WHat do you mean by 'Islam is spreading pretty quickly in Europe'?
A
Pew Research Center study, published in January 2011, forecast an increase of Muslims in European population from 6% in 2010 to 8% in 2030. Pew also found that Muslim fertility rate in Europe would drop from 2.2 in 2010 to 2.0 in 2030. On the other hand, the non-Muslim fertility rate in Europe would increase from 1.5 in 2010 to 1.6 in 2030.
Pew Forum, The Future of the Global Muslim Population, January 2011
The Future of the Global Muslim Population | Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project
Here is one of thousands of articles contradicting the Pew Research Center findings:
A Peaceful Invasion?
There is a new Muslim conquest of Europe underway—but this time, it is a peaceful invasion. Millions of Turks, Arabs, Algerians and other Muslims have immigrated to European countries, seeking employment and a better life. Often they begin as guest workers before becoming permanent residents. For years, these workers were largely welcomed by nations that needed their lower-cost labor. Increasingly, however, immigrant Muslim populations in Europe are growing to the point that they have become a major cultural and political force affecting their host countries. Rather than assimilate, they are testing the limits of European tolerance—and social tensions are growing.
In 1970, according to the
World Christian Encyclopedia, there were 20 percent more Roman Catholics around the world than there were Muslims. By 2000, this proportion had almost reversed; there were 1.20 billion Muslims worldwide, compared to just 1.06 billion Roman Catholics. And Islam is growing, both through births and conversions, at a rate far greater than Roman Catholicism.
This shift is particularly visible in France. Demographers note that among French youth, the percentage of Muslims is much higher than among the general French population. In a recent column, commentator Cal Thomas speculated, "At current rates, the Muslim population will grow… to a majority in 25 years. French culture, possibly French secularism and liberty, cannot be sustained in the face of such demographic facts" ("Lessons Learned," January 11, 2006).
Europeans who once assumed that Muslim terrorism was an American problem are now discovering that it is their problem, too. Spain and Great Britain have experienced bombings. France has seen widespread rioting by radicalized young Muslims. A Danish newspaper found itself at the hub of international uproar when it printed cartoons that some Muslims found offensive—and this controversy is galvanizing Muslim sentiments around the world. As
Voice of America reporter Benjamin Sand recently noted, "Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf says the controversy over editorial cartoons of… Islam's prophet, Muhammad, is
uniting moderate and radical Muslims. As he spoke, thousands of Pakistanis protested, and there were several instances of violence, as the caricatures continue to fuel anti-western rage across the Muslim world." (
Voice of America News, February 13, 2006).
Although there are many voices urging moderation, controversy ver the Danish cartoons is fanning anti-Muslim sentiments as well. Some of Europe's non-Muslim commentators are no longer as keen on tolerance as they once were—and other Europeans are listening. Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci echoed an increasingly common sentiment: "Europe is no longer Europe. It is a province of Islam, as Spain and Portugal were at the time of the Moors. It hosts almost 16 million Muslim immigrants and teems with mullahs, imams, mosques, burqas, chadors. It lodges thousands of Islamic terrorists whom governments don't know how to identify and control. People are afraid, and in waving the flag of pacifism—pacifism synonymous with anti-Americanism—they feel protected" ("The Rage, the Pride and the Doubt,"
Wall Street Journal, March 13, 2003).
An Islamic Europe? | Tomorrow's World
Other statistics from the U.N.:
Islam in
North America since 1989 increased 25%
Islam in
Africa since 1989 increased 2.15%
Islam in
Asia since 1989 increased 12.57%
Islam in
Europe since 1989 increased 142.35%
Islam in
Latin America since 1989 decreased -4.73%
and Islam in
Australia and
Oceania / Pacific since 1989 increased 257.01%
Growth of Islam and World Religions
