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The Muslims of France: Islam Abroad

By Milton Viorst
September/October 1996
Article Summary and Author Biography

Four or five million strong, France's Muslims, mainly from former North African colonies, have made Islam the country's second religion. Invited to immigrate in a decade of boom, Europe's Muslims are less welcome today, and considered threats to jobs and security. In France, a faith uneasy with assimilation comes up against a government offering integration into society, on its own determinedly secular terms. A battle over a head scarf reveals deep cultural rifts.

Milton Viorst, author of Sandcastles: The Arabs in Search of the Modern World, is currently working on a book on political Islam.

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