European Union Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

European Union Law - Essay Example Muslims of Europe have fashioned a life-style and understanding of religion that can be labelled as European Islam that is diverse from that of their country of origin.2 As a result, the Muslim community within Western Europe is increasingly considered as â€Å"European community,† transnational in nature and connected by a common religion labelled as â€Å"Euro-Islam† by both scholars and policy makers. The notion of Euro-Islam outlines a liberal variety of Islam that is embraced by both Muslim migrants and to European societies and encompasses the same religion of Islam, but culturally modified to encompass European ideas of secularity and individual citizenship in line with the contemporary notions of modernity, as well as a comprehending of tolerance that surpasses the Islamic tolerance. Recent events within Europe have pushed Shari’a (Islamic law) to the centre of media attention and debate. Right from the assassination of Theo van Gogh in 2004 to the contro versial endorsement of Sharia law by Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams in 2008, the proceedings have sparked both harsh criticism and solid support of the internalization of Islam within European law and society at large. The politicization of Sharia law has generated discrepancies in these debates yielding to storm over initially embraced aspects on Islamic law while obscuring Islamic traditions that bear the potential to reconcile Sharia and western norms.3 Background Globalization and migration have served to render European societies multicultural to an unprecedented extent since 1945, and has increasingly heralded multicultural life into the court rooms and administrative institutions. In Western European countries, today, a considerable part of the population is Muslim. Since the 1950s, Muslim minorities have steadily emerged in Europe as a result of decolonization, labour migration, conflict, and civil strife within their home countries. Majority of the of Muslim popul ation entered Europe as asylum seekers owing to conflict at home countries while others came to Europe in pursuit of a higher standard of living.4 As a result, Islam had become public within Europe and over 15 million immigrants originating from Muslim-majority countries have settled within European nations over the period. This has necessitated a shift in discourse in identifying these groups, initially as migrant labourers, ethnic minorities, and eventually as a religious community.5 Islam has adapted to diverse times and places yielding to various forms of religiosity. The adaptation of Muslim religiosity within Europe has been addressed by diverse scholars as encompassing a shift from â€Å"Islam in Europe.† Majority has addressed the reinterpretation of Islam as arising from the changing concerns and needs of young Muslims; the decline in religious authority; and, the introduction of secular, liberal democracy among European states. There is a growing agreement that Isla m is gradually becoming â€Å"European,† but the major contention lies in the content and process of this Europeanization.6 The bulk of the studies on this subject centres on the normative and post-modern approaches whereby the Europeanization of Islam is perceived to arise from the individualization of religious authority among Muslims.7 Some people projects that if the present trend persists, then it