Muslims living in Norway must accept that they're a minority in a progressive, egalitarian-oriented society, claims Cabinet Minister Erna Solberg. Islam must be modernized, she says, but local Muslims claim they don't understand her criticism.
Solberg, the government minister who's charge of immigration and integration issues among other things, is making some controversial demands of Muslims who have moved to Norway or grown up in the country as first- or second-generation immigrants.
In doing so, she's taking a brave stand. Solberg earlier this year was the target of death threats by a disgruntled Muslim asylum-seeker, and she also has been at the center of the storm around Mullah Krekar, the suspected terrorist who remains in Norway despite a deportation order.
She suggests nonetheless that the burden of integration into Norwegian society lies as much with Muslims as it does with ethnic Norwegians who are part of the state church. After meeting with her British counterpart Beverly Hughes in London on Monday, Solberg is on the offensive.
"The Norwegian Islamic community must make more progress, and see what's happening in other European countries," Solberg told newspaper Aftenposten. "Islam in Europe must function differently than it does in Islamic countries." In this regard, she claims, the Muslim community in Norway lags far behind.
She's especially critical of the role that Imams play in Norway. "These religious leaders can't just be brought up from Islamic countries where Muslims are in the majority," Solberg said. "They have no understanding of what it's like to be a Muslim in a country where they're a minority.
"They have to get more education, which they should get here in Europe," she continued. "It's especially important that immigrants learn what it means to live in a feminist society."
Solberg is clearly intrigued by proposals in Great Britain that would require immigrants to take an oath of citizenship and pass an exam dealing with local society.
The World Islamic Mission in Norway, claiming it doesn't understand Solberg's criticism, asked Solberg to explain what she means by "modernization," which she did on national radio on Tuesday.
Divorce, for example, must be more easily available for Muslim women and follow the laws of the land, she said. Pro-forma and forced marriages must be banned and women in general must be accorded equal rights under the law.
Amber Khan of the World Islamic Mission in Norway claimed Imams brought to Norway are required to learn Norwegian and adapt to new cultural codes.