The opinions of 44 percent of European Muslims correspond to the definition of religious fundamentalism, according to a survey the Czech European Values think tank presented yesterday, which unveils serious shortcomings in Muslim immigrants’ integration in this respect.
Problems with the integration in the European system of values concern both first and further generations of Muslim immigrants, the think tank said in a press release.
The survey showed that fundamentalists increasingly incline to radicalisation.
For example, the application of force was assessed as a justified measure to protect the faith by 35 percent of the surveyed Muslims, but 70 percent of fundamentalists among them.
“University education lowers the probability of radicalisation,” sociologist Marketa Blazejovska said.
“Neither personal experience with discrimination nor the society’s openness to foreigners have any influence,” she said.
According to European Values executive director Radko Hokovsky, Islamic fundamentalists try to read and apply Islam consistently in a way that may result in breaching personal freedom, equality and human dignity.
Fundamentalists believe in a single type of the interpretation of Islam and they believe that religious rules are more important than the laws of the country they live in, Hokovsky said.
The survey of the opinions of Muslims in Britain, Germany, France and Spain have shown big differences between particular countries.
For example, bomb attacks were assessed as justifiable, in certain situations at least, by 35 percent of Muslims in France but only 15 percent in Germany.
Blazejovska explained the difference by a different composition of the Muslim communities in the two countries.
The introduction of the Islamic law sharia is supported by 72 percent of Muslims in France and 69 percent in Britain. In Germany, it is supported by only 13 percent of Muslims, while one third say sharia should play no role.
In the Czech Republic, the spreading of radical opinions must be qualified as a crime with extremist subtext, as is required by the criminal law, the think tank writes in the press release.
“The Czech Republic should not repeat the mistakes made by some Western countries with strong Muslim communities. Liberal democracy must be able to defend itself,” Hokovsky said.