View source for Islam in the Netherlands

{{Short description|none}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2025}} 
{{Infobox religious group
| group         = Islam in the Netherlands
| flag          = Allah-green.svg
| flag_caption  =
| flag_size     = 25px
| image         = File:Amsterdam Ayasofya Camii @ West Mosque @ Amsterdam (20678888939).jpg
| image_caption = [[Westermoskee]], [[Amsterdam]]
| image_size    = 250px
| population    = 5% of the total population in 2019
| founder       =
| regions       = [[Amsterdam]]{{·}}[[Rotterdam]]{{·}}[[The Hague]]{{·}}[[Utrecht (city)|Utrecht]]
| tablehdr      =

| religions     = [[Sunni Islam]] <small>(majority)</small><br/>[[Shia Islam]]{{·}}[[Ahmadiya]]{{·}}[[Alevism]]{{·}}[[Quranism]]
| scriptures    =
| languages     = [[Dutch language|Dutch]]{{·}}[[Arabic]]{{·}}[[Berber languages|Amazigh]]{{·}}[[Turkish language|Turkish]]{{·}}[[Kurdish language|Kurdish]]{{·}}[[Indonesian language|Indonesian]]{{·}}[[Sarnami]]{{·}}[[Javanese language#Surinamese-Javanese|Surinamese-Javanese]]{{·}}[[Somali language|Somali]]{{·}}[[Dari]]{{·}}[[Persian language|Farsi]]
| related-c     = 
}}
{{Islam in Europe by country}}
{{Islam by country}}
[[Islam]] is the second largest [[Religion in the Netherlands|religion]] in the [[Netherlands]], after [[Christianity]], and is practised by 6% of the population according to 2023. estimates.<ref>{{Cite web |title=CBS Statline |url=https://opendata.cbs.nl/statline/#/CBS/nl/dataset/82904NED/line?dl=B697A |access-date=24 February 2025 |website=opendata.cbs.nl |language=nl}}</ref> The majority of [[Muslim]]s in the Netherlands belong to the [[Sunni]] denomination.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.pewforum.org/files/2009/10/Muslimpopulation.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=13 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171216074005/http://www.pewforum.org/files/2009/10/Muslimpopulation.pdf |archive-date=16 December 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> Many reside in the country's four major cities: [[Amsterdam]], [[Rotterdam]], [[The Hague]] and [[Utrecht (city)|Utrecht]].

The early history of Islam in the Netherlands can be traced back to the 16th century, when a small number of [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] merchants began settling in the nation's port cities. As a result, improvised [[mosque]]s were first built in Amsterdam in the early 17th century.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.radio1.nl/items/41809-liever-turks-dan-paaps|title=NPO Radio 1 - 'Liever Turks dan paaps' ("Rather Turks than Papist")|publisher=Radio 1, Netherlands|access-date=24 June 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303214026/http://www.radio1.nl/items/41809-liever-turks-dan-paaps|archive-date=3 March 2016}}</ref> In the ensuing centuries, the Netherlands experienced sporadic Muslim immigration from the [[Dutch East Indies]], during their long history as part of the [[Dutch Empire|Dutch overseas possessions]]. From the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire after the [[First World War]] until the [[independence of Indonesia]], the Dutch East Indies contained the world's second largest Muslim population, after [[British India]]. However, the number of Muslims in the European territory of the Kingdom of the Netherlands was very low, accounting for less than 0.1% of the population.

The Netherlands' economic resurgence in the years between 1960 and 1973 motivated the Dutch government to recruit foreign skilled laborers, chiefly from [[Morocco]] and [[Turkey]] – both [[Muslim world|majority Muslim countries]]. Later waves of Muslim immigrants arrived through [[family reunification]] and [[asylum seeking]]. Small but notable minorities of Muslims also immigrated from the former colonies of [[Indonesia]] and [[Suriname]].

