ABSTRACT
This chapter purports to shed light on the processes of turning the stigma of 'dangerous otherness' into self-esteem and using the 'wrong identity', 'bad home address' or 'inappropriate appearance' as an empowerment for certain individuals and groups among European Muslim populations. It analyses the ways in which Islam has been empowering groups within the wider Muslim populations in Britain and Belgium. The chapter assesses young Muslim's perceptions of benefits from being active in the Muslim and wider civil society. These perceptions and observations are analysed it is useful to provide more information about the empirical research that constitutes the basis and to draw a larger picture of Islam in Europe, which has been undergoing in recent decades a profound transformation a transition from Islam of immigrants to Islam of citizens. The empirical material was gathered during fieldwork in Brussels and London between 2005 and 2008 and consequent study visits to other European capitals to observe the developments in other countries.
