1. NIA Winter School
Muslim Migrants in Athens:
Religion in Times of Marginalisation
Myrte Hoekstra and Magdalena Boehm
January 18, 2013

2. Introduction
- Muslim immigrants present from various ethnicities/national
origins
- Organizing religious life as a minority in a predominantly
Christian-orthodox state
- Lack of official place of worship in Athens
- Increasing hostility and discrimination

3. Research Questions
- How have religious practices/beliefs/sense of identity changed as
a result of migration?
- How does not having an official place of worship impact religious
practices?
- How is religious life organised?
- What is the relation between religious and ethnic identity/organisation?
- How do Muslim migrants respond to perceived hostility?
→ does it influence religious practices in the public sphere?

4. Fieldwork
- Semi-structured interviews
* with representatives of Afghan, Bangladeshi, Libyan, and
Moroccan community
* with imam and female instructor of unofficial mosque
- Observation and unstructured interviews
* outside and inside unofficial mosques
* with shopkeepers and bystanders in the area

5. Findings (1/5)
How have religious practices/beliefs/sense of identity changed as a
result of migration?
Religion as important aspect of (some) migrants' lives: something that
“cannot be taken away” from them.
Religious places often social gathering point for Muslim migrants.
Emphasis on unofficial Mosques as means of (religious and non-religious)
education.
Less emphasis on prayer. Temporal focus on the weekends and evening.

6. Findings (2/5)
How does not having an official place of worship impact religious
practices?
Respondents stress unofficial character of mosques and religious leaders
→ however, unofficial mosques are registered by Greek authorities
Problems with financing (communal donations and voluntary work),
location, achieving gender segregation, time schedule
Intensive cooperation with (some) other religious centres

9. Findings (3/5)
How is religious life organised? What is the relation between
religious and ethnic identity/organisation?
(Mostly) multi-ethnic “mosques”, cooperation predominantly based on
language similarities.
→ this question could not be much explored due to time constraints

10. Findings (4/5)
How do Muslim migrants respond to perceived hostility?
→ does it influence religious practices in the public sphere?
Greek population afraid of fundamentalist/religiously orthodox influence
in underground mosques
Need to hide/tone down religious practices to avoid causing attention
Police harasses mosque visitors and imams

11. Findings (5/5)
How do Muslim migrants respond to perceived hostility?
→ does it influence religious practices in the public sphere?
Attacks on (visibly) Muslim women
Attacks by fascists on Pakistani mosques
During Eid al-fitr (end of Ramadan), celebration in Attiki square was
violently disturbed
→ Contacts with Greek and country of origin-authorities (not fruitful)

12. Conclusion
Muslim migrants manage to organise themselves
religiously despite lack of recognition from Greek
government and discrimination
Network of Muslim/ethnic organisations that also
have contacts abroad and with government
officials
Nevertheless, many barriers and constraints to
achieve desired religious organisation

13. Limitations and Future Directions
Target group: people invested in religious/ethnic organisation
Mainly “expert” opinions, mainly males, language barriers
Longitudinal observation of religious practices would be
worthwhile
Also include institutional focus (embassies, Greek authorities)