Helping Muslims or Contributing to Society? Insights into the Paradoxes of Islamic Social Work for the Excluded

Abstract

AbstractIn various European countries, Islamic social services have specifically targeted disadvantaged groups, including a high proportion of Muslims. This situation gives rise to a paradox: while Islamic organisations insist on impartiality and aim to benefit people regardless of their religious belonging, most of their investment addresses de facto Muslim communities. This paradox could firstly be explained by the overrepresentation of Muslims within excluded groups. While Islamic NGOs justify the delivery of most of their aid to Muslim countries by emergencies linked to geopolitical contexts, grassroots Islamic associations explain their focus on Muslim beneficiaries as being due to their underprivileged situation. In parallel, local authorities and statutory agencies, including those working in prisons, have begun to consider the need for Muslim protagonists to be involved in addressing specific issues and reaching particular groups. In this process, both individual Muslim social workers and Islamic organisations are increasingly expected to contribute their presumed cultural skills. This positioning causes tension within the authorities and statutory agencies, as they promote a neutral vision of social work while paradoxically fostering religious and cultural approaches for pragmatic reasons. Based on case studies of Islamic welfare organisations in Switzerland and France, this chapter aims to address the paradox of Muslims claiming to contribute to the common good while essentially providing their own ‘community’ with aid. It discusses the current challenges for Islamic bodies who try to position themselves in a ‘universalist’ social work approach, while they concretely implement community-based social services which seem to prioritise Muslims.