AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Across Western media and political discourse, a growing anxiety has emerged over the presence of Muslims in Europe and the United States. In some narratives, Muslim migration is framed as part of an organized plan to alter the West’s religious identity, with Christian societies depicted as facing a gradual process of “Islamization.”
An examination of demographic data shows that Muslims make up about five percent of Europe’s total population and nearly one percent of the population of the United States. Even high-end projections limit their share by the middle of the current century. Despite this, concerns persist in the form of warnings about religious conversion within households or broader cultural transformation in Western societies.
Some analyses argue that these narratives reflect internal anxieties within Christian communities more than social realities, pointing instead to declining religious participation and a weakening sense of religious identity as underlying factors.
Historical comparisons indicate that similar claims were made in the nineteenth century, when Catholic and Orthodox migration to the United States was accused of threatening the country’s religious identity, assertions that later proved unfounded. In the current context, some observers say that focusing on an external threat diverts attention from the broader decline in religiosity across Western societies.
At the same time, Muslim officials and civil society activists stress that migration is primarily driven by factors such as war, insecurity, economic conditions, and access to education. They note that migrants, like other citizens, are largely concerned with livelihoods, education, and preserving their cultural traditions. This perspective underscores the need to avoid hasty conclusions and to rely on evidence-based assessments.
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