Demystifying Greek Muslims

Demystifying Greek Muslims

By Iman Kouvalis & Maria Zain

A few sites trickled in, reversion stories and a video or two, are what came to my mind when I thought about launching Greeks Rethink blog for the first time," explained Iman Kouvalis, the project's founder.


Kouvalis, a Greek Muslim living in Canada is well-versed in community development in the country of her residence, has become interested in Muslims living in Canada, the United States of America, the UK, Australia, Germany, and of course in Greece.




Athens is a home for 700,000 Muslims, comprised mostly of Arab and Pakistani immigrants as well as Greek converts


Kouvalis believes that Muslims are scattered around the world and are "being so far away from the country that they call home." Furthermore, Kouvalis realizes that others are looking for the same thing — to be united under the umbrella of Islam and to create an effective community that would wipe off any misconceptions about Greek Muslims. Iman then stopped thinking about the impossible and decided to create the first global online Greek- Muslim Community.


Greeks Start to Rethink


"Is there a Greek- Muslim Community? This is not possible, why would a Greek become a Muslim?", a cynic would ask. Many who are unfamiliar with Islam and its universal principles and outreach may not even fathom the existence of Islam in Greece, a predominantly Christian country. "Contrary to a common misconception brought to us, when we become Muslims, we do not transform into Arabs or Turks."


"We are proud to keep our Greek heritage and connection because Islam allows us to do so," she explains.




To debunk further misunderstandings about both Islam and its Greek followers, Greeks Rethink blog is built to establish a dynamic online global Greek Muslim forum. Simply the project will be in the form of a blog and an online forum that is updated with all Greek Muslim-related news in the form of societal issues and articles on how Islam affects daily lives of the Greek Muslims.

Of course, being on the internet has led the "Greeks Rethink Blog" to be noticeable to the whole spectrum of readers, including those who are unwelcoming or even hostile to ideas relating to Islam. Heated debates over the Ottoman-Greek rivalry — a war declared by the Ottoman Empire after the Greek occupation of Crete in 1897, are very common in this blog.

Furthermore, there are non-Muslim Greeks who still use the blog to stress the idea that Muslim Greeks are in fact Turks or Arabs pretending to be Greeks.

"I welcome all types of comments because one of our main purposes is to clarify the true meaning of Islam directly from the original sources," Iman reveals the grave distortion of Islam in the West.

"We have an interactive Q&A section so non-Muslims could ask questions openly as I believe transparency builds trust and provides a clearer perspective of intentions, thoughts, beliefs, spirituality and inspirations."

She even has higher hopes; "In the future, I would like to cooperate with Greek Muslim leaders as well as with government officials in Greece to help build and support organized communal systems, and to provide Muslims with services such as; publication, activities' development and education."

Muslims in Greece

Athens is a home for 700,000 Muslims, comprised mostly of Arab and Pakistani immigrants as well as Greek converts who converted to Islam either through marriage or their own curiosity and findings.

Currently, a long awaited Hellenic mosque is about to be established and the cocktail of Muslim cultures have agreed that their prayers will soon be performed in their proper place. The Greek authorities are aware of such arrangements and even of the unofficial praying places, but they have done nothing to forbid congregations. Previously, `Eid prayers have been used to be held at the Olympic Stadium of Athens (OAKA), assembling prayers of thousands multi-national, multi-cultural Muslims.

The Greek Constitution states that freedom of religion is allowed to the parameter of proselytism and it's illegal to convince others to follow a certain faith. Though this may seem as a hindrance to da`wah work for some Muslims, it acts as a protection for Muslims from any forceful or unwarranted influence of other religions. In fact, the Constitution of Greece, in this context, is aligned with the "no compulsion" tenet in Islam, where no Muslim can forcefully be converted into another non- Islamic religion. This is not a barrier to da`wah work, but on the contrary, it encourages Muslims to behave in a daily Islamic manner to demonstrate the beauty and equity of Islam.

"The Muslim community in Athens is always open to everyone," says Anna, a Greek convert living in Athens. "We have open and above board activities, so many Muslims are a preferred option when it comes to job recruitment because they are honest, have good manners and are integrated into the Greek society."

Anna, who is also a manager of Bridge of Civilizations , publishes a bi-monthly newspaper about Islam addressing major bookstores, Greek officials, embassies and the public. She is an extremely active Greek Muslim. Moreover, Anna always works on improving the good relationship between the Greek Muslims and the Greek government.

"The Greek government is aware of everything that is going on in the world. They treat Muslims like immigrants and they know that Greek immigrants are spread all over the world. The only arising trend in Athens from this fact is a fine, educated and respected Greek Muslim Community that will make all Muslims proud of their faith."

In fact, the mosque that is currently being built in Athens is fully sponsored by the Greek State and the European Union. No private funds were needed for the project to be completed. What is especially convenient is the location of this mosque; which is very close to the Metro station Eleonas in the centre of Athens. "The new mosque move has been widely welcomed," Anna adds, explaining that the original mosque was once farther away. "Even the Greek Church and the Ministry of National Education and Religions support this move."

Personal Aspirations

"Our association used to be a branch of the Arabic-Hellenic Centre for Civilization and Culture but now, with more people interested, we have formed our own independent association," says Anna. She herself was converted to Islam after getting married to a Muslim man.

With the larger picture now in mind, Anna talks about educating Greeks about Islam as one of her association’s main objects. "Many people are interested. We want to show what Islam is about. It is not just about how great Islam is but, furthermore, they need to know Islam's contribution to science and how Muslims once saved the Ancient Greek Sciences."

It is really a "call for having a Greek rethink. We want to show aspects of Islam in real life, not theory."

Similarly, Iman hopes to be able to work with Greek translators in order to disseminate more information about Islam to her fellow citizens. Her main concerns with the Greek community, both Muslims and non-Muslims, lie in the scarcity of Greek-materials on Islam. A very small number of Islamic books have been translated into Greek and even fewer Greek authors exist. In fact, one of the very few books that were translated to Greek is the Qur'an.

Now Muslims like Iman and Anna are committed to rebuilding the glory of Islam that reigned for over 400 years of Caliphate in Greece. Greek Muslims have come a long way to the rethink strategies of da`wah work. Greek Muslims' dreams are quickly turning into a reality; thanks to the availability of the internet, supportive state governments and practising Muslims connected through an online forum like www.greeksrethink.com.

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Iman Kouvalis is a Greek business owner and former Vice-Principal who specializes in guiding Muslims to structure and organize their communities for the spiritual, social and da'wah development. She is the daughter of Greek parents who, after researching in comparative religion, chose to convert to Islam in 2000. Since then, she has led numerous community events and projects spreading and clarifying the message of Islam. Kouvalis is now based in Canada.


Maria Zain is a Malaysian Muslim writer. She has published over 100 articles worldwide with a keen focus on da`wah work. Zain strived to support publications that aim at building a progressive Ummah.


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