Concerns about the radicalization of young Muslims in the West in recent years -- and especially after 9/11 -- have heightened the fear of the resurgence of homegrown protests and unrest.

In response to this development, more restrictions on civil and political liberties of minority groups, such as Muslims, have been imposed throughout the West. Such restrictions may well have provoked a backlash that could lead to an increase in extremism. Enforcing the ban against wearing the headscarf or hijab in France, for example, has sent a message to Muslim citizens and immigrants that they are welcome in society only as long as they accept secular laws and the constitution of the host country. And yet, insofar as the legal restrictions placed on wearing the headscarf or hijab are concerned, there is no evidence that banning Islamic dress has substantially reduced the risk of Islamic radicalism.  

Throughout the West, Islamic radicalism is attributed largely to disaffected youth of North African origin or converts. In the post-9/11 era, several factors have contributed to the radicalization of a minority within Muslim communities, including a new wave of intolerance toward Muslim immigrants and the widespread economic deprivation as well as social and cultural stigmas associated with these communities. Members of such communities tend to regard their segregation in poor suburbs as proof of the absence of any prospects for a hopeful future.  

A new form of Islamophobia in Europe took shape when newspapers across Europe reprinted controversial caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad (S) to show support for a Danish newspaper whose cartoons had outraged Muslims throughout the world. When the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published twelve cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad (S) in late September 2005, including one in which he is shown wearing a turban in the shape of a bomb with a burning fuse, a strong backlash ensued not only in Denmark but also across the globe. Several similar challenges to multiculturalism in Europe have sparked debate over the extent to which a common national identity can be constructed to facilitate Muslims’ integration into the European culture. British Prime Minister David Cameron, in a speech on February 5, 2011, criticized multiculturalism, saying that “state multiculturalism has failed” in Great Britain.  

The so-called “war on terror” has targeted Muslim communities and diasporas unfairly and arbitrarily, creating a backlash in countries where there is a considerable minority of Muslim immigrants. While anti-Muslim hate crimes in the United States declined for a while compared to the years immediately after the 9/11 attacks, numerous attacks against Muslims and their religious centers occurred in 2011, provoked by the protests in New York City over the planned Muslim community center and mosque near the site of the September 11 attacks.

 

It is possible to use multiculturalism to help minorities preserve their cultures and social institutions in a way that does not force assimilation into the dominant ethnicity or culture. But without proper and legal socioeconomic integration and political inclusion, it will be difficult to promote social justice for all, even if cultural integration may not be the end result. Muslim diasporas should be vigilant against the growth of extremist elements in their midst and exclude such elements from their communities as well as cultural centers. The 2011 Arab revolts and peaceful democratic change in the Middle East and North Africa have clearly provided a counter-narrative to the “war against terror” strategy of the past. These events will have profound implications for the Muslim diasporas and at the same time will help to reconstruct the image of Muslims throughout the Western world.