Islam reached Europe through the East, by the repeated attempts of Muslims to conquer Constantinople since the caliphate of Mu‘aawiyah ibn Abi Sufyaan, May Allaah Be Pleased with him. Constantinople was later conquered by the great Muslim leader Muhammad Al-Faatih [the Conqueror] in 857 AH/ 1453 AD.

Although the introduction of Islam into Europe had the greatest scientific, cultural and moral impact on this continent, we wonder at the deeply-rooted hostility that some Europeans harbor towards Islam. This antagonism was evident in the tragic catastrophe of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Serbs brutally massacred the Muslims of Bosnia and Herzegovina with the obvious objective of ethnic cleansing.

Muslims live in Europe as scattered minorities which vary in size from one European country to another. The vast majority of Muslims came to Europe as immigrants from countries that were occupied by the European countries to which they immigrated. Also, large numbers of Europeans embraced Islam due to the historical European bonds with the Islamic world. This led to a better understanding of the nature of Islam on the part of the Europeans, with their various tendencies, and intellectual and social statuses.

Muslims in Europe face many problems, on top of which comes ignorance of the past and present of Europe, in which they live. They also lack the mature, informed, and intellectual leadership that can encompass the immigrant Muslims and guide them to the right path. Furthermore, Muslim communities in Europe suffer from internal differences, such as ethnic divisions and sectarianism.

They also experience the hazard of intellectual and spiritual alienation. Therefore, there is an urgent need to establish a branch of jurisprudence that deals with the Fiqh of Muslim minorities or Minority Jurisprudence that studies the lives and problems of Muslim migrants in order to identify the optimal rulings that would facilitate their lives abroad.

Some European countries, such as Britain and Switzerland, positively acknowledge Islam, whereas other countries, like Italy, refuse to recognize Islam as an official religion. Germany perceives Muslims as a peril that hovers over the society and the prime minister of the Netherlands is calling for closing down Islamic schools.

The increasing number of Muslims in Europe and the increased sense of belonging to Islam are noticeable. Muslims in Europe, in general, enjoy many rights, such as the right to practice their worship rituals freely and serenely and the freedom to establish Islamic institutions and mosques. However, Muslims face some administrative difficulties that hinder them practicing Islam under the umbrella of a secular industrial society that is indifferent to religious and spiritual aspects.

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