==History==

===Ottoman traders and Dutch converts===
The first traces of Islam in the Netherlands date back to the 16th century. Ottoman and Persian traders settled in many Dutch and Flemish trading towns, and were allowed to practice their faith, although most of them belonged to the Jewish or Greek Orthodox community under the Sultan. The English traveler [[Andrew Marvell]] referred to the Netherlands as "the place for Turk, Christian, heathen, Jew; staple place for sects and schisms" due to the religious freedom and the large number of different religious groups there.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a1dvcB_8Ot0C&pg=PA71|title=Islam in Education in European Countries. Pedagogical Concepts and Empirical Findings|last1=Veinguer|first1=Aurora Alvarez|last2=Dietz|first2=Gunther|last3=Jozsa|first3=Dan-Paul|last4=Knauth|first4=Thorsten|date=1 January 2009|publisher=Waxmann Verlag|isbn=978-3-8309-7282-2|page=71|access-date=16 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170416224613/https://books.google.com/books?id=a1dvcB_8Ot0C&pg=PA71|archive-date=16 April 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> References to the Ottoman state and Islamic symbolism were also frequently used within 16th century Dutch society itself, most notably in Protestant speeches called ''hagenpreken'', and in the crescent-shaped medals of the [[Geuzen]], bearing the inscription "[[Liever Turks dan Paaps|Rather Turkish than Papists]]". When Dutch forces broke through the Spanish [[siege of Leiden]] in 1574, they carried with them Turkish flags into the city.<ref>[http://www.joop.nl/opinies/bevrijders-leiden-droegen-turkse-vlaggen Bevrijders Leiden droegen Turkse vlaggen] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161031211953/http://www.joop.nl/opinies/bevrijders-leiden-droegen-turkse-vlaggen |date=31 October 2016 }} Historian Ewout Klei on Joop.nl, 14 April 2012</ref> During the [[Siege of Sluis (1604)|Siege of Sluis]] in Zeeland in 1604, 1400 Turkish slaves were freed by [[Maurice of Orange]] from captivity by the Spanish army.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Motley, John Lothrop|title=History of the United Netherlands from the death of William the silent to the Synod of Dort, with a full view of the English-Dutch struggle against Spain, and of the origin and destruction of the Spanish armada, Volume 4|date=1869|pages=198–200|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dF3hmIhpsr8C|author1-link=John Lothrop Motley}}</ref> The Turks were declared free people and the Dutch state paid for their repatriation. To honor the resistance of the Turkish slaves to their Spanish masters, Prince Maurice named a local embankment "[[Turkeye]]". Around this time the Netherlands also housed a small group of Muslim refugees from the Iberian peninsula, called [[Moriscos]], who would eventually settle in [[Constantinople]].{{Citation needed|date=April 2017}}

Diplomat [[Cornelius Haga]] gained trading privileges from Constantinople for the Dutch Republic in 1612, some 40 years before any other nation recognized Dutch independence.<ref name="NNBW">[http://www.historici.nl/retroboeken/nnbw/#source=10&page=164&accessor=accessor_index&view=imagePane Haga Biography] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110817025132/http://www.historici.nl/retroboeken/nnbw/#source=10&page=164&accessor=accessor_index&view=imagePane |date=17 August 2011 }} in the NNBW</ref> Two years later the Ottomans sent their emissary [[Ömer Aga]] to the Netherlands to intensify the relations between the two states with a common enemy.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0GliNAAACAAJ|title=Muslims in the Dutch Golden Age Representations and realities of religious toleration|last=Kaplan|first=Benjamin J.|publisher=University of Amsterdam|date=23 May 2006|location=Amsterdam, Netherlands|page=17|access-date=16 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170416231015/https://books.google.com/books/about/Muslims_in_the_Dutch_Golden_Age.html?id=0GliNAAACAAJ|archive-date=16 April 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the 17th century dozens of Dutch, Zeelandic and Frisian sailors converted to Islam and joined the [[Barbary Pirates]] in the ports of North-Africa, where some of them even became admirals in the Ottoman Navy.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2UbHAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA143|title=Piracy and Privateering in the Golden Age Netherlands|last=Lunsford|first=V.|date=3 June 2005|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-1-4039-7938-4|page=143|language=en|access-date=16 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170416230218/https://books.google.com/books?id=2UbHAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA143|archive-date=16 April 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> Many sailors converted to escape slavery after being taken captive, while others "went Turk" of their own volition. Some of the converted Dutchmen returned home to the Netherlands. However, this was deemed problematic, not so much due to their conversion, but due to their disloyalty to the Dutch Republic and its navy.{{Citation needed|date=April 2017}}

