Summary of the II Meeting of European Muslims in Cologne, Germany

On the 2nd, 3rd and 4th of January, the Second Meeting of European Muslims took place organised by Ditib and Diyanet under the title: ‘The future of Muslims in Europe’ and in which the Seville Mosque Foundation was invited to participate.
The event was attended by more than 100 representatives from 17 European countries.
On the first day of conferences, Wednesday 2nd, the opening remarks of the congress took place, in which Prof. Dr. Ali Erbas, President of Religious Affairs of Turkey and Dr. Selim Argun, Vice President, participated.
It was stressed that Islam and Muslims are a reality in Europe and that they have to be a luminous reality that brings peace to society.
They also discussed the difficulties faced by Muslims in a climate of growing Islamophobia and the rise of the right.
The first session, which took place on the same day, was entitled “The Future of Muslims in Europe: Opportunities and Challenges” and was chaired by Prof. Dr. Ali Erbas and other moderators such as Prof. Jasser Auada or Dr. Khaled Hanafi participated.
Topics such as the identity of the new generations, the problems of integration of some communities or Islamophobia were discussed.
On the same day, another session was held under the title ‘Structural Problems of Islamic Institutions in Europe and Legal Processes’ and was chaired by Dr. Selim Ergun.
The need to create indigenous forms of financing, through the Waqf, that ensure the independence and projection of the institutions was highlighted.
The importance of using the legal means of each country to exercise rights and participate in responsibilities was also discussed.
The second day began with a session entitled “Negative effects of Muslim separatist movements with religious connotations” and was chaired by Dr. Hussein Halawa.
During this session, the dangers of ‘importing’ fatwas that do not know the local idiosyncrasies were discussed, the need to separate from extremist ideologies and Islam to be a ‘social glue’ and not the other way around.
This was followed by two sessions under the title “Immigrants and the construction of a Muslim identity by the new generations: religious education” and “Strategies against the negative image of Islam in the media”.
Among other things, the fact that young Muslims are no longer immigrants but Europeans and that the future of Islam in Europe is in their hands, since they are also the ones who know the new media best and are using them.
Friday 4 was the last day and the final declaration took place that collected the most significant conclusions that had been reached in these days.
It was read by Prof. Dr. Ali Erbas and was broadcast on live television.
To conclude this meeting, the prayer of the Jumua at the Great Mosque of Cologne was held, which also served as the epicenter of the program of these days and the participants were offered a tour of this historic city.
From the Mosque Foundation of Seville we would like to thank you immensely for the opportunity to participate in this enriching meeting.
In addition to having been useful in getting in touch and gauging the reality of many Muslims in Europe, their goals, desires and challenges, it has been an excellent opportunity to establish a relationship with other Muslims.