Muslim Youth: Challenges, Opportunities and Expectations.

• Author: Mattausch, John
• Position: Book review

Muslim Youth: Challenges, Opportunities and Expectations

Edited by Fauza Ahmad and Mohammad Siddique Seddon

London/New York: Continuum, 2012, 315 pages, ISBN 9787441119872.

When Britain was more permeated by Christianity than it is today, well-meaning vicars would run youth clubs offering table tennis along with church homilies intended to keep young people on the straight and narrow and away from worldly temptation: these clubs were rarely over-subscribed and the attempts to be 'relevant' to the youth were always lame. Nowadays, very few young Britons attend church regularly, younger British Muslims are much more likely to be the ones receiving religious instruction on the weekend and older Muslims in their turn are now the ones trying to keep their children within their religious fold.

Muslim populations across the globe have in recent decades increased significantly, and have markedly youthful profiles with the majority under 25 years of age. This youthful demographic is pronounced in comparison to the age profile of other citizens of Western countries, wherein Muslims constitute a minority. As the editors of this collection of articles point out, these younger Muslims have in recent years become targets of suspicion and hostility, though they themselves have had little opportunity to defend themselves in debate or to advance their own views and opinions: "Much has been written on issues relating to Muslim youth, but relatively little of such works has been produced by Muslim youth themselves." (p2) In 2009, a conference held at the University of Chester, U.K., sought to redress this imbalance by bringing together diverse academics, youth workers and members of institutions both local and national to consider the issues, which may face younger generations of Muslims, especially those youngsters living in countries where they are among the religious minorities.

The selected papers from this conference are grouped under four headings, the first of which is entitled 'Muslim Youth: Negotiating Local and Global Contexts," followed by "Identity and Belonging," "Education and New Media," and ending with "Methodologies of Engaging." These headings indicate the diverse range of topics and issues covered in this collection, a diverse range that the editors hope will allow the articles' authors to answer questions "... such as what exactly is it that these young people want? Why do they behave in the ways that they do?" (p2) These are ambitious...