=== Envoys from Aceh ===
[[File:Maurits ontvangt de afgezanten van de sultan van Atjeh, 1602 Maurits ontvangt de afgezanten van den sultan van Achem op Sumatra (titel op object), RP-P-OB-73.729 (cropped).jpg|thumb|300px|left|Prince Maurits received the envoys of the Sultan of Aceh]]

In 1602, [[Aceh Sultanate]] sent several envoys to the Netherlands. This was the first diplomatic mission of a Southeast Asian polity to Europe. The Acehnese delegation to the United Republic constituted an ambassador, an admiral and a cousin of the sultan, accompanied by their servants. In his letter to [[stadtholder]] [[Prince Maurice]] dated 24 August 1601 Alau'd-din enumerated the gifts he sent for the prince. These were 'a small jewel and a ring with four big stones and some smaller stones, a dagger with a gold and copper sheath wrapped in a silver cloth, a golden cup and saucer and a gold-plated silver pot and two Malay speaking parrots with silver chains.

The envoys were treated with due respect and given a grand tour of the provinces where they visited important towns and met with local authorities; they were received by the States General and by Prince Maurice. The States General invited European monarchs to send their representatives to meet the Acehnese visitors. It was a successful strategy to give publicity to their warm relations with an important Asian ruler and trading partner at a time when Spain was still a menace in Europe.

The eldest of the envoys, Abdul Hamid, died three months after arrival and was buried in a church in the town of [[Middelburg, Zeeland|Middelburg]] in the province of [[Zeeland]], in the presence of important dignitaries. The other envoys, Sri Muhammad and Mir Hassan, returned to Aceh in 1604 with the fleet of Admiral Steven Verhaegen.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cosijn-Mitrasing |first=I.S. |title=The age of Aceh and the evolution of kingship 1599-1641 |year=2011 |url=https://hdl.handle.net/1887/16640|page=87|hdl=1887/16640 }}</ref>

===Treaty with Morocco===
In the early 17th century a delegation from the [[Dutch Republic]] visited [[Morocco]] to discuss a common alliance against [[Spain]] and the [[Barbary pirates]]. Sultan [[Zidan Abu Maali]] appointed [[Samuel Pallache]] as his envoy, and in 1608 Pallache met with [[stadholder]] [[Maurice of Nassau]] and the [[States General of the Netherlands|States General]] in [[The Hague]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pUJkIYXBKGMC&pg=PA127|title=Poetry, Politics and Polemics: Cultural Transfer Between the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa|last1=Moor|first1=Ed de|last2=Zwartjes|first2=Otto|last3=Gelder|first3=G. J. H. van|publisher=Rodopi|year=1996|isbn=90-420-0105-4|page=127|access-date=16 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170416224641/https://books.google.com/books?id=pUJkIYXBKGMC&pg=PA127|archive-date=16 April 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Dutch East Indies===
{{further|Dutch East Indies}}
In the 19th century the Netherlands [[Dutch empire|administered]] the [[Dutch East Indies|archipelago]] that would become [[Indonesia]], a majority-Muslim country with the largest Muslim population in the world. The 19th century is also the century in which the first Muslim burial site appeared in the Netherlands, namely the [[tomb of Lepejou]], in which a former slave from the Dutch East Indies was buried near [[Zwolle]] in 1828.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Dam|first=René ten|title=Haerst - Het graf van de 'negerslaaf'|url=https://www.dodenakkers.nl/overijssel/haerst.html|access-date=6 September 2021|website=www.dodenakkers.nl|language=nl-nl}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Neefjes|first=Jan|url=https://issuu.com/provicieoverijssel/docs/atlas_van_de_vecht_lr/106|title=Cultuurhistorische Atlas van de Vecht: Biografie van Nederlands Grootste Kleine Rivier|publisher=Uitgeverij WBOOKS|year=2011|isbn=978-90-400-7830-9|location=Zwolle|page=105|chapter=Graf van Lepejou, Het Oudste Moslimgraf van Nederland|oclc=757519664}}</ref> In the first half of the 20th century hundreds of Indonesian students, sailors, [[Nanny|baboes]] and domestic workers lived in the Netherlands, thus constituting the first sizable Muslim community. In 1932, Indonesian workers established the Perkoempoelan Islam (Islamic Association), which was a self-help organization that lobbied for the establishment of a Muslim cemetery and a mosque in the Netherlands. Both were realized in 1933.<ref>Klaas Stutje, 'Indonesian Islam in Interwar Europe: Muslim Organizations in the Netherlands and beyond.' in Muslims in Interwar Europe: A Transcultural Historical Perspective, edited by Bekim Agai, Umar Ryad, Mehdi Sajid, 125–150. Leiden: Brill, 2015.</ref> After the [[Indonesian National Revolution|bloody war of Independence]] from 1945 to 1949 this community grew.<ref>{{Citation|url=http://home.deds.nl/~quip/archief/culture/Islam%20in%20Nederland.html|title=Islam in the Netherlands (factsheet)|work=Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs|date=1 November 2002|access-date=6 April 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090129173148/http://home.deds.nl/~quip/archief/culture/Islam%20in%20Nederland.html|archive-date=29 January 2009|url-status=live}}</ref>

