On May 8, 2009, an article titled "France is Turning into an Islamic Republic" was posted on www.abna.ir, the official website of the Iran-based International Ahl Al-Bayt Foundation. [1] The secretary-general of this foundation, Mohammad Hassan Akhtari, is deputy of international affairs in the office of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and former Iranian ambassador to Syria. [2] He was appointed by Khamenei to head the foundation in March 2004. [3]
The article surveyed the growth of the Muslim population in Europe, the U.S., and Canada, which, it claimed, is due to a higher birth rate among Muslims as compared to Christians, as well as to immigration. The article called on the Shi'ite institutions and clerics to take advantage of the situation, namely, that the Muslims will soon become a majority in most of the European countries and the U.S., and to introduce the local Christian population to the Shi'ite school of thought - since, according to the writer - it is more appealing than Sunni Islam.
Following are the main claims of the article. [4] It should be stressed that the data brought in the article is unsubstantiated and should be perceived as reflecting the positions of the Iranian foundation.
"The Culture of a Country Where the Birth Rate Remains Less than 2.5% for 25 Years Cannot Endure"
After comparing the growth rate of the Muslim and the Christian populations in France, statisticians claim that in 40 years at most, France will become a predominantly Muslim country.
"An average [non-Muslim] family in France has 1.8 members, as compared to an average Muslim family there, which has 8.1 members… In France today, there are more mosques than churches. Thirty percent of all babies and young people under the age of 20 there are Muslim, but in large cities such as Paris, Nice, and Marseille, 45 percent [are Muslim]. The conclusion is that if this ratio does not change, by 2025 one out of every five French [residents] will be Muslim, and France will turn into a Muslim state.
"The situation in most [other] Western countries is similar. In Britain, the growth-rate of the Christian population is 1.6% [per annum]; in Greece - 1.3%; in Germany - 1.3%; in Italy - 1.2%; and in Spain - 1.1%. The average [natural] growth of the Christian population in the 31 European Union states is 1.38%. Demographers and statisticians believe that the culture and the civilization of a country where the birth rate remains less than 2.5% for 25 years cannot endure…"
"The European Union Warns that by 2025, Most of the Babies Born in Europe Every Year Will Be Muslim"
"Based on these statistics, the [overall] European population should be very small, but in reality it is growing. Why?
"Farah Sadiqi, a Pakistani researcher who resides in Europe, believes that the reason for this phenomenon is the Muslim immigration to the European continent... Thirty years ago there were 82,000 Muslims in England, while today their number is 2,500,000. England has over 1000 mosques, most of which are in former church buildings which were purchased from the Christians. In Holland, half of the babies that are born each year are Muslim; if this rate is sustained, 15 years from now half of the Dutch population will be Muslim. In Russia the Muslim population numbers 23 million; in a few years, Muslims will constitute 40% of the Russian military forces. In Belgium, 25% of the population is Muslim, and so are half of all babies born each year. In Germany, the government has recently announced that … by 2050, that country may turn into a Muslim state. The German government believes that the Muslim population in Europe, which currently numbers 5.2 [sic] million, [5] will double in the next 20 years. The European Union has warned that by 2025, most of the babies born in Europe yearly will be Muslim.
"It is obvious that neither the means [for birth control] nor the European countries' campaign to this effect have been successful in preventing the growth of the Muslim population."
The Shi'a will be Accepted by the Christians More Quickly than the Sufi or the Wahhabi Philosophy
"A point of great importance is that Shi'ite organizations, institutions, and senior clerics should take advantage of these circumstances and intensify their efforts to introduce the European nations and the Americans to the Shi'ite school of thought. This school of thought is undoubtedly the closest to the origins of the European thought in both intellectual infrastructures and innate doctrines, and will be accepted much more quickly than the Sufi or the Wahhabi philosophy… This is contingent on the efforts [to propagate the Shi'a] being made at the right time."
Endnotes:
[1] The term "Ahl Al-Bayt" refers to the lineage of Ali Ibn Abi Talib and Fatima, daughter of the Prophet Muhammad, whose descendents are regarded by the Shi'ites as the true heirs of the Prophet. The Ahl Al-Bayt Foundation, founded in 1990, aims to promote the study and culture of Shi'ite Islam. Its members are religious and political figures from several Muslim countries.
[2] According to Akhtari, the organization was founded on the orders of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Mehr (Iran), May 4, 2009.
[3] http://www.ahl-ul-bayt.org/dabirkol/akhtari/index.htm.
[4] www.abna.ir (Iran), May 8, 2009.
[5] This is probably intended to be 52 million.
