The Myth of the Muslim Tide: Do Immigrants Threaten the West?

by Doug Saunders

From the award-winning author and Globe columnist Doug Saunders, a short, powerfully argued, debunking of the myth of the Muslim tide, which is being deployed to dangerous effect by numerous commentators and politicians in Canada, the United States and Europe.

Even among people who would never subscribe to its more dramatic claims, the "Eurabia" movement has popularized a set of seemingly common-sense assumptions about Muslim immigrants to the that they are disloyal, that they have a political agenda driven by their faith, that their high reproduction rates will soon make them a majority. These beliefs are poisoning politics and community relations in Europe and North America--and have led to mass murder in Norway. Rarely challenged, these claims have even slipped into the margins of mainstream politics. 

Doug Saunders believes it's time to debunk the myth that immigrants from Muslim countries are wildly different and pose a threat to the West. In the process, he shatters the core claims that have built a murderous ideology and draws haunting historical parallels showing how the same myths stuck to earlier groups, such as Jews and Roman Catholics. His work will become a vital handbook in the culture wars that threaten to dominate North American and European elections and media discussions in 2012 and afterwards.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, Islam, Immigration, Sociology, Religion, Society

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Doug Saunders (b. 1967) is a Canadian-British author and journalist.

He is the author of the books Arrival City: The Final Migration and Our Next World (2011) and The Myth of the Muslim Tide (2012) and is the international-affairs columnist for The Globe and Mail.

He served as the paper’s London-based European bureau chief for a decade, after having run the paper’s Los Angeles bureau, and has written extensively from East Asia, the Indian Subcontinent, the Middle East and North Africa. He writes a weekly column devoted to the larger themes and intellectual concepts behind international news, and has won the National Newspaper Award, Canada’s counterpart to the Pulitzer Prize, on five occasions.

Reviews

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Anders Behring Breivik went on a shooting spree that left 69 dead at a Norwegian summer camp a year ago, he left behind a manifesto that ran to 1,518 densely typed pages. In it, he proselytized his conviction that Muslims will make up a majority of Europe’s population by 2080.

Breivik’s alarmist sentiments were hardly original and stemmed from the writings and blogs of many mainstream right-wing western writers, including Daniel Pipes, Patrick Buchanan and Canadian Mark Steyn.

The core of their widely popular beliefs is that Muslim immigrants are increasing their numbers, are loyal only to Islam and promote a political agenda that will destroy our traditions and freedoms. In short, they argue, we are about to be swept by a Muslim tide.

But, writes Doug Saunders in his book The Myth of the Muslim Tide: Do Immigrants Threaten The West (Knopf Canada), the idea of a stealth takeover by Islamic believers is a delusion. Muslim immigrants, he sets out to prove, are no more different than the earlier larger waves of religious minorities, particularly Roman Catholics and Jews.

In fact, like Breivik’s manifesto, the arguments brought forth by the right wing bloggers aren’t entirely original either. The arrival of millions of people from poor religious minority backgrounds in western countries has always ben a traumatic affair, one that has bred fear, ignorance and prejudice

American Freedom and Catholic Power, a bestselling book in the 1950s in America, stated that Catholics would eventually gain control of the presidency and install divine law, making the United States a Catholic republic.


Saunders, a Globe and Mail correspondent and author of Donner Prize-winning Arrival City, sets about disputing the claims one by one, using facts from scores of demographic studies, surveys and historical documentation to prove his points. Saunders says he’s not out to defend Islam, but rather to debunk the myths and also highlight the genuinely alarming facts.

The book follows a consistent pattern. He begins with one of these alarmist myths, provides a quote or two from the writers that espouse it and then goes about debunking it.

The key argument used by the “Muslim-tiders” is that the Muslim majority in the West is growing fast and will soon become a majority in Europe. They believe that Europe is on the verge of becoming “Eurabia.”

For instance, Canadian conservative commentator Steyn, Saunders says, has recently argued that every European under the age of 75 is all but guaranteed to end his or her days living in an Islamified Europe. In a 2010 campaign speech during his run for the U.S Republican presidential nomination, Newt Gingrich referenced “stealth jihad,” the idea that Muslims are taking over the West by immigration and breeding.

Saunders sets to debunk this by using various studies and statistics.

He examines one study conducted by the Washington, D.C.-based Pew Research Center and concludes that “there are no signs of Muslims becoming a European majority or even a very large minority.”

Muslims currently make up less than four per cent of the population of the European Union. Examining studies and surveys, Saunders says the rate of Muslim growth will probably level off and reach around eight per cent by 2050.

Things aren’t much different in North America. In the United States, the Muslim population will double over the next 20 years, but that would still leave them at less than two per cent of the general population, around the same as Jews.

In Canada, the Muslim population is expected to triple to just 6.6 per cent of the population in 20 years.

None of the studies (including one by the U.S. Congressional Research Service) predict anything close to a Muslim majority.

He highlights one alarmist fact that went viral recently. In 2010 a report showed that the most common name for newborn boys in Britain was Mohammed. This was evidence that fuelled the conspiracy theorists’ claim that Muslims were taking over the population.

While this statistic was correct, the alarmists ignored the fact that Muslims tend to have far less variety in their names than non-Muslims. Generally, non-Muslims have preferences for unusual, unique names, and you’d be hard-pressed to find a Snooki or a Moon Unit in Muslim households.

In 2010, Saunders writes, the year that Mohammed was the most popular name for newborns in Britain, Muslim boys made up just one per cent of British newborns.

Saunders also points out that Muslim immigrants are following the same trends as earlier ethnic immigration: from big families and rapid growth in the first couple of decades to “a gradual blending into the fertility patterns of the host population later on.”

In the same manner he debunks several other misconceptions.
In his well-researched book, Saunders is saying that while there are some legitimate fears and we should be vigilant, we should not forget our own immigrant experiences. Tides come and go, he warns. The same pattern is repeated.

By the very nature of the work, the reader will be overwhelmed with numbers and percentages, and arguably numbers can be misleading, Otherwise, this concise, slim volume is easily accessible, and because it sets out to disprove popular, but misguided, hateful messages, it should be placed on the must-read list, lest we repeat previous tragedies.

[BJ Richardson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book a lot more than I did. Those of you who know me understand that I am as strongly in favor of a more generous immigration policy, especially for refugees, as one can possibly get. I was hoping that this book would actually bolster my arguments on the issue, but his defense was so weak at some points that I was actually questioning my own stand. After all, if this is the best "my side" has to offer...

Where was Saunders strong in Myth: He did an excellent job showing the parallels between how Muslim immigration is talked about today with how waves of Jewish, Eastern European and Irish/Italian Catholic immigration in the past were discussed. While I think there are many great parallels, I think he ignored two dynamics that make this wave unique. 1) The rise of communication technology and social media gives immigrants a stronger connection to their previous homelands. This will likely reduce the urgency and rate of assimilation in their new homes. 2) There is a current geopolitical trend the world over to associate or take pride in one's cultural identity or heritage and nationalism is a much weaker force than it has been over the past couple centuries (although this is less true than it was 5-10 years ago and nationalism seems lately to be making a comeback). Because of this, I think there might even some parallels among immigrant communities with Central Europe in the mid 19'th century rather than with the more recent immigration waves to the US and Western Europe.

Another thing I felt Saunders did well was show how the Middle East itself is undergoing drastic changes and is not the stagnant, monolithic entity it is often portrayed to be by anti-immigration fear mongers. While he expertly showed how as immigrants are flowing westward, they are sending ideas like freedom, individualism, democracy, and his religion of choice: "secularism" back eastward. For obvious reasons, he did not but easily could have included Christianity. The three countries where the Church is growing fastest (at least in 2015, the most recent years I know the numbers for) are Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.

One area where I think Saunders was completely missing the point was his insistence on showing all kinds of numbers and statistics about birth rates. He shows how birth rates in Muslim nations have dropped over the past few decades and why he believes they will continue to do so. He shows how 2nd and 3rd generation immigrants have significantly fewer kids per average household than their parents and how after that there is almost no statistical difference than the community at large. So what? Saunders seems to miss the point that Islam is a missionary religion and that births are not the sole (or even primary) means of growth. The big concern among anti-immigration fear mongers is not how many babies they are having so much as how many are coming and how many they are converting. This is something Saunders seems completely unable to grasp but perhaps a quick glimpse at the Pentecostal denominations of the church will illustrate the point. At the start of the 20th century, there were no Pentecostals. None. The movement did not exist before Kansas, Azusa Street, and the Welch Revival. By the time Myth was written that number had passed 280 million and accounted for more than 1/8 of the global Christian population. That didn't come from a couple hundred people in Los Angeles and Wales making babies. I don't care how prolific they were.

Finally, I believe that Saunders was being deliberately disingenuous when he tried to show that Islam itself was a peaceful religion. He actually has the audacity to write at one point that fundamentalist Islam itself might be a means to preventing terrorist attacks and that the more devoutly religious a fundamentalist gets, the less likely they are to commit an act of terror. Seriously. He wrote that.

The terrorists have a simpler, shallower conception of Islam than fundamentalists —that is, their degree of interest in the actual teachings of the Koran is fairly minimal.

I wonder if he would have written this nonsense a few years later after ISIS (headed by Al-Baghdadi who has a Ph.D. in Islamic studies) came into being. It was already patently untrue, but it is oh so much more so in the world we live in today.

In all, I believe Saunder's heart is in the right place but his head is in the sand. I am glad he made the attempt, but I wish this book was never published. It has so many holes in so many places that I believe it does more harm for "my side" than it does good.



Please head over to Kingdom's Collide for a more complete discussion of this book.
https://kingdomscollide.org/2018/07/0...

[Murtaza · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short, efficient volume that rubbishes the claims of clash-of-civilization ideologues and contextualizes the arrival of Muslim immigrants with Catholics and Jews decades before them (the responses and challenges were much the same, perhaps even more strenuous).

He does a good job of showing the profoundly thin ice immigrant-scaremongering scholars are actually standing on. Much of their claims are indistinguishable from the antisemitism and anti-immigrant demagoguery of the past, based on shallow analysis, half-truths and often outright fabrications. The author makes a strong case as to why Muslim immigration is not fundamentally distinct from previous waves.

This book is a good compliment to Arrival City and builds on similar themes. A good, short and memorable book that serves as a damning rebuttal to the Mark Steyns, Daniel Pipes' and Anders Breivik's of the world.

[H Wesselius · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple and to the point. Saunders uses simple data and past history to create holes in any "Eurabia" or "Muslim Tide" argument. He rightly points out similar fears to Catholic and Jewish immigration were unfounded and goes on to explain how those fears are misplaced and wrong once again. Well worth the read but in all likelihood not going to convert any of the ideologues who fear the "Other".

[Grant Dawson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having a son who lived for years in the Whitechapel neighbourhood of London, England where the "Muslim tide" was most apparent, and having heard, read and seen many of the apocalyptic predictions of imminent cultural destruction by the presence of immigrant from Islamic countries, I found this book by Globe and Mail correspondent, Doug Sanders, enlightening and refreshing. He sites statistics, rather then anecdotal evidence, and reasoned arguments rather than impassioned fear-mongering. Immigrant groups throughout history have been subjected to suspicion and threat, in more recent years the Irish, the Italians and those fleeing from the former Soviet Union, and now Syrians. But newcomers have and will continue to become vital and refreshing part of any dynamic society. He concludes by balancing this optimistic view with a warning that this happens best when the first and second generations are greeted with compassion and provided with the necessary quality education and other social support to grow in their adopted society.

[Darcy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much like Saunder’s superlative Arrival City, this work is very well researched and takes aim at phobias focusing on Muslim migration to the West. Taking on the preponderance of works that raise concerns over Muslim migration on religious and cultural grounds, Saunders does an excellent job sifting through the rhetoric to identify the root issues. He then dispels most concerns with a journalist’s touch and a solid parade of evidence. The research is excellent and the comparisons to earlier waves of migration (Catholic and Jewish) are truly compelling. I strongly recommend this book to any who are wrestling with concerns migratory patterns in the West.

An interesting comparative work is Philip Jenkins’ God’s Continent who provides a thoroughly researched, academic approach to considering the potential impact of migration on European nations. (Jenkins argues that indigenous Christian migration from the Global South is going to leave its mark every bit as much as Islam—and neither are going to overwhelm a secular continent.)

In the end, Saunders goes to the same place as he did in Arrival City. He argues that the direction migratory communities take in the West is largely the result of socio-economic conditions and opportunities made available by the host nation.

Finally, I find an intriguing contrast between Saunder’s take on the rise of fundamental Islam in various nations and that of Lewis Rambo (Understanding Religious Conversion) and with McDonough and Hoodfar (“Muslims in Canada: From Ethnic Groups to Religious Community” in Religion and Ethnicity in Canada, ed. Paul Bramadat and David Seljak).

For Rambo the rise of fundamentalism relates to the nature of a religious system as it engages modernism. In short:

there are limits to the degree to which the original cultural system can be modified or rejected. When these limits are violated, the society may experience and explosive return to the core and thus an often violent rejection of the process and agents of modernization. The resurgence of fundamentalist Islam is a dramatic illustration of this theory. (36)

On the other hand, Saunders sees more sociological factors at play. Reviewing the way in which dictators and rulers in various nations with substantial Muslim communities adopted the ideologies of superpowers, only to have these ideologies fail; the one unsullied identity marker remaining was Islam itself. He argues, “The retreat into a one-dimensional religious identity is not a timeless feature of Muslim societies that flows inevitably from the Koran. Rather, it is a specific personal and political response to circumstance, and it can end just as easily as it began” (143). The voting of masses for groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood do not bespeak a mass return to fundamentalism but a “reaching out to the most credible, reliable voice of modernization and inclusion they could see” (152). Citing Islam scholar Olivier Roy he writes that “faith is no longer the sole guiding force in the culture but merely a personal identifier and political choice” (152).

On the point of individualism McDonough and Hoodfar, however, argue that it is only AFTER migrating to Canada and encountering mosques with multiple peoples and communities in them that lead to migrants adopting a “Muslim” identity over their national or ethnic identity.

Notwithstanding Saunders focuses largely on immigration, the factors he discusses relate to self-identity in one’s country of origin as well as when one goes abroad. If Saunders is correct, the complex identity that a self-identified Muslim migrant brings to the shores of Canada is already largely privatized. Regardless, encountering the Canadian migratory and settlement experience will have an indelible impact on the newcomer’s identity, including religious self-identity.

[Jennifer V. · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Muslim Problem. It’s true that every generation of Americans experiences some sort of fear and dread of a massive invasion of undesirables. The utopian Puritans feared the pacifist Quakers. The Anglican planters feared the Baptist-converting Scots-Irish poor. The Federalists in office feared the Republican-leaning French and Irish. The white Christians feared the Chinese Confucians. The list goes on.

Unfortunately, any discussion about the perceived threats of some immigrant group is clouded by conflicting worldviews, contrived facts, and sloppy reporting. Case in point: When Frank Gaffney’s Center for Security Policy produced Shariah: The Threat to America: Team B II Report, many concerned Christians promoted it without seriously analyzing its content. Two clues should’ve alerted its readers: First, unlike the historic anti-Communist Team B, the Team B II didn’t have access to secure information by which to draw their conclusions. Second, it was such a badly written report, full of misrepresentations and fallacies, that anyone who was anti-Muslim should’ve been embarrassed about it.

There’s a lack of calm, serious discussion about possible threats from immigrant groups, especially those whose racial, religious, and cultural identities vary significantly from the norm. Couple this with the population doom scare, and we’ve got a serious problem. Enter journalist Doug Saunders, neither a friend of Islam nor a stranger to terrorist attacks. In The Myth of the Muslim Tide: Do Immigrants Threaten the West?, he confronts some of the key arguments levied against Europe’s and America’s newcomers. What he exposes are a deep Christian envy of Muslim success and what I’d say is a historic American desire to see a spiritually weak Europe fall. Most complaints about the Islam religion can easily be made about Christianity and Judaism, and the charges of non-patriotism are often equally true or worse for non-Muslims in every country.

What I appreciated most is the way Saunders handles the population arguments, showing how facts are often misconstrued and how broader trends are ignored in favor of demographic reports that produce mass hysteria. “Demographic transition” is occurring in Muslim countries, as would be predicted with ongoing changes in the economy, women’s education, and politics. While many Americans would have us believe otherwise, evidence shows that Muslim immigrants do assimilate with the native cultures, politically, culturally, and – yes, most definitely – demographically.

Although I was generally pleased with Saunders’ work, I do question his constant appeal to the past. Yes, Eastern European Roman Catholics and Jews have unquestionably assimilated. Even Latin Americans, West Indians, and Asians, who he neglects to mention, have pretty much assimilated. But the hidden assumption behind Saunders and others pointing this out is that the assimilation of a previously spurned immigrant group is desirable. If the past tells us anything, it would be that the assimilation of Muslims into the American mainstream is inevitable. But to say that that’s the way things should be requires a judgment call, and one I doubt any nativist would agree with.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s no secret that many Western countries fear change. The United States, in particular, seems to endorse this discomfiting belief that our way is the best and, more tellingly, the ONLY way to do things. Anything that threatens to alter the way we think about our world and structure our communities sets off nation-wide alarm.

Unfortunately for us, and for those around us, this means that we’re almost always in a state of utter panic. The world is an inherently changing place and we cannot avoid being exposed to new ideas, new situations, and new cultures. In addition to making life incredibly unpleasant, wallowing in a constant state of crisis leads us to unnecessarily enflame otherwise ordinary situations.

Case in point, the “Muslim tide.” Granted, 9/11 was an awful, indescribably traumatic experience for our country (and the world), and it is important to consider the ongoing safety of U.S. citizens. BUT. As Mr. Saunders succinctly points out in The Myth of The Muslim Tide, rare events like these do not justify the blanket rejection and caricaturization of a highly diverse group of individuals.

In fact, the vast majority of the stereotypes that are now commonly associated with individuals of the Muslim faith are based on erroneous information. (Shocker, I know.) As it turns out, almost every fear we have linked to the Muslim faith is largely unfounded; indeed, Saunders goes through each of these fears point-by-point and easily discredits the many lies that have become institutionalized in our global society.

I really hope that, at some point in the not-too-distant future, we’ll learn from our history and calm the fuck down. And, when we do, we’ll realize that cultural diversity can actually be an incredibly beautiful and beneficial thing for our society. In the meantime, keep writing Mr. Saunders— you may have your work cut out for you.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author does a very good job of discrediting the hysteria surrounding the Muslim immigration populations in various countries at this moment in history. He does so very factually and by unpacking the assumptions and misinformation in the mass media.

I especially like the way he organizes the book. He looks at the broad issues created by the media, then picks those apart with fact, look back at history to show how what is happening is nothing new and then discusses what he thinks are some legitimate issues worth watching.

I also really admire the way he picks apart assumptions and asks the right, focused questions. For example, within the chapter devoted to facts, he looks at three broad areas of concern: population, integration and extremism. Under, say, integration, he then breaks that concern down further. One claim he discusses is: Muslim immigrants want to live apart, in isolated "parallel societies." He then uses facts to debunk this claim.

However, he is also very careful to use ALL the facts, not just the ones which help him debunk a claim. So if there are facts that support the claim he includes then, explains them and then either shows how they do not need to be concerned about or says, yes, this is a concern.

I give the author much credit for trying very hard (and in my opinion succeeding) to not allow his own bias interfere with his gathering of or use of facts, both statistical and historical.

[Sarah Be · Rating 3 out of 5]

Do I agree with the premise that immigration is peaceful and a reaction to the current, changing, turbulent state of the world? Yes!

Do I think the argument was well made by constantly quoting hateful authors? No!!

Do I think the author has worked on himself, internalized racism, and is aware of the rupturing, ongoing impact of colonization? NO!!

Do I think this book is still worth reading in 2023? No, yes, maybe, but there are probably better ones out there!

[Antonia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Doug Saunders has read all the racist, right-wing books (including Breivik's manifesto) so that you don't have to, and he knocks down all their arguments with lots of solid data. I realized how naive I have been to the fact that this anti Muslim rhetoric has become so mainstream in much of Europe and America (and we are not immune in Canada). Too bad it was not a bit more readable (just the facts, it's like a really long, number-filled magazine article). Luckily it's only 165 pages.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book that systematically and logically debunks "popular fiction" about Muslim immigration patterns. The author addresses individual myths and claims made (and often made up) by conservative writers that incite fear. He uses reliable polling and survey data to demonstrate Muslims will never make up more than 12% of the population of any western nation. Within two generations they assimilate and have the same birth rate, religious affiliation rate, and patriotic inclinations as the society in which they live. This is a function of urbanization and women's education. The patterns of fear and assimilation for Muslims are the same as what the west saw with catholic and Jewish tides of immigration. I liked the pragmatic format of the book but it doesn't tell a story so some people might be put off. The information is presented in paragraphs but could just as well be an outline with bullet points.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everyone who has even a passing interest in affairs in the Muslim world ought to read this very lucid survey of public opinion attitudes among Muslim immigrants in western countries. The statistics essentially prove that all the alarmist assertions made by Islamophobes in the West are pretty much wrong (e.g., Muslims are plotting to impose sharia law in the west, Muslims are drowning their Christian and Jewish neighbors in the West by outbreeding them, etc.). The fact is, Muslim immigrants are assimilating to western culture just like every other wave of immigrants before them. Speaking of earlier waves of immigrants, the author points out that many of the same crazy, paranoid claims made by the hysterical Islamophobes of our generation were made about Jewish and Catholic immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and here we are...the Republic didn't collapse or succumb to foreign, hostile religious worldviews as people feared it would.

[Nicole C · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wasn't impressed. The book is guilty of what he criticizes others for - taking some stats and only telling one side of the story. I just didn't find it balanced. While it effectively debunked the myth of the muslim tide, it was so lob-sided that it detracted from the findings. Although the comparisons to previous tides was good.

[Hakim Temsamani]

A good read, a good eye opener for the narrow minded people flooding social media these days...

[Kirsten Hawkes · Rating 4 out of 5]

In "The Myth of the Muslim Tide", Globe and Mail journalist Doug Saunders takes a broad look at issues and myths regarding Muslim immigration. He examines the popular warnings about Muslim immigration - fears that the west will be swamped by Muslim birthrates, concerns that Muslims will not integrate, alarm over supposed violent propensities within Muslim faith and culture - and digs through global data to find answers. Saunders' book takes three principal approaches to these questions - first, he examines the demographic data and studies of Muslim immigration in Western Europe and North America; second, he provides an illuminating look at the North American experience of absorbing other large groups of seemingly alien immigrants (Jews and Catholics); and third, he looks at ways to foster integration for all immigrant groups. Solidly researched and easy to read. Recommended for anyone interested in immigration and security issues.

[Ronnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5*

I first bought this book about ten years ago, and that's probably when I should have read it. It's not that it's irreverent any more, it's just that it's not as relevant, and it's chock full of statistics and figures that I imagine are no longer accurate at this point.

That being said, I don't regret reading it now. It still provided a lot of historical context (including a dive into the panic when Catholics and Jews both had mass immigration to the West, and the near identical panic surrounding their immigration). This book was insightful and very easy to understand.

[Myrna Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Saunders has used a methodical approach in addressing the myths regarding a Muslim takeover. In doing so he has looked at the actual facts surrounding Muslim immigration patterns and trends. The author argues that early-21st-century Muslim sentiment in the West is nearly identical in origin to the anti-Catholic and anti-Jewish fervor that swept the same region when immigration from those communities increased in the early-20th century.

[Lorens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good to read numbers and statistics relating to a topic everybody has an opinion about without knowing the facts. Easy to read.

[Carrie Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was actually very interesting, seeing how this has all gone down before in the past, globally and politically. Will we humans never learn?

[Jaylani Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love how he dealt with the issue of Muslims being prejudiced and discriminated and then talks about the previous groups that came to Canada like the Irish people. He did a good job on this topic.

[Terese · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book, not flawless, but certainly an interesting and necessary read! Though the introduction clearly states that this is not a defence of Islam etc I do find the author slightly apologistic at times.

I also think he helps prove the important fact that statistics, while useful, is ultimately a tool that can be angled as the wielder likes. E.g on page 64 Saunders rattles off a number of statistics regarding religious affiliation of French Catholics/Muslims etc, suddenly dropping numbers all together to state that "almost no French Muslims send their children to separate Islamic school". In a page riddled with 28% here, 42% there, it seems almost neglectful to suddenly settle for "almost no"... It might not be the best example, but throughout the book Saunders clearly elevates or emphasizes certain numbers while he downplays others entirely which makes the book, regardless of his introduction, seem very angled.

Then there were things that were just puzzling. On the topic of sharia laws he goes on to say that there's an "element" of truth in it, then goes on to describe an attempt to set up a religious tribunal for sharia laws in Canada and moves on to discuss the legal Sharia Councils of Britain. (again downplaying less favorable things by stating loudly that these tribunals MOSTLY deal with divorce cases and glosses over the more problematic legal matters) yet at the end of this chapter he states that "it's another question entirely" whether the Muslims wants sharia laws to be the offical legal system of the country... but it's not really an 'entirely' different question is it? It's very much skirting the edge of official laws if you want your own community to have their own legal system operating separately of the official laws and for it to be recognized by it... So the topics are not as foreign as Saunders pose them and certainly not as unproblematic. (I don't, it should be mentioned, believe in seperately governed tribunals for any faith)


The book becomes better when he talks terrorism and the "what we ought to worry about" section.

It is also quite excellent to bring up the former Jewish and Catholic "tide" crisis'. I mean, just look at these once spoken words about the arrival of Catholics;

"is a matter which no intelligent patriot can look upon without the gravest apprehension and alarm. They are beaten men from beaten races, representing the worst failures in the struggle for existence" (120-121, and also Ouch!)

"A survival of medieval authoritarianism that has no rightful place in the democratic American environment" (115)


A healthy dose of refreshing things of the past that are largely forgotten or unknown to younger generations. All in all it is a well researched, informative and important book. There are so much propaganda out there now, stating the contrary, that this is like a glass of cool water on a hot summer's day. There are things to be concerned with, Saunders does not deny that either, but it's all time for everyone to take their freaking chill pills!

[John Russell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I heard about this book via an NPR interview with the author which I found very compelling. For a long time, I've been curious about Islam and everything related to the Arab world, and I'm constantly trying to defend the religion and its adherents from the narrow-minded attacks it so often attracts. In said interview, Mr. Saunders cited many astounding facts that soundly lay to rest the assumptions that Muslims are opposed to integration or that they tend to support the acts of terrorists and jihadists. In spite of this, the book itself was a bit dry, in the way that any book that presents a sound defense of some sociological or historical thesis kind of has to be (A People's History of the United States leaps to mind). As Kaede pointed out, perhaps if I hadn't heard the NPR interview first, there would have been more surprises in the data to keep me interested. Either way, it is still well organized and fairly clear, and the message it is getting across is an important one for us to learn. If you don't feel like reading the whole book, you should at least listen to the interview, which can be found here: http://www.npr.org/2012/09/19/1611682.... Happy debunking!

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Die muslimische Flut" (vgl. engl. Originaltitel) ist ein Bild, das sich im öffentlichen Bewusstsein in Westeuropa und Nordamerika festgesetzt hat, zusammen mit einer Reihe damit verbundener Vorstellungen (z.B. Geburtenrate, Integrationsgrad, Extremismus). Diese gängigen Meinungen werden nicht nur von fremdenfeindliche Parteien und Politiker wie Geert Wilders und Thilo Sarrazin, oder dem Massenmörder Breivik vertreten, sie finden sich auch in vielen andern Köpfen wieder und lösen Ängste aus.
Saunders ergründet, wie es zu diesen Vorstellungen gekommen ist und, ausgehend von den wichtigsten antiislamischen Behauptungen, wie sie sich zu den Fakten verhalten, also ob sie "wahr" sind. Er will eine faktenbasierte Grundlage schaffen, ernsthafte Sorgen von unbegründeten Ängsten unterscheiden, damit klarer und leidenschaftlos über dieses emotional diskutierte Thema nachgedacht werden kann. Das Buch ist kein Plädoyer für den Islam als Religion des Friedens, sondern der Versuch, eine überhitzte Diskussion auf eine konstruktive Sachebene herunterzubringen, damit die echten Probleme der Einwanderung nicht übersehen werden. Da diese Probleme eben keine "muslimischen" sind, macht das Buch, das ein paar Jahre vor der Flüchtlingskrise 2015 erschienen ist, nicht obsolet.

Inhalt:
I Gängige Meinungen
II Die Fakten
III Das hatten wir schon einmal
IV Was uns Sorgen bereiten sollte

[Adam Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book puts an end to the continual bombardment of myths about Muslim immigrants. Those who have been exposed to the rhetoric of Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Robert Spencer, and Mark Steyn will recognize the irrational fears that Muslim immigrants are out-breeding white people (Americans and Europeans) and that in the next few decades Europe will be majority Muslim, that these immigrants are radicals, that they want Sharia law, and that they are a danger to the sovereignty of the west.

Saunders takes a look at all of these claims, and finds them not merely wanting, not merely false, but completely the opposite. Muslim immigrants are the least likely to support Sharia law, they are strongly supportive of the Western government under which they live (moreso than natural citizens), and in a hundred years Muslims will comprise 10% of Europe, which is not a majority at all. The book is detailed, well-documented, and short enough that you can hand it to that terrified uncle who keeps posting false information on his FB page. Highly recommended resource on this timely issue.

[Vince · Rating 5 out of 5]

In incredibly important book. Saunders carefully examines the important claim made by voices expressing alarm that the West is about to be overrun by Muslims possibly controlled by an Islamic conspiracy or less mysteriously as an inevitable outgrowth of the religion. He calls their viewpoint the "Muslim tide" theory.

Through extensive research, Saunders surfaces facts about the beliefs and outcomes of immigrants, even when those facts bolster the Muslim tide argument. He articulates rationally, scientifically, and clearly the significant challenges presented by a sometimes poorly integrated diaspora clinging to their religious identity as a source of pride. His solutions are humane, intelligent, and actionable.

With Donald Trump's anti-Muslim populism claiming headlines, and ISIL's murderous march and arrogant propaganda, the context Saunders surfaces has never been more needed.

Five stars.

[Mikayla Fansler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Saunders begins his book by telling stories from his past when he started noticing more Muslim people becoming his neighbors and moving into his town. He doesn't give his outright opinion until later in the book when he started debunking the claims that he has heard.

The rest of Saunders book states claims where he then backs up the claim with facts and others opinions before he gives his own. Saunders does a great job of not being pushy with his opinion.

Saunders ends the book with what we should really worried about, which is not what everyone is worried about, which is "are the Muslims invading the West?"

I think this book did a great job a debunking claims and telling stories of people he knows as well as himself. Saunders did a great job of giving his opinion and using facts to back his opinion up.

[James Henderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author makes a powerful case that Muslim immigrants as a group are no different than earlier groups who have come to America. It's one of those books that clears out all the half-truths and falsehoods clogging discussion of an issue. Its thesis is essentially that everything Pamela Gellar and Bruce Bawer have told you is wrong. And Saunders commands a wealth of data to prove his case.
Muslims in American and the West, he documents, are no more sympathetic to violence than other people. They have no prospect of becoming anything remotely close to a majority in any country. They have no desire to separate themselves from society. They "appear to be among the least disenchanted and most satisfied people in the West."
In short, they resemble many immigrant groups of the past.

[Max · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely required reading - especially with what is going on in the world today.

Saunders looks at the various myths surrounding immigrants and refugees, specifically looking at Muslim refugees, with a keen eye, nuance, a measured tone and a penchant for not jumping to conclusions.

His two chapters on the Catholic waves of immigration to the US in the 1950's, and Eastern European Jewish immigration to Britain, Western Europe and the US in the 1900's should be a must read. You can take any of those paragraphs, and the excerpts from works in the 50's, change the words from Catholic/Irish/Jewish to Muslim and they could read just like op-eds today.

Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good look at the popular myth of Eurabia/Muslim Tide/Stealth Jihad. Saunders doesn't go into great detail in the book, opting instead for something very approachable, but the footnotes offer full documentation and an excellent springboard into the scholarly literature and demographic studies. He looks first at the origins of the myth, who started it, and who promotes it. After that he explores the facts in contrast to the common accusations and fears, focusing mostly on demographics. Saunders demolishes the myth, but being no apologist for Islam, also points out occasional points of concern. I found this complimented Shibley Telhami's "The Word through Arab Eyes" as well as the work of Olivier Roy Giles Kepel.