Islam in the Netherlands (factsheet)

This fact sheet outlines the position of Islam within the Dutch legal order and within Dutch society as a whole. Of the 15.6 million people now living in the Netherlands, more than 500,000 come from Muslim backgrounds. That is ten times as many as in 1971. Muslim shops, societies, schools and mosques are now familiar features of Dutch towns and cities.

The Dutch government does not interfere with the internal affairs of any religious community. However, it pursues policies aimed at the integration of ethnic minorities, to which the majority of Muslims belong. The objective is to enable them to participate in democratic society, to combat disadvantage and to prevent and counter discrimination and racism.

1 History  

Fifty years ago, very few Muslims lived in the Netherlands, but Islam was the most widespread religion in the Kingdom of the Netherlands as a whole. Until 1949, the Kingdom included what is now the Republic of Indonesia, with its predominantly Muslim population, while Suriname, which has a Muslim minority of mainly Indian origin, did not gain its independence until 1975. The first Muslims to settle in the Netherlands itself were Moluccans who left Indonesia in 1951, after it had become an independent republic. A surplus of jobs created by continuing economic growth in the 1960s led the Dutch government to recruit temporary workers abroad, in particular in Turkey and Morocco, where the population is predominantly Muslim. Recruitment ceased in 1974, but this did not put a stop to migration, since many of these migrant workers settled in the Netherlands, where they were joined by their families. Shortly before Suriname became independent in 1975, a sizeable group of Surinamese immigrants also arrived in the Netherlands.

Muslims currently make up almost 4% of the total population of the Netherlands, the majority coming from Turkey (270,000), Morocco (225,000) and Suriname (50,000). Other Muslims, many arriving in the Netherlands as refugees, come from Iran, Iraq, Somalia, Ethiopia, Egypt, Afghanistan, the former Soviet Union and Bosnia. The majority are Sunni Muslims, though there are a large number of Alawites among the Turkish community.

The following figures show how the size of the Muslim population has grown in the past thirty years:

2 Equality  

Article 1 of the Dutch Constitution states: "All persons in the Netherlands shall be treated equally in equal circumstances. Discrimination on the grounds of religion, belief, political opinion, race or sex or on any other grounds whatsoever shall not be permitted." This means that women have the same rights as men, and Muslims the same rights as Christians. Apart from equal rights, however, people in the Netherlands also have the same obligations, to pay taxes, for example, or to send their children to school. Under Dutch law, school attendance is compulsory for all young people up to the age of 16. It is of great importance to society that anyone settling in the Netherlands accepts this and other responsibilities, in the same way as the Dutch should accept and respect all newcomers.

3 The right to vote  

Immigrants who have acquired Dutch nationality are entitled both to vote and stand for election. Both the Lower House of Parliament and the Provincial Councils contain some members with a Muslim background. In fact, the Netherlands even had a number of Muslim MPs before Indonesia became independent. Non-naturalised immigrants from outside the EU who have been legally resident in the Netherlands for at least five years are entitled to vote in local elections. They are also entitled to stand for election, and there are now more than a hundred municipal councillors of Muslim origin.

4 Freedom of religion  

Freedom of religion and belief is a fundamental right in the Netherlands. This means that people are free to worship as they choose, either individually or in groups, provided they remain within the bounds imposed by the law or by consideration for others (as regards for example noise, health hazards and disturbances of the peace).

In the Netherlands, church and state are separate. The government does not interfere in the internal affairs of organisations that profess religious or philosophical beliefs, and the latter do not interfere with matters of state. There are now 300 mosques and prayer centres in the Netherlands (175 Turkish, 100 Moroccan and 20 Surinamese). Islamic burial grounds have also been established in many places. Until the early 1980s, the government provided financial assistance for the construction and furnishing of churches and mosques, but subsidies of this kind were abolished because Parliament felt that they contravened the principle of separation of church and state. Subsidies are, however, awarded to Muslim associations, provided they actively contribute towards the integration of Muslims into Dutch society.