===The [[Second World War]]===
{{further|German mistreatment of Soviet prisoners of war|Uzbeks}}

After [[Nazi Germany]] [[Operation Barbarossa|invaded the Soviet Union]] in the 1940s, a number of [[Soviet Central Asia]]ns, who were mostly from [[Samarqand]] in what is now the Muslim-majority [[Republic of Uzbekistan]],<ref name="PF2009">[http://pewforum.org/uploadedfiles/Topics/Demographics/Muslimpopulation.pdf Mapping the Global Muslim Population. A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Muslim Population] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110810075151/http://pewforum.org/uploadedfiles/Topics/Demographics/Muslimpopulation.pdf |date=10 August 2011 }}. Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life (October 2009)</ref> left their homes for the area of [[Smolensk]], to [[Battle of Smolensk (1941)|fight the invaders]]. There, the Nazis managed to take captives, including [[Hatam Kadirov]] and [[Zair Muratov]], and transported them to areas like that of [[Amersfoort concentration camp]], where they reportedly persecuted or executed them. The victims' cemetery is [[Rusthof cemetery|that of Rusthof]], near [[Amersfoort]]. Amongst those who studied their case is [[Uzbeks|Uzbek]] resident [[Bahodir Uzakov]].<ref name=Soldat>{{Cite web|url=http://www.soldat.ru/search/f_glory/soldiers.html|title=Советское Поле Славы|website=www.soldat.ru|access-date=10 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170508112359/http://www.soldat.ru/search/f_glory/soldiers.html|archive-date=8 May 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="BBC2017CentralAsians">{{cite news |author=Rustam Qobil |publisher=BBC |title=Why were 101 Uzbeks killed in the Netherlands in 1942? |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-39849088 |date=9 May 2017 |access-date=9 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170508235146/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-39849088 |archive-date=8 May 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Immigration in the post WW2 period===
[[File:Moskee Oostduinlaan.JPG|thumb|300px|[[Mobarak Mosque, The Hague|Mubarak Mosque]], the oldest mosque in the Netherlands, built in 1955]]

In the early 1970s, Muslims represented less than one percent of the population which grew to about six percent in the late 2010s. During the same period, large parts of the Dutch population lost their faith and the Netherlands transformed from [[Pillarisation|a religious society that was segregated along the lines of Protestant, Catholic and socialist lines]] into a [[Secularism|secular society]] which was characterised by progressive values.<ref name=":10">{{Cite web|last=Damhuis|first=Koen|date=2019|title="The biggest problem in the Netherlands": Understanding the Party for Freedom's politicization of Islam|url=https://www.brookings.edu/research/the-biggest-problem-in-the-netherlands-understanding-the-party-for-freedoms-politicization-of-islam/|access-date=28 February 2021|website=Brookings|language=en-US}}</ref>

During the 1960s and early 1970s the Netherlands needed a larger low-skilled work force for the labour intense economic sectors. These sectors were short of workers because of swift industrial growth, combined with higher educational levels of the native Dutch who increasingly turned to the service-oriented economy. The Netherlands concluded recruitment agreements with countries like [[Turkey]] (1965) and [[Morocco]] (1969), allowing people from these countries to stay in the Netherlands (much smaller numbers of Muslim immigrants in this time came from [[Tunisia]] and [[Algeria]]).<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u4NBDgAAQBAJ&pg=PT86|title=Citizenship in European Cities: Immigrants, Local Politics and Integration Policies|last1=Kraal|first1=Karen|last2=Vertovec|first2=Steven|publisher=Routledge|year=2017|isbn=978-1-351-95140-1|page=84|language=en|access-date=16 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170416230526/https://books.google.com/books?id=u4NBDgAAQBAJ&pg=PT86|archive-date=16 April 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

