Islamic education is penetrating the public schools and universities of the European Union with little concern to separate mosque and state, providing evidence of the growing religious and cultural impact that steadily increasing Muslim populations are having on the continent.
The decision of the Catholic University of Leuven – the oldest university in Belgium and a major contributor to the development of Roman Catholic theology for more than 500 years – to offer a degree in Islamic theology beginning in 2014 caught the attention of Soeren Kern, a senior fellow with the New York-based Gatestone Institute as well as a senior fellow at the Madrid-based Strategic Studies Group.
“The proliferation of degree programs in Islamic theology is being justified by European governments – which are subsidizing the teaching of Islam in European universities with taxpayer money – as a way to ‘professionalize’...