5 Islamic customs  

5.1 Ramadan, obligatory prayer, and dietary laws  

Many Dutch employers accommodate their Muslim employees by adjusting the workload and changing working hours during Ramadan. Muslims are often prepared to work on Western public holidays, such as Christmas and New Year's Day, in return for time off on Muslim feast days. Some local authorities offer Muslim communities the opportunity to make a public call to prayer once a week or more. Many employers provide rooms for Muslim employees to pray, and company canteens often take account of their dietary laws and customs.

5.2 Circumcision  

Many circumcisions are still performed privately in Muslim circles, and a number of hospitals also carry out the procedure. Most medical insurers only refund the costs if the procedure has to be performed on medical grounds. In some places, however, they have agreed to reimburse the cost of circumcision on religious grounds too. Building on local initiatives, efforts are now being made to investigate the possibility of including the procedure as part of standard medical training.

5.3 Headscarves  

Women and girls wearing headscarves have become a familiar sight at universities and public-authority schools in the Netherlands. The majority of universities and schools in the Netherlands are publicly run, which means that they are not based on particular religious, philosophical or educational principles. Privately-run schools are entitled to ban headscarves under the school rules, and though the government has advised against this, it cannot take any action.

5.4 Ritual slaughter  

There are statutory regulations governing the treatment of cattle and the method used for slaughter in the Netherlands. Insofar as EU legislation permits, measures have been taken to allow the slaughter of cattle in accordance with Islamic custom. The Dutch government has granted some abattoirs a permanent licence to perform ritual slaughter, provided they comply with certain strict conditions. Abattoirs may also be issued with licences to perform ritual slaughter during the annual feast of sacrifice. Of the 4,500 butchers currently registered in the Netherlands, 500 are Islamic.

6 Integration  

The government urges all religious and church communities to help to achieve the aims of integration policy. Such a call does not conflict with the principle that the state may not interfere with religious worship or beliefs. Instead, the government feels that religious or other convictions can have a particularly beneficial influence on the integration of minorities. There are many Islamic organisations in the Netherlands, and most of those adhering to Sunni doctrine are affiliated to the four national federations of Muslim organisations.

Many immigrants are at a disadvantage when it comes to language, education and knowledge of Dutch society. As a result, their position on the labour market and in society in general is weak. Approximately 20% of the country's jobless are members of ethnic minorities, despite the fact that they account for only 5% of the workforce. It is therefore the aim of government policy to improve their starting position, and to promote integration. Legislation has been introduced to encourage employers to take on members of ethnic minorities. A taskforce drawn from industry, the trade unions and government was established in 1998 to promote the integration of ethnic minorities in industrial sectors and companies.

Municipalities offer newcomers a programme that familiarises them with Dutch society. They are taught Dutch rules and customs and are introduced to the language. Under the Newcomers Integration Act, which entered into force on 30 September 1998, those who rely on state benefits can be obliged to participate in the programme. Refusal to do so may lead to a fine. The municipalities also run programmes to help young people from ethnic minorities overcome educational disadvantages.

7 Pastoral work  

Since all religions are equal in the Netherlands, the government believes that people who are in the army or who are detained in prison or hospitalised are entitled to receive visits from a pastoral worker of their own religion. To this end, the government is now making preparations for the establishment of Muslim and Hindu pastoral care services in the armed forces and in prisons. Imams seeking appointment to the Muslim service first have to attend a practical course set up by the government. However, the service cannot be established until a consultative body has been formed to represent the Muslim community in talks with the government. In the absence of such a platform, a temporary measure has been introduced under which the government will reimburse imams for the cost of paying pastoral visits to prisons.

