G LOBALIZATION AND THE C ONTRIBUTION OF THE E UROPEAN M USLIMS
Andreas Abu Bakr Rieger Whenever today we discuss globalisation - its problems and Islam, then the impression is often conveyed that it is the Muslims who are part of the problem but not part of the solution. People are fond of conveying the impression that we Muslims are against globalisation and that we feel threatened. This is a paradox. De facto Islam has always been a global phenomenon and our traders have always been interested in global networking. Therefore it is certainly not the European Muslims who are the enemies of globalisation, although they are of course capable of making an ongoing critical assessment of the phenomenon and of getting to the bottom of the matter. In this respect we would like to make a contribution – and an absolutely positive one, one inspired by the Islamic sources. The theme then of my talk is “European Muslims and their contribution to globalisation”. Following the power shift from the political to the economic arena which had already become manifest in the second half of the 20th century, the 21st century seems to be going down in the history books as a more or less apolitical century. It is no longer the old ideologies which are being fought over today but it is rather a matter of mundane conflicts over dwindling resources. What is at stake is the economic exploitation of the world - not so much about the spreading integration of rules and systems or a new global nomos. At the same time we also see in global hunger the repercussions of the most terrible “weapon of mass destruction” of this time. We can state from the outset: the relevant core questions of this time are of an economic nature. But let us proceed step by step. First of all – who are the European Muslims?
The European Muslims are:
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