Muslims may find integrating into society a struggle in Western Europe. Those whose Islam is more cultural than religious have fewer problems assimilating. For example, they can simply refrain from eating pork and drinking alcohol and still consider themselves Muslims. Others, while enjoying the freedom of living in the West, go to great lengths to avoid contact with non-Muslims. Along with mosques, they create parallel institutions, such as schools and banks, in order to live according to Islamic principles.

Is Islam compatible with western democratic ideals? Can Muslims participate fully in European society?

Some Muslims and Europeans would answer this with a hearty yes; others would vehemently deny that it is possible. The European Jewish writer Bat Ye’or coined the phrase “Eurabia,” describing Europe as an extension of the anti-democratic Arab Muslim world. She claims that the “Islamization” of Europe began in the 1960s, when large numbers of Muslims started migrating to Europe. Recent years have seen a steady rise in far-right, anti-Muslim nationalists in European politics who agree with her.

Faithful Christians are reaching out to Muslims across Europe. Some minister to international students who come from Muslim countries. Others welcome Muslim families for kids’ clubs, international meals, holiday celebrations, and language classes in local churches. Many Christians are serving refugees throughout Europe. One organization alone, Samaritan’s Purse, reports that more than 40,000 have heard the Gospel and more than a thousand decided to follow Jesus through their ministry. Major Christian organizations conduct summer outreaches in large European cities among the hundreds of thousands of Muslims visiting from “closed” countries.

Reports note that in Germany and Switzerland several thousand Muslim refugees became Christians between 2014-2017.  They were drawn by the love shown to them by Christians, as opposed to the cruelty from which they fled. Trinity Church, in Berlin, grew from 150 to 700 people because of the number of Muslim converts. Other German churches have held mass baptisms for converts at local swimming pools.