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Islam in Sweden: Institutionalization, Public Debates and Discursive Paradoxes

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After Integration

Part of the book series: Islam und Politik ((ISPO))

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Abstract

The Muslim presence in Sweden in modern times is a fairly new phenomenon and therefore is distinct from many other European countries with a colonial past. The first Muslim congregation was established in 1949 in Stockholm by refugees coming from Estonia and belonging to the ethnic group of Tartars. The establishment of a Muslim congregation signaled the first non-Christian group (after the Jewish) to establish a religious community in Swedish society. The establishment of a permanent Muslim presence in Swedish society did not attract a lot of attention from the Swedish state or the political parties in parliament and therefore developed outside of the public eye. In addition, the Muslim population was so small that it was ignored in a large government investigation about the relationship between the Swedish state and the Church of Sweden conducted in 1963, which also included a survey of all, at that time known religious congregations in Sweden.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    There was off course earlier contacts between Muslims and Swedes through diplomats, Swedish converts and Muslim merchants who settled in Sweden. During Sweden’s close relations with the Ottoman Empire during the reign of Charles XII a number of Turks settled in the southern coastal town of Kalskrona and were in 1718 permitted to practice their religion. This form of privatized religious practice did not however have a longstanding impact on the rest of Swedish society.

  2. 2.

    The laws concerning churches in Sweden at that time prohibited the establishment of an independent Muslim congregation.

  3. 3.

    SST is an authority within the Swedish state system and was established in 1971. It is the authorities’ duty to distribute state grants to different religious congregations (not to the Church of Sweden) active in Sweden.

  4. 4.

    The freedom of religion act was inaugurated in 1952. For further information, see Alwall 1998.

  5. 5.

    So called Free Churches i.e. Churches outside of the Church of Sweden became eligible to receive state grants in 1971. For further information, see Cato and Otterbeck 2011.

  6. 6.

    Besides the mentioned national organizations the Ahmadiyya communities also have their own organization. The Ahmadiyya congregation in Gothenburg built the first purpose built mosque in Sweden in 1976. The Ahmadiyya faiths status as Muslims and a part of the Muslim umma is a controversial question. This controversy has pushed Swedish authorities to rather describe Ahmadiyya as a separate religion and omit them from descriptions concerning Muslim organizations. It is also worth mentioning that the Ahmadiyya community has had an organized presence in Swedish society since 1956 and are therefore one of the oldest Muslim groups in Sweden. For further information, see Otterbeck 2000.

  7. 7.

    The Religious Social Democrats is a proprietary lateral organization that falls within the Swedish Social Democratic Party (SAP) and was founded in1924.It is listed since 1938 as a side organization to the parent party and has seats in both the party board and executive committee. For further information, see Lundberg (1988, (1997)).

  8. 8.

    The Muslim Council of Sweden’s ideological background has by Ouis and Roald (2003) and Carlbom (2006) been described as a moderately Islamist and influenced by the Muslim Brotherhood and the majority of members have traditionally come from Turkish or Arabic-speaking first-generation immigrants.

  9. 9.

    Yttrande till Jordbruks departementet 2005. At that time this form of slaughtering animals was deemed to be unethical according to Swedish standards but the ban was also clearly directed towards the Jewish community in Sweden.

  10. 10.

    The organization was until the name change in 2011 called Christian Social Democrats and often just referred to as the Brotherhood Movement.

  11. 11.

    Ásatrú is inspired by Old Norse religions which refers to religious traditions that are prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia.For further information, see Gregorius (2008).

  12. 12.

    This debate revolved around a Muslim man who refused to shake the hand of a female employer, when he was applying for a job as a trainee at a factory. The employment office decided to suspend the man from the work program he was involved in. He was later awarded damages due to unlawful discrimination.

  13. 13.

    Lars Vilks is an artist and art theoretician specialized in post-modern provocations against the taken for granted understanding of art. In 2007 he drew sketches of Muhammad combining the body of a dog with a turbaned head in a setting reminding Swedes of a spontaneous folk art expression at the time: the roundabout dogs, often bright colored wooden sculptures in the form of animals placed in roundabouts for the fun of it. Some perceived the drawings as mere provocations and others saw them as a test of the freedom of expression. Vilks has been threatened and attacked because of the sketches.

  14. 14.

    Author’s translation from Swedish.

  15. 15.

    The focus on Muslims also means that each issue of the magazine will have a Christian and a Muslim editorial.

  16. 16.

    Author’s translation from Swedish.

  17. 17.

    Christianity as a specific subject within the curriculum was abolished in 1965 in secondary schools through the introduction of a new curriculum (LGY 65) and would hence forth be known as Religious Studies. With the new curriculumin 1969 (LGR 69) the subject was also called Religious Studies in primary schools.

  18. 18.

    Independent schools with a denominational, ethnic or linguistic emphasis were allowed in 1992.

  19. 19.

    Author’s translation from Swedish.

  20. 20.

    Utrikesutskottets betänkande 2005/06:UU8:109. Authors’s translation from Swedish.

  21. 21.

    Author’s translation from Swedish.

  22. 22.

    See also Carbin (2010) for a similar description.

  23. 23.

    Peter Mandaville (2009) describes a similar development in the UK where the official policy line has been that moderate Muslims must rise up and take back their religion.The version of Islam that British politicians advocated have included that it is depoliticized and liberal.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CTR (Centre for Theology and Religious Studies), Lund University, 223 62, Lund, Sweden

    Johan Cato Ph.D.

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  1. Johan Cato Ph.D.
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Correspondence to Johan Cato Ph.D. .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Max-Planck-Institut „Governance of Cultural Diversity", Göttingen, Germany

    Marian Burchardt

  2. Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin (WZB) Migration, Integration u. Transnationalisierung, Berlin, Germany

    Ines Michalowski

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Cato, J. (2015). Islam in Sweden: Institutionalization, Public Debates and Discursive Paradoxes. In: Burchardt, M., Michalowski, I. (eds) After Integration. Islam und Politik. Springer VS, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-02594-6_14

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