‘Muslims become more religious in Holland in last decade’

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Muslim community living in Holland has turned more religious in the last decade, said Rasir Bal, the head of Islamic Council of Holland.

In an interview with a Turkish daily, Bal reminded  the first generation of Muslim migrants was not that religious in Holland. However, the second and especially the third generation are more strongly believing in Islam, obeying its laws and practices.

In the 1980s, the 1990s and even before 9/11 we did not have this problem. We must say that Holland is extremely secular. Christianity is very marginal here. Religious Christians are a very small portion of society and located in certain towns.

Bal said that normally Europeans believe that the more a person is modernized, the more he or she becomes secular. But it does not happen like that in the most secular and modern society in Europe. The contrast threatens Dutch people. In particular, the rightists believe Muslims are becoming a bigger threat.