State recruitment of immigrant labour ended in 1973, but the number of Moroccans and Turks increased due to [[family reunification]] arrangements.<ref name=":0" /> A number of Surinamese Muslims came to the Netherlands before and after the independence of [[Suriname]] in 1975.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.humanityinaction.org/knowledgebase/372-race-in-the-netherlands-the-place-of-the-surinamese-in-contemporary-dutch-society|title=Race in the Netherlands: The Place of the Surinamese in Contemporary Dutch Society by Benedicta Deogratias, Kyera Singleton, Casey Wojtalewicz {{!}} Humanity in Action|website=Humanity In Action|language=en|access-date=16 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170416222417/http://www.humanityinaction.org/knowledgebase/372-race-in-the-netherlands-the-place-of-the-surinamese-in-contemporary-dutch-society|archive-date=16 April 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Mevlana-moskee.jpg|left|thumb|250px|[[Mevlana Mosque, Rotterdam|Mevlana Mosque]] in [[Rotterdam]] built in 2001]]

In the 1980s and especially since the 1990s, Muslims came to the Netherlands as refugees and asylum seekers, mainly from [[Bosnia and Herzegovina|Bosnia]], [[Somalia]], [[Iran]], [[Pakistan]], [[Afghanistan]] and [[Iraq]].<ref>{{harvnb|Demant|Maussen|Rath|2007|p=11}}</ref>

Apart from asylum seekers, currently most Muslim immigration takes place through marriage migration and family reunification.  Most Moroccan and Turkish 1st and 2nd generation immigrants married people from their home countries.{{Citation needed|date=February 2011}}  In 2004, the Netherlands passed immigration laws which force future immigrants and their prospective Dutch partners to abide by very strict requirements.  Immigrants must pass tests in their home countries, showing a sufficient knowledge of the Dutch language and culture. The Dutch partner must be at least 21 years old and prove an income of at least 120% of the minimum wage. These strict laws have caused some Dutch interested in marrying people from other countries to move to Belgium for a temporary period, in what has been called "The [[Belgian Route]]".<ref>{{Citation|url=http://www.volkskrant.nl/buitenland/article152295.ece/Belgie_vindt_Nederlands_vreemdelingenbeleid_te_streng|title=België vindt Nederlands vreemdelingenbeleid te streng|date=17 January 2006|access-date=15 March 2009|work=[[Algemeen Nederlands Persbureau]]|publisher=[[de Volkskrant]]|language=nl|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081210172045/http://www.volkskrant.nl/buitenland/article152295.ece/Belgie_vindt_Nederlands_vreemdelingenbeleid_te_streng|archive-date=10 December 2008|url-status=live}}</ref>

Because of increasingly restrictive legislation on family formation and reunification, and the economic development of their home countries, the number of immigrants from Turkey and Morocco has decreased sharply since 2003.<ref>{{Citation|date=16 April 2007|access-date=15 March 2009|last=Nicolaas|first=Han|url=http://www.cbs.nl/nl-NL/menu/themas/dossiers/allochtonen/publicaties/artikelen/archief/2007/2007-2177-wm.htm|work=StatLine|title=Immigratie in 2006 toegenomen tot ruim 100 duizend|language=nl|publisher=[[Statistics Netherlands]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081206200732/http://www.cbs.nl/nl-NL/menu/themas/dossiers/allochtonen/publicaties/artikelen/archief/2007/2007-2177-wm.htm|archive-date=6 December 2008|url-status=live}}</ref> Immigrants from Turkey decreased from 6,703 in 2003 to 3,175 in 2006, and immigrants from Morocco decreased from 4,894 to 2,085.<ref>{{Citation|date=16 April 2007|access-date=15 March 2009|title=Immi- en emigratie naar geboorteland, geslacht en leeftijd|url=http://statline.cbs.nl/StatWeb/publication/?VW=T&DM=SLNL&PA=03742&D1=0&D2=0-2,8,14,19,24,43,56,90,92-93,98,100,133,148-149,170,190-192,212,214,229,239&D6=a,!0-4&HD=090315-1815&HDR=T,G5&STB=G1|publisher=[[Statistics Netherlands]]|language=nl|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723083942/http://statline.cbs.nl/StatWeb/publication/?VW=T&DM=SLNL&PA=03742&D1=0&D2=0-2,8,14,19,24,43,56,90,92-93,98,100,133,148-149,170,190-192,212,214,229,239&D6=a,!0-4&HD=090315-1815&HDR=T,G5&STB=G1|archive-date=23 July 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> Net immigration has slumped to a few hundred a year, and has even been negative in some years.{{Citation needed|date=April 2017}}

