Can Islam represent Europe?

Abstract

In Albania, some intellectuals with their writings have created a division amongst Christian, secular, or atheists Albanians who are pro-European and the Muslims practitioners who are against the Europeans.
This article denies this division as true and tries to argue that not only has no sense of denial of Albanian Muslims against Europe, but that Muslims practitioners were particularly interested to be supportive of the integration of Albania into the European Union. The argument of the article is divided into several parts. Our argument is organized into three parts.
In the first part the trend appears critical, and often hidden, which collides in the West to see Islam as “other” Europe antagonist. In the second part we are focused on the criticism towards the orientalization of a part of Albanian intellectuals, which in public debates reproduces hierarchical division and binaries between “the West” and “East”, often considered as relevant synonyms of “Europe” and “Islam”. Under the effects of orientalization, Albanian Muslims, especially those practitioners, find themselves excluded, or admitted to bail, to “Europeanization” of the Albanian nation, while “Europeanization” is not being doubted by the believers of other religions in Albania.
The author of the article believes that these prejudices should not discourage Muslims and that they should continue to participate in the processes of democratization and European integration of Albania. In the third part he draws attention to several issues to be considered by Muslim practitioners during their involvement in the public sphere, and specifically in the discussion of European integration of Albania and Albanians. Amongst them is particularly important the respect of secularism voice of Albanian society, through “translation” of religious arguments in a language understandable to all citizens.