A Missing Ingredient

I believe in my heart that if Muhammad (peace be upon him) was alive in Europe today, things would have been totally different. It does not take long to guess why: He was a strategic thinker.

The lack of such strategic thinking and planning is one of the main challenges facing Muslims in Europe nowadays.

It is not surprising to meet someone in the UK, for instance, who believes that Muslims are aggressive people who worship a strange god, called Allah, who commands them to slay non-Muslims wherever they find them.

Although Muslims have been in the UK for more than a century, there is a lack of strategic planning keeps them distanced from achieving an ideal existence and engagement with British society.

In the current Muslim landscape, many mosques still "exist" in India, Pakistan or Bangladesh although they are actually on Britain soil.

Another example is some Muslims living in Europe who, driven by sincerity and a love for Islam, inadvertently make things difficult for people who want to become Muslim.

They start explaining details of every move this newcomer to Islam should make and formulating a package of confusing rulings that may baffle even a practicing Muslim, all in the name of welcoming them to Islam.

If a woman is willing to embrace Islam, some people may start speaking about hijab, or sometimes even the face veil before she completes her first hour as a Muslim.

Needless to say, there can only be a negative conclusion to this situation.