`Dutch Islam': Young People, Learning and Integration

Abstract

This article is based on research conducted at a Moroccan mosque and within Islamic schools in the Netherlands. The central question of the study is: how can we appreciate the separate forms of education and assistance for children provided by Muslims? Will they lead to segregation and isolation from society at large or are they in fact a strategy that is aimed towards integration, as the people involved themselves argue? By viewing such separate forms of education and assistance as a symbolic struggle and investigating how they work in the attempt of Muslims to wrest confirmation and recognition for themselves in Dutch society, it becomes clear why in `Dutch Islam' great emphasis is placed on social responsibility, particularly that which is aimed at young people and their education, and why Muslims see their own forms of education as the road to integration.