By  Abed Nakhleh

Despite the fact that Islam is not new in Norway, the historic roots of Islam in this country have almost been forgotten over time. They have been lately discovered by archaeologists in the southern parts of Norway. In their trades with the Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad, the Vikings used to carry, upon returning home, Islamic coins that bear the Shahadah (Arabic for: testimony of Islamic Faith).

Furthermore, some rumors were going a round about the huge number of Vikings who died and disappeared because of the ongoing Christian missionary movements all over Norway and in other Scandinavian countries.

What is really surprising is that Henrik Wergeland (one of the great Norwegian figures in modern history and one of the fathers of the Norwegian constitution) was a Muslim in secret. Lately, a bunch of letters that Wergeland had sent to his mother were discovered, where he confessed adherence to Islam. He was referring to Islam as the religion of the Turks (meaning the Ottoman Empire).

First Norwegian Muslims
As far as Norway is concerned, Muslims did not find it an attractive country because of its cold climate and its impoverished economy before the 1960s.

Lately, after the discovery of oil in Norway, the need for labor arose. At that time, the Turks and Pakistani were available and welcome into the society. Yet, the Norwegian society was quite sensational toward immigrants at that time because the country was almost 100-percent ethnically and religiously homogonous.

As immigrants, Muslims encountered a society that was totally different from theirs. They were required to overcome the new challenges that they faced in the Norwegian society.

Muslims in Norway had been a very small minority until the 1970s when more and more Muslims started to immigrate from war-torn countries and the African continent as a whole, especially the northern region.

After 1985, the numbers of Muslims started to increase because of immigrants and students. Also, some Norwegians started to convert to Islam. Regardless of the real reason behind this huge number of converts (whether it is due to Islam itself as a religion or intermarriages), no one can deny the fact that nowadays Islam has become the second biggest and fastest growing religion in Norway.

The Muslim population in Norway is not exactly known, but it is approximately 300,000 out of 4,500,000 Norwegians.

Norwegian Muslims' Identity
The ongoing role of media in defaming Islam has clearly raised the number of Norwegians who converted to Islam. More Muslims got in touch with their religious identity and clinched to it. Naturally, the question of identity became an essential issue, especially for the second generation of Norwegian Muslims. The religious identity became a very important issue. It surpassed the ethnic identity in many cases.

Of course the need of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) arose in light of the cultural background of this country. The Muslims have been generally successful in establishing their institutions and organizations, and this process is developing ever since. Great efforts are being done by all concerned Muslims in this country.

The population of Muslims in Norway is ethnically diverse and has different directions. The Pakistanis constitute the largest Muslim community, then come the Turks and eventually the Arabs. In Addition, Norway has some Muslims from all over the Muslim World. Many of those Muslims are workers and many of them are school and university students.

It is reasonable to say that the Muslim community in Norway is integrated into the society far better than the integration of Muslim communities in many other countries. This is due to the Norwegian government's support for those who have some difficulties in coping with the Norwegian society.

Norwegian Muslim Politicians
There are active Muslims in all political parties, except the far right. As a result, Muslims can be seen in the General Parliament and the communal parliaments, too. Such an integration should not be regarded as friction-free. Just like in other Western countries, the anti-Islamic propaganda has reached Norway through some media that played the game of Islamophobia.

Although the anti-Islamic propaganda in Norway is never as terrible as those in some European countries, Norwegian Muslims still have a great task of integration. They are working regularly on representing Islam in the right way that it deserves.

Basically, representing Islam depends on learning Islamic studies, which is available to all Norwegian Muslims, free of charge, even in universities. Also it depends on fiqh (Arabic for: Islamic jurisprudence), which deals with daily matters that Muslims here encounter and solves some of the urgent issues that needs to be solved. One of these problems is bank loans for private housing.

Norwegian Muslims also lack the Islamic education based mainly on Islamic instructions. They do need a system of education that works as a complement to state-driven schools. They need a more in-depth Islamic education, and this of course requires qualified persons who have the capacity of bridging the gap between the two worlds.

There have been a lot of extended consultations among the religious leaders of the Muslim community. Muslims are not exotic or strange elements in the society, especially in the major cities in Norway where the majority of the Muslim community resides.

By the time of the third generation of Norwegian Muslims, it would not be unreasonable to assume that Norway will have a Muslim prime minister. The Norwegian governments have been successful in the efforts exerted to integrate Muslims in the society as active members.

What do you think about the integration of Norwegian Muslims into their society? Do you believe that Norwegian Muslims will be "taking over the country"?

 * This article is a contribution by Abed Nakhleh.

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Abed Nakhlehis a Palestinian-born Norwegian citizen. He is a freelance writer who has been working as a school teacher for many years. He is a postgraduate of the Faculty of International Law, Kiev, Ukraine. He may be reached at Euro_Muslims@iolteam.com.

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