics on a higher intellectual level in the future.

The topic of Islamisation lies in a sensitive area and it will be a challenge to write diplomatically about it because I would like to ventilate my own opinion without hurting other peoples’ feelings and without being misunderstood. I will shortly explain my personal motivation behind the topic.

As an international Business Student I had the privilege to study and work in other countries than my home country. As an Erasmus student I met a lot of students from other cultures and countries. These experiences made my education more valuable for me because I am interested in cultural differences. It is not only interesting to learn about the cultures and beliefs of other students, it is also interesting to learn how they value mine. What I experienced is that a lot of people from other countries think that Dutch people are against Muslims and the Islam and that we are more racist than others. I understand that other people can get this idea from what they read in the media about what is/was happening in the Netherlands. However, we Dutch people consider ourselves as open-minded and tolerant.

In this essay I would like to talk about Islam and Muslims in the Netherlands, integration and the fear of the native Dutch people towards Islamisation. Therefore I would like to give more information about this in the first part of this essay. I will use scientific research, newspaper articles and articles out of opinion magazines to discuss and describe the Integration of Dutch Muslims. At the end of this essay I will mention some reasons why the Dutch are scared of Islamisation and I will share my opinion about what we can do to try to stop this.

Muslims in the Netherlands

It is not easy to give exact figures of the total Muslim population in the Netherlands, but we can say that it is approaching 900,000, or 5.8 per cent of the total population. Compared to the Western European average (around 3 per cent), we can conclude that this number is high. Only France has a higher percentage of Muslims (6.8 per cent). These statistics are based on ethnic descent, they do not take into account differences in Muslim identity, belief, practice and respect for the various religious duties. This is why these numbers should be handled with some caution. The largest groups are people with origins in Morocco or Turkey, who make up over 75 per cent of the Muslim population. Immigration from these countries started with the arrival of labour immigrants in the 1960s and 1970s. Later on, these labour immigrants brought over their families and this is why the number subsequently increased. Other important groups are the Surinamese Muslims and refugees.

Table 1. Ethnic breakdown of the Muslim population (allochtonen)

Country of origin Numbers Share of total Muslim Population (%)

Turkey 358 40.5

Morocco 315 35.6

Surinam 70 7.9

Iraq 44 5.0

Afghanistan 37 4.2

Iran 29 3.3

Somalia 22 2.5

Dutch converts 10 1.1

Total 885 100

Source: Douwes (2005: 27); also Phalet and Ter Wal (eds) (2004), 5 volumes.

Most Turks and Moroccans in the Netherlands are first- or second-generation immigrants, and over half have the Dutch citizenship. The first generation immigrants have still strong links to their national identity. This is noticeable in the way they hold on to their traditions, culture and in the fact that a lot of first generation immigrants (especially women) still do not speak the Dutch language. The second generation perceives the shared religion of the Islam as more important than the shared origin and language. In November 2004, the Minister of Integration and Immigration Rita Verdonk commissioned an inquiry into the radicalization of young Muslims. The conclusion was that many of them experience alienation, feeling disconnected with both their first-generation immigrant parents and from the Dutch society. While they participate less in religious activities than their parents, they link more strongly their identity with Islam and with the global Muslim community.

The educational level of non-Western immigrants in the Netherlands is significantly lower than the level of the native Dutch. Turkish and Moroccan students are more likely to drop out of school and are overrepresented in the lower levels of the secondary Education. In 2006 there were 46 Muslim primary schools and two Muslim secondary schools financed by the Government. The lower educational level of the immigrant has impact on their employment opportunities. Only one third of the Moroccans and half of the Turks have a salaried job. The average household income of Moroccans and Turks is more than one third lower than that of the native Dutch. Their unemployment rate is also elevated: 27 per cent for the Moroccans and 21 per cent for the Turks, as compared to 9 per cent for the native Dutch . In the workplace, relations between Muslims and non-Muslims have become more complex since 11 September 2001 Complaints focus on reduced tolerance towards the wearing of the hijab, prayer opportunities, or Muslims in general. What also changed after this famous date is the growing violence targeting Muslims. After 9/11, there was an increase in the number of reported incidents, vandalism and acts of aggression against Muslims and Islamic symbols. After the assassination of Theo van Gogh in November 2004, this only got worse. A number of websites appeared praising the murder and posing death threats against other people. A report for the Anne Frank Foundation and the University of Leiden counted a total of 174 violent incidents in November. In December 2004, a Muslim primary school in Uden was completely destroyed