Hidden Voluntary Social Work: A Nationally Representative Survey of Muslim Congregations in Sweden

What is it about?

This study is based on a nationwide survey of local Muslim congregations and focuses on the patterns and function of voluntary social work carried out by the congregations. Muslim congregations in Sweden are not only religious meeting places, but also social meeting places and centres for the organisation of a broad range of social welfare services. and young people. The dominant discourse on Islam in Europe has claimed that Muslim social work is part of an attempt to create self-sufficient enclaves that impede the integration of Muslim immigrants into the wider society. Claims of this type seem, however, to be largely unfounded. The Swedish Muslim congregations that carry out the most voluntary social work are those most interested in co-operation with other organisations and with authorities of different types and those that have the most positive experiences of the wider society.

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Why is it important?

Recently, social work researchers have paid increasing attention to the relationship between religious beliefs and social work and there is a small but growing body of literature on Islam and social work in the USA and Western Europe. The focus of these studies is, however, on professional social work interventions in Muslim communities and the spiritual sensitivity and awareness that this demands, but only to a very small extent on the voluntary social work carried out by Muslim congregations. In short, Muslim communities are often treated as the object of interventions, rather than as capable social actors.