According to the [[Netherlands Institute for Social Research]] ("Sociaal en Cultureel Planbureau" / SCP) 2005 ''Annual Report on [societal] Integration'', both half of the Dutch population, as well as half of the Moroccan and Turkish minorities stated that the Western lifestyle cannot be reconciled with that of Muslims.<ref name=":12">{{Cite report |title=Jaarrapport Integratie 2005 |trans-title=Annual Integration Report 2005 |url=https://www.cbs.nl/-/media/imported/documents/2005/35/2005jaarrapportintegratiepub.pdf |language=nl |publisher=Netherlands Institute for Social Research |pages=1–2 |access-date=15 September 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20221001102107/https://www.cbs.nl/nl-nl/publicatie/2005/38/jaarrapport-integratie-2005 |archive-date=1 October 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref>

On 1 August 2019, a ban on face coverings was implemented, making a full veil illegal on public transport and in schools, hospitals and government buildings. This followed similar bans in France, Germany, Belgium, Austria and Denmark. It does not apply to public streets.<ref>{{Cite web|date=1 August 2019|title=Partial Dutch ban on face-covering clothing takes effect|url=https://apnews.com/article/f99c38063a9942fb95e0ffcef20f3ed7|access-date=28 February 2021|website=AP NEWS}}</ref>

== Islam in the Netherlands by region ==
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:100;"
!Region
! data-sort-type="number" style="max-width:8em" |Percentage of Muslims
!Source
|-
|{{flag|Drenthe}}
|0.9
|<ref name=":13">{{Cite web |last=Statistiek |first=Centraal Bureau voor de |date=22 December 2016 |title=Helft Nederlanders is kerkelijk of religieus |url=https://www.cbs.nl/nl-nl/nieuws/2016/51/helft-nederlanders-is-kerkelijk-of-religieus |access-date=31 January 2024 |website=Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek |language=nl-NL}}</ref>
|-
|{{flag|Flevoland}}
|7.2
|<ref name=":13" />
|-
|{{flag|Friesland}}
|1.1
|<ref name=":13" />
|-
|{{flag|Gelderland}}
|3.6
|<ref name=":13" />
|-
|{{flag|Groningen}}
|1.3
|<ref name=":13" />
|-
|{{flag|Limburg (Netherlands)}}
|3.3
|<ref name=":13" />
|-
|{{flag|North Brabant}}
|4.4
|<ref name=":13" />
|-
|{{flag|North Holland}}
|6.6
|<ref name=":13" />
|-
|{{flag|Overijssel}}
|2.9
|<ref name=":13" />
|-
|{{flag|South Holland}}
|7.5
|<ref name=":13" />
|-
|{{flag|Utrecht}}
|5.6
|<ref name=":13" />
|-
|{{flag|Zeeland}}
|1.5
|<ref name=":13" />
|-
|{{flag|Bonaire}}
|?
|
|-
|{{flag|Saba}}
|6
|<ref name="auto">{{cite web |date=18 December 2014 |title=Religion in Caribbean Netherlands |url=https://www.cbs.nl/en-gb/news/2014/51/over-80-percent-of-caribbean-netherlands-population-are-religious |publisher=Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek}}</ref>
|-
|{{flag|Sint Eustatius}}
|?
|
|}

== Demographics ==
In the early 1970s, Muslims represented less than one percent of the population.<ref name=":10" /> During the late 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, the Muslim fraction of the population steadily increased due to family reunification, marriage immigration, a higher birth rate and the influx of asylum seekers, reaching about 4.8% in 2000. The growth then slowed because of stricter immigration laws, dropping birth rates and former asylum seekers emigrating to other Western countries after they had obtained the Dutch nationality.{{Citation needed|date=February 2021}} As regards future developments, demographer Joop de Beer in 2007 estimated that the percentage would have increased to 8% in 2050.<ref>J.A.A. de Beer, 2007, "Nederlandse moslims blijven in de minderheid", Demos, 23(9): 1-5</ref>

