Beyond these structural developments, which
implicitly accept the separation of state and reli-
gion, there are also public statements of individuals
and mosque associations. The most recent and
most widely discussed statements are the German
Islamic Charta (2002), which declares in 21 points
the loyal relationship of Islam to the secular demo-
cratic society, and the books of Tariq Ramadan
(1994, 1998), who also argues that Muslims can live
in harmony as religious people in a secular state.
Secularism as individualization
of religion
The individualization of religion can be based
on the possibility of selecting one’s own way of reli-
gious life. For example, Muslims in Europe choose
between different forms of Islamic associations –
those concerning religion, ethnicity, or other mat-
ters. Individualization of religion can also refer to
the way and content of religious life. This form of
individualization seems to be more characteristic of
the better educated second generation Muslim
women and men.
Muslims generally express the desire to experi-
ence Islam and the Islamic beliefs in their life,
although many Muslims disapprove of formal
authorities like muftis. They often read the Qur±àn
on their own and interpret it in light of their own
personal experiences. Some of them are interested
in spiritually-oriented and experience-oriented forms
of Islam such as dhikr.
Some empirical studies have shown that certain
practices of Muslim women, such as wearing a
headscarf, automatically mean falling back into old
traditional tracks. For many women, however, it is
very important to affirm that this behavior is not
based on a traditional understanding of relation-
ships, personality, and Islam. These women, who
are mostly well educated, insist that they have cho-
sen to wear the covering on their own initiative.
They feel accountable to neither a man nor their
parents in their decision, but affirm themselves per-
sonally bounded to Allah, who is the center of their
religion. They interpret the religion of Islam from
their own experience and their claim to freedom
and independence in private and public spheres. Of
course this interpretation is also connected to the
respect that is thereby accorded to them by other
Muslims, both men and women. As they under-
stand it, the decision to accept the headscarf as an
expression of their personal religiosity is made
exclusively through this possibility of individual
freedom of action (Klinkhammer 2003, Karaka-
ço©lu 1998).
western europe 733Secularization of religious
celebrations and ideas
Genuine secularization of Islamic ideas and prac-
tices is rare in Western Europe, although there is
almost no research in this field. While great atten-
tion has been given to the increasing identification
of Muslim migrants with Islam in the last 20 years,
the question of a decreasing relevance of Islamic
norms and practices has not yet been examined.
Certain realities, however, can be noted. It is
observable that secular but not atheistic Muslims in
Europe celebrate the last days of Ramadan.
Ramadan Bayram, a feast for all Muslims, has been
transformed into a family celebration similar to
Christmas in Christian-secular culture. It may well
be that certain Muslim concepts, such as taw™ìd
(unity), may also be taken over and adapted to a
secular Muslim mind. In this sense, secularism
points to some principles or models of cultural
behavior that have already been stabilized by reli-
gion. However, most of the time Muslim migrants
adapt to Western secular culture concepts and
modes of behavior such as individualism. At the
same time some Muslims have started to celebrate
secular feasts that are common in Western societies,
for example birthdays and the New Year (Yalzin-
Heckman 1994).
Thus in spite of the increasing influence of mod-
ernization on the religion of Islam in Western
Europe, secularism in terms of a decrease of mean-
ing or of the relevance of religion is not apparent.
Islam has become an important issue in the politics
of personal and collective identity in the context of
migration. Many Muslims in Western Europe dif-
ferentiate their community structures from those of
the general cultural in which they are now located,
even though it is clear that they are affected by the
trend of individualization. The individualization of
Muslim women actually seems to bring about the
opposite of a decrease in the relevance of religion
insofar as it makes Islam visible in the public sphere
through women’s decision to wear a headscarf.
These developments confirm recent analyses of
modernization, which have shown that secularism
generates changes in the face of the religion, but
does not necessarily bring about its dissolution.Bibliography
J. Casanova, Public religions in the modern world, Chi-
cago 1994.
G. Jonker, Religiosität und Partizipation der zweiten
Generation. Frauen in Berliner Moscheen, in R. Klein-
Hessling, S. Nökel, and K. Werner (eds.), Der neue
Islam der Frauen. Weibliche Lebenspraxis in der glob-
alisierten Moderne. Fallstudien aus Afrika, Asien und
Europa, Bielefeld 1999, 106–23.