Under the Care Institutions (Quality) Act, care providers are required to enable their patients to receive pastoral care in line, as far as possible, with their own religion or convictions. The need for ethnic minority pastoral workers is expected to grow considerably in the next few years. Where pastoral workers have received their religious education abroad, the government is prepared to fund extra training, on condition that the candidate has received an education at university or higher professional level, and has a reasonable knowledge of Dutch. The government is encouraging the care sector to introduce appropriate pastoral care services for every group.

8 Education  

The Dutch education system comprises both public-authority schools, for which the government is responsible and which are open to all, and private schools that are organised on philosophical or denominational lines. The Netherlands has long had Catholic and Protestant schools, and now there are also some thirty Muslim schools. Private schools have to comply with the same statutory requirements as public-authority schools when it comes to the knowledge and skills they teach. Both categories of school are funded by the government, and are visited by the school inspectors.

The government is making an effort to ensure that young people do not drop out of school, since this severely limits their future prospects. Young people from Muslim families can take part in special programmes which are offered to all young people with educational disadvantages, whatever their background. There are teachers with Muslim backgrounds working in many schools.

Public-authority schools are free to provide religious education at the request of parents. In many primary and secondary schools, the curriculum includes "religious movements" and "environmental studies" which cover, for example, Christianity and Islam, to encourage mutual understanding and tolerance. The history and geography of Muslim countries are frequently included in secondary school examination syllabuses. Pupils at many schools can choose to study Arabic or Turkish as a second modern language. If there is enough interest, Muslim secondary schools can be established. In fact, the first will open its doors in Rotterdam in 2000.

In higher education too, attention focuses in various ways on Islam and the languages and culture of the Muslim world. Many universities have chairs of Islamic studies and of the languages and cultures of the Middle East. The Holland College of Higher Professional Education in Diemen trains students wishing to give Islamic religious instruction, and the University of Amsterdam has had an endowed chair of Islamic studies for several years. This chair, to which the government has attached a number of general conditions, is funded by a private foundation. One of its functions is to explore the scope for establishing courses to train imams and Islamic pastoral workers in the Netherlands. The Netherlands Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World, devoted exclusively to academic research into Islam, was opened in Leiden in 1998.

Last year, the government called on Hindu and Muslim organisations in particular to set up courses in the Netherlands to train their own pandits and imams. Financial support can be provided by the government. In this case, the general, academic part of the training would be provided at the university of the candidate's choice, and pastoral training would be given at a special institute established for this purpose by the religious organisation in question.

Every year, some 50 imams are recruited from abroad, from Turkey and Morocco in particular. Many of them know little, if anything, about Dutch society. The government therefore intends to require imams to attend a special course, tailored to their social role, during their first year in the Netherlands. The programme, which is geared towards integration, will comprise 600 hours of Dutch, an introduction to Dutch society, and, in consultation with national Muslim organisations, other specific subjects. On completing the course, the candidates will be examined on their command of the language, and their knowledge and skills. Imams already working in the Netherlands may also attend a course.

Religious communities are free to involve government authorities or sister organisations in other countries in their initiatives. Since foreign governments have no autonomous jurisdiction in the Netherlands, the principle of the separation of church and state does not arise. The Dutch government does not consult with the authorities in imams' countries of origin on their training, but it keeps them informed of the policies it is pursuing in relation to integration. The Dutch government assumes that people of every religion will be loyal members of Dutch society, and will make a positive contribution to it, in accordance with the civil rights and duties specified in the Constitution.

9 Further information  

This fact sheet is produced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in consultation with the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Affairs. Further information can be obtained from:

Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Foreign Information Division (DVL/BZ/VB)
Postbus 20061
2500 EB Den Haag
The Netherlands
Tel.: +31 70 348 4114
Fax.: +31 70 348 4102
Internet: www.minbuza.nl
Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Affairs
Minorities Integration Policy (Coordination) Department
Postbus 20011
2500 EA Den Haag
Tel.: +31 70 302 6193
Fax: +31 70 302 7638
www.minbzk.nl