PALERMO, Sicily Italy- In this very Catholic country, there have always been other religions: a sprinkling of Waldensian Protestants in the north, traces of Islam in Sicily, well-established but small Jewish neighborhoods in Rome, Venice, and other big cities. But for the first time in centuries, a minority religion is set to become a major player in Italy’s future. Fueled largely by immigration from North Africa, the Middle East, and Albania, Islam is now the second-largest faith in what is still a nation that is 94 percent Catholic. Italy’s demographic changes provide a modern challenge, not only for these two world religions, but also for this nation positioned at the crossroads of continents, faith, and history. With the growth has come some tension, most recently when some Catholic-Muslim marriages ended in widely reported battles over custody and religious education of the children. The Italian Bishops Council responded by issuing a public warning against marriages between the two religions, citing “too much distance in culture”. But that reaction has drawn scorn from people like Amina Donatella Samina. Born in Rome, raised nominally Catholic, Samina has been a practicing Muslim since 1993, four years after marrying her Moroccan husband at city hall. “The church has a history of trying to destroy all that is different from it,” said Samina, who wore a white and blue scarf on her head as she sipped a cappuccino at Rome’s Caffe Doria. Citing the eighth-century arrival of the first Muslims in Sicily, the mother of three said her newfound faith has only enhanced her connection to her native Mediterranean identity. “We’re in the middle of everything here: Arab, Spanish, French, Slav. We need to overcome these narrow views so many have about who is Italian.” A walk around Palermo offers support for her views. Several Catholic churches look suspiciously like mosques, having been transformed into churches when Christians retook Sicily in the year 991, after two centuries of Tunisian rule left a lasting Islamic stamp on the island. Over the past millennium, however, the religious life of Italy and its islands has been the domain of the Catholic Church. “For hundreds of years, Italy has been based around one dominant religion,” said Maria Macioti, a sociology professor who has studied immigration in Italy for more than 20 years. “We’re not very accustomed to having another significant religious presence here.” There are now nearly 1 million Muslims in this country of 57 million. Though still smaller than the Islamic presence in other Western European countries, the number has doubled in just 10 years. Twenty eight years ago, Rosario Pasquini (Danilo) was a heavy smoker, drank more whisky than was good for him and led what he now describes as a nightmare existence, tormented by the stress of having to succeed in his job as a lawyer in the busy northern city of Milan. Pasquini, born in Fiume in 1934, graduated from the University of Milan in 1957 and became a Muslim in 1974. Now in his 60s, Pasquini calls himself Abdurrahman. He leads the Friday Prayer at the Mosque of Il Misericordioso and is a teacher of Arabic and Islamic culture. He is also the author of L’Islam Credo, Pilastri, Vertice e Perfezione and Muhammad, L’Inviato di Dio. Abdurrahman still lives in Milan, but he has traded his lawyer’s briefcase for something that gives him more satisfaction. He is now editor of a newspaper called “Il Messagero del Islam”, (The Messenger of Islam) an eight page tabloid written for the growing numbers of Italians who, like the former lawyer himself, decided to convert to the Muslim faith. “Every day, people come in wanting to know more about Islam and the conversion process,” said Abdurrahman, who edits his newspaper from an office at Milan’s Islamic Center. “Yesterday it was one, today there were two. They come from all over, from different classes and backgrounds, and they all have different reasons for doing it.” Abdurrahman himself received support and understanding from his own family. He says, “They took the view that I was old enough to make my mind up for myself, and let me get on with it. In fact, my mother, who is 93 years old and has remained a Catholic, recently said to me: ‘I Praise Allah, because if you had continued to live the way you did before you converted, you would be dead by now.’” He continues, “At the time I was prey to a terrible mental stress, brought on by the competitiveness that is so prevalent in our type of society. After a long period of searching, I finally arrived at Islam which says that no one except God has the right to judge and dominate other men. This is what I was looking for. For me it represented a liberation from a society which believes itself to be free, but which instead forces its members to bow under the yoke of many, many different demands.” Like many converts, Abdurrahman embraced his new faith whole heartily. He learned Arabic so he could read the Quran and participate in mosque life without having to rely on translations. His command of the language has become so good that he now teaches it. The former lawyer’s interpretation of the Muslim faith is strict and unyielding. As well as announcements of births, marriages and conversions, his Muslim newspaper carries advice on how Italian converts should behave. One of the factors that contributed to his conversion was a meeting that developed into a strong friendship with Jordanian born, Ali Abu Shwaima, then a medical student, now the director of the Milan Islamic Center. Shwaima’s wife is also Italian. Like Pasquini, she decided to convert to Islam and changed her name from Paola Moretti to Khadija, after the Prophet Muhammad’s (SAW) first wife. Today, she recalls with some amusement the first time she ventured out into the streets wearing a veil. That was 28 years ago, when Italians were far less used to seeing Muslims than they are now. “I felt everyone’s eyes on me. It was rather embarrassing,” she said. “I could hear the other women in the supermarket whispering things like, ‘who is she, a nun?’ Or ‘Maybe she belongs to some sect.’ But that kind of attitude no longer bothers me, she said. I’m sure of the choice I made. It certainly wasn’t easy at the beginning, when I made my conversion. But wearing the veil is a duty for women. I couldn’t accept one part of the Quran and not the other.” Guiuseppina, now known as Fatima, was a Roman Catholic nun, studying theology and living in a convent in Modena in central Italy. She began reading the Quran, and as her interest grew she started having doubts about her own religion and vocation. She took to visiting the Islamic Center in Milan, and finally after a great deal of soul searching, she renounced her vows and converted to Islam. Today, she is married to a fellow Muslim. Daniela was born in Sicily and became a convert nine years ago, when she married an Egyptian. She willingly obeys all the rules of her new faith. “When I go out, I always wear a scarf over my head and I keep my legs and arms covered,” she said. “A woman should keep all parts of feminine beauty covered, because only her husband has the right to see them. It seems perfectly right to me.” In spite of her acceptance of what other Western Women might see as limitations, Daniela claims her relationship with her husband is one of absolute equality. Franco Leccesi, who prefers to be known as Omar, claims the precise rules laid down by Islam help a person gain greater self discipline, which in turn leads to physical and spiritual improvement. Looking back to the old days before he converted seven years ago, he said: “I always used to try to impose my own self discipline, but it never lasted very long,” added the 42 year Neapolitan artist, “but in the past six years I’ve noticed a dramatic improvement in myself. If you pray five times a day it also forces you to break off from the daily treadmill. It makes you stop and reflect and prevents you from becoming an automation, who lives his life mechanically. One thing that strikes me very deeply is the dramatic difference between old people in many Muslim countries, and those in the West.” he added. “There, the elderly are often far more lucid and energetic, right up until old age, they often have remarkable physical and mental powers in comparison with people of the same age over In Catholic Italy, Islam Makes Inroads
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTUxNjQ1