Muslims in Switzerland: Is Citizenship Really Incompatible with Muslim Identity?

In modern Europe there are certainly many means of participating in the host society, ranging from the example of Northern European democracies which encourage the co-existence of identities, to the project of the French Republic aiming to develop into a union of the differences. In this context, it becomes essential to inquire if Muslims in Europe, who derive unity through their faith and are reinforced in numbers through their demographic expansion, will assimilate in the larger European fabric or will continue to maintain their differences expressed in their rather "exotic" values and behavior in the European context. The question remains urgent since it now seems that they are no longer temporary residents but are here to stay and if so, one must ask: do they want to adopt? Can they readily adopt? Or are they already adopting to the new European environment? This article attempts to examine these questions in the particular case of Muslims in Switzerland which may bring useful insight into an understanding of the situation of Muslims in Europe.