AROUND THE EU, the impression held by large segments of society is that there is something intrinsically different about Islam that makes it difficult to integrate Muslims into European societies. Some of these segments of society are non-Muslim, and are reluctant to allow such integration to take place; others are Muslim, as represented by a Muslim father's advice to his son in the first quote above.

These sentiments raise a number of issues relating to plural identities and their compatibility with modern-day Europe and Islam, and these have been discussed at a theoretical level earlier in some detail; however, all these discussions were more abstract than particular. Such issues find variable expressions in member states, and it is these expressions that most affect the lives of individuals and communities. In this regard, the UK represents an illustrative case study, having a long history of interaction with Muslims and being the home of a large Muslim population.