European Shi'ism

The presence of Shi'ite communities in Western Europe dates to the late nineteenth century, with Britain as the primary destination for immigration, as well as notable communities developing in Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and Scandinavia. Exploring selected encounters of Twelver Shi'ite Muslims with the European West, this study examines local and transnational religious organization to assess socio-political integration. Its central thesis defines European Shi'ism through peripheral engagement and religious retention. Building on a range of language sources, interviews with Shi'ite spokesmen and fieldwork in Iran, Britain, the Netherlands, and Germany, Matthijs van den Bos identifies European Shi'ism with a religious mode of engagement involving hierarchization of collective self and other identities. Shi'ite parties with greater distance to high politico-religious authorities abroad are seen more likely to engage in cultural exchange with their European milieu. On one side stand ethnically varied Shi'ite organizations with limited engagement of others in Europe. The other shows civic outreach, ritual transformation, and integrationist theology.