Islam in Europe: dialogue or clash?

The headscarf debate, the Danish Mohammed cartoons, the fuss about Geert Wilders' Fitna film: it looks like a confrontation is taking place, a clash of values ​​between Islam and Western modernity. The time when 'progressive intellectuals' whistled the other way is over: there is indeed a huge problem, which needs to be clarified in all serenity, but also with the greatest openness. How do we deal with Islam as a religion, philosophy of life and culture? Can there even be any question of integration and enrichment, or will this escalate into an open conflict, in which religious discourse increasingly dominates the public debate? Jan Leyers' book, The Road to Mecca, was a start, but the real analyses still had to be made. This book wants to play a role in this catch-up movement. Writers Benno Barnard and Geert van Istendael, anthropologist Rik Pinxten, politician Mimount Bousakla, philosophers Ludo Abicht, Jan De Pauw and Johan Sanctorum have sat down at the table and are sharpening the issues, each from their own background. No woolly optimism or doom-mongering, but an essay collection that digs deep, polemicizes and fuels the debate.