Muslims in Europe: - International Institute - University of Michigan

Sweden
by Jonas Otterbeck
Demography
In August 2000, the total population was 8.876.611 but no statistics covers religious affiliation. If counting
immigrants coming from countries with significant Muslim populations and then estimating the number of Muslims
from the percentage of the population of the country of origin, you arrive to estimations around 250.000–300.000
including the children born in Sweden. If you, on the other hand, only count those who are active in the Muslim
communities that are entitled to obtain state grants you will reach the figure 90.000. Thus, 1 % to 4 % of the total
population of Sweden is Muslim. According to a rough approximation, a third or more of the Muslim population is
below the age of 20. Sweden’s Muslim population is from several countries. No one group dominates. Countries
from which more than 20,000 Muslims have moved are Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Bosnia and Palestinians from Lebanon,
Syria and Jordan. There are probably some 1,000 Afghanis, Somalis, and Albanians from Kosovo.
Swedish citizenship: can be obtained after a five years of legal residency in the country if at least 18 years of age.
There are no exceptions connected to any countries with any significant Muslim population.
Geographical distribution
Muslims live in the major city areas as Stockholm (South and North–West of the city), Gothenburg (North, East and
South of the city) and Malmoe (City centre, South and East of the city). However, there are quite a few active
Muslim communities in the mid-size cities (population of 30.000 to 90.000) of Sweden. The rural areas are not
where the Muslims live.
Migration waves
In the 1960’s, the Labor migration took place, then Family reunion started in the late 1960’s and with acceleration
from 1973-74 and onwards. Refugees (apart from one wave from Uganda in 1972) started to come from Muslim
countries from 1979 and onwards. During a period from 1984 to 1993, 48 % of the immigrants (from countries
outside the Nordic countries) came as refugees, 46 % came as family and only 6 % for other reasons. From the
beginning of the 1980’s we can start talking about a significant Muslim population of Sweden. Before that it was
only a small, fairly anonymous minority.
Religious sociography
There are 4 Sunni, 1 Shiite, and 1 Ahmadiyya mosques. There are at least 100 prayer rooms (musallas). The school
system is such that we talk of free schools and private schools. The free schools get funded by the government up to
a certain level that is changed now and then. At the moment it is 85 % of the funding for public schools. These
schools have to follow the national curriculum and may only add to it not take parts away. All of the Islamic/Arabic
schools are free schools: the first Muslim free school was opened during the autumn 1993. In the autumn of 1998,
20 schools, with either Islamic and/or Arabic profile, were active. In general, there are very few free schools in
Sweden. Halal slaughter without pre-stunning the animal is not permitted, but it is legal to import halal slaughtered
meat from other countries in the European Union. If pre-stunning is accepted (and most Muslim public voices in
Sweden seem to accept it), halal slaughter is legal, and during the autumn of 2001 the first all Islamic slaughterhouse
was opened. Before that (and still) Muslim butchers have slaughter according to halal laws in other slaughterhouses.
Poultry is an exception to the rule, as it has always been legal to slaughter poultry without pre-stunning. •
Much Muslim’s foundations (mosques, school) are not that visible in public society.
Media
There are and have been very few publications by or on Muslims, the majority of them are translations. There are
only two journals in existence at present: Salaam and Minaret. There are other publications but they are for internal
use in different communities.
There are some Muslims who use the local radio broadcasting system. None has reached any prominence, apart from
one in the Stockholm area: Radio Islam. However, this is more an anti-Semitic propagation channel than an Islamic
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