Austria:
Muslims Outnumber Catholics in Vienna Schools
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Austria is also in the process of
introducing new taxpayer-funded textbooks for the formal teaching if
Islam in all public elementary schools across the country.... This is the
first time Islam is being taught to Austrian students in the German
language.
"What remains, then, is to
conquer Rome. This means Islam will come back to Europe for a third time,
after it was expelled from it twice. We will conquer Europe! We will
conquer America! Not through the sword but through our Dawa
[proselytizing]." — Yusuf al-Qaradawi, Muslim Brotherhood
Muslim students, according to new statistics, now outnumber Roman
Catholic students at middle and secondary schools in Vienna, the capital
and largest city of Austria.
The data—which show that Muslim students are also on the verge of
overtaking Catholics in Viennese elementary schools—reflect an
established trend and provide empirical evidence of a massive demographic
and religious shift underway in Austria, traditionally a Roman Catholic
country.
The Muslim population in Austria now exceeds 500,000 (or roughly 6% of
the total population), up from an estimated 150,000 (or 2%) in 1990. The
Muslim population is expected to reach 800,000 (or 9.5%) by 2030,
according to recent estimates.
In the current school year, 10,734 Muslim students are enrolled in
Viennese middle and secondary schools, compared to 8,632 Roman Catholic
students, 4,259 Serbian Orthodox students and 3,219 students with
"no religious persuasion," according to statistics compiled by
the Vienna Board of Education (Stadtschulrat
für Wien) and published by Radio
Vatican website on March 21.
As far as elementary schools are concerned, there are 23,807 Roman
Catholic students, followed by 17,913 Muslim students, 11,119
"non-religious" students, 6,083 Serbian Orthodox students and
2,322 Protestants.
The statistics show that the only Viennese schools where Muslims
remain a distinct minority are in the gymnasium,
advanced secondary schools that place a strong emphasis on academic
learning rather than on vocational skills. Students graduating from a
gymnasium are more likely than others to be admitted to attend university
in Austria.
Austria is also in the process of introducing new
taxpayer-funded textbooks for the formal teaching of Islam in all
public elementary schools across the country.
The textbooks are called "Islam Hour" (Islamstunde) and have
been prepared by the Islamic Religious Authority of Austria (Islamische Glaubensgemeinschaft in
Österreich, IGGiÖ), a Muslim umbrella organization whose main
responsibility is the state-funded supply of Islamic religious education
at Austrian public and private schools.
According to the IGGiÖ, the new textbooks are based on "secure
and recognized sources of Islam" aimed at "embedding Islam into
the lives of students." Unlike previous versions of the books, which
were criticized for being "overly martial in tone" and for not
being "sufficiently oriented toward European values," the new
books have been developed based a "completely new didactic model for
competency-based education."
Previously, the main textbook used for Islam instruction in Austrian
public schools was a vehemently anti-Western screed entitled "The
Lawful and the Prohibited in Islam" (Erlaubtes und Verbotenes im
Islam) and authored by none other than Yusuf al-Qaradawi,
the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Among other Islamic doctrines, the book taught students that Islamic
Sharia law takes precedence over secular laws, that women have fewer
rights than men, and that those who abandoned Islam are to be put to
death.
The book was eventually banned from Austrian schools (although it is
still being openly promoted on the website of the Vienna
Islamic Centre, the largest mosque in Austria) after Al-Qaradawi[1] —
a spiritual advisor for the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas — began
publicly endorsing suicide attacks against Jews as "martyrdom in the
name of Allah."
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The Vienna
Islamic Centre.
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The new textbooks come in four volumes along with a companion CD that
includes not only recitations of the Koran, but also a rap song which
deals with the aspects of Ramadan.
In an interview
with the Austrian newspaper Heute, an IGGiÖ project manager named
Amena Shakir said the aim of the new textbooks is to "learn about
how the Koranic suras [chapters] can be applied to everyday life."
Shakir added that this is the first time Islam is being taught to
Austrian students in the German language and that the textbooks
contextualize Islam in the Austrian countryside rather than in Arabia.
"We want our young people in Austria have a sense of home,"
said the president of IGGiÖ, Fuat Sanac. "We have tried for years to
bring these books into being."
Sanac also called on the Austrian government to approve and promulgate
a new "Islam Law" that would provide Muslims with more legal
rights and protections than they enjoy in the current law, which dates
back to 1912.
The original law was adopted to help integrate Muslim soldiers from
Bosnia-Herzegovina into the Austro-Hungarian
army of the Habsburg monarchy. The law recognized Islam as a
religious community in Austria, and allowed Muslims to practice their
religion in accordance with the laws of the state.
In an interview with
Austrian Public Radio Ö1-Morgenjournal on March 21, the Minister for
Integration and Foreign Affairs, Sebastian Kurz, said he would honor a
campaign pledge to update the law, which would more clearly stipulate the
rights and responsibilities of Muslims living in the country.
Kurz said Muslims would be expected to adhere to Austrian values (as
yet undefined) and to acknowledge the primacy of Austrian law over
Islamic Sharia law. That is to say, Muslims would be prohibited from
citing Islamic law as legal justification for ignoring or disobeying
Austrian civil laws, he said.
The new law would also clearly stipulate that Islam classes may not
contradict or override Austria's civil educational system. In addition,
Kurz said Islamic religious institutions in Austria should be financed
exclusively from within Austria and that there should be more government
scrutiny of funding obtained from abroad, presumably from Saudi Arabia
and other oil rich Muslim countries.
At the same time, Muslims would obtain the legal right to operate
their own cemeteries according to Islamic law. The law would also
regulate the activities of Muslim clergy in hospitals, prisons and the
army.
Kurz did not address Muslim demands for the official recognition of Islamic
holidays (Muslim students are already entitled to two such holidays
each year but Muslim workers are not) in Austria.
In addition, the Austrian government would actively promote the
training of Muslim clergy (imams) within the Austrian university system
(modeled on the Institute for Islamic
Studies at the University of Vienna), with the aim of promoting a
"European" Islam.
Kurz said he did not expect significant resistance to the initiative
from other political parties in Austria. "We need a new law that
clearly defines that there are rights and obligations for every
individual in Austria," Kurz said. "It makes sense to have an
orderly legal framework regarding Islam, a topic that often raises
emotions. Austria needs a clear framework for Islam."
Soeren Kern is a
Senior Fellow at the New York-based Gatestone Institute.
He is also Senior Fellow for European Politics at the Madrid-based Grupo
de Estudios Estratégicos / Strategic Studies Group. Follow him on Facebook and on
Twitter.
[1] Al-Qaradawi speaks openly
about the goals of Islam: "What remains, then, is to conquer Rome.
(...) This means that Islam will come back to Europe for the third time,
after it was expelled from it twice. (...) Conquest through Dawa
[proselytizing] that is what we hope for. We will conquer Europe! We will
conquer America! Not through the sword but through our Dawa."
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