Muslims in Sweden in the 21st Century: Between Assimilation and Radicalization

Abstract

The problem of assimilation of the Muslim community in Western countries is one of the most important challenges for the governments and indigenous citizens of countries that have been subject to the process of globalization for years, and thus mass migration of people, which contributes to the disruption of social structures. Contemporary Sweden is one of the countries chosen as the destination of migration for the Muslim community from the countries of Africa and the Middle East, which is associated with many new challenges, such as the issue of radicalization of minorities or attempts to adapt new immigrants to the socio-legal order in force in the country.

This article aims to outline to the reader the issues of assimilation of the Muslim minority in Sweden in the 21^st century and the increasing radicalization of Muslims, by discussing the key issues for understanding this matter, i.e., the characteristics of the Muslim population in Sweden, the issue of growing Islamic fundamentalism, the problem of integration of the Islamic community with native Swedes, as well as discussing the migration crisis of 2015.