According to [[Statistics Netherlands]] (CBS), a Dutch governmental institution, about 5% of the total population are Muslims (24 October 2007). Earlier statistics presented by the CBS showed a larger number of Muslims, but this information was solely based on ethnicity and not on religious belief. Since 2007 a reduction of around 50,000 Muslims was measured by the CBS, but this is not seen as a significant drop; it is seen as a result of improved research parameters. Secularisation of the second generation has nonetheless been observed, mostly amongst citizens of Iranian and Turkish background.<ref name="CBS">{{Citation|title=Religion in the beginning of the 21st century|url=http://www.cbs.nl/NR/rdonlyres/953535E3-9D25-4C28-A70D-7A4AEEA76E27/0/2008e16pub.pdf|year=2009|work=Central Bureau of Statistics, the Netherlands|access-date=14 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303172521/http://www.cbs.nl/NR/rdonlyres/953535E3-9D25-4C28-A70D-7A4AEEA76E27/0/2008e16pub.pdf|archive-date=3 March 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> Between 2006 and 2018, according to surveys the percentage of non-Muslims has increased amongst the Turkish-Dutch as 93% identified as Muslim in 2006 while 86% did so in 2018; amongst the Moroccan-Dutch citizens these percentages were 95% and 94% respectively. However, those remaining Muslim became more orthodox in their religious views.<ref>[https://www.trouw.nl/religie-en-filosofie/er-zijn-minder-moslims-in-nederland-maar-de-overgebleven-groep-wordt-steeds-orthodoxer~a9fd3920/ Er zijn minder moslims in Nederland, maar de overgebleven groep wordt steeds orthodoxer] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180718174624/https://www.trouw.nl/religie-en-filosofie/er-zijn-minder-moslims-in-nederland-maar-de-overgebleven-groep-wordt-steeds-orthodoxer~a9fd3920/ |date=18 July 2018 }} 'There are less Muslims in the Netherlands, but the remaining group is becoming more orthodox', Trouw, 8 juni 2018</ref> Various studies from 2006 to 2010 have observed that ethnic differences between groups are gradually being replaced with a single "Muslim" identity.{{r|:1|page1=180}}

Like most non-Western immigrants, many Muslims live in the four major cities of the country: [[Amsterdam]], [[Rotterdam]], [[The Hague]] and [[Utrecht (city)|Utrecht]]. An estimated 140,000 Muslims reside in the capital where they form around 17 percent of the population. Half of these Muslims are predominantly Arabic and Berber-speaking communities from the Maghreb region, Egypt and the Middle East. Turks make up 25 percent of the Muslim population in Amsterdam. There are also relatively many Turks in [[Enschede]], [[Arnhem]] and [[Zaanstad]].<ref>{{Citation|date=16 April 2007|access-date=15 March 2008|url=http://www.cbs.nl/NR/rdonlyres/288C8035-40B6-4A97-98C8-791EC56D9363/0/2005k3b15pub.pdf|title=Bevolking in kaart|periodical=Bevolkingstrends, Statistisch Kwartaalblad over de Demografie van Nederland|volume=53|issue=3|page=7|publisher=[[Statistics Netherlands]]|language=nl|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090306124406/http://www.cbs.nl/NR/rdonlyres/288C8035-40B6-4A97-98C8-791EC56D9363/0/2005k3b15pub.pdf|archive-date=6 March 2009|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.eukn.eu/fileadmin/Lib/files/EUKN/2010/0_linkclick.pdf|title=The position of Muslims in the Netherlands}}</ref>

There were 850,000 residents who professed Islam in 2006. Of these 38% were ethnic Turkish, 31% were Moroccan, 26% were other Asian/African, 4% were European (Non-Dutch) and 1% (12,000 people) were native Dutch. Excluding Turkish and Moroccan, the largest group of Muslims were ethnically [[Surinamese people in the Netherlands|Surinamese]] numbering 34,000, followed by 31,000 who were [[Afghans in the Netherlands|Afghan]], 27,000 who were [[Iraqis in the Netherlands|Iraqi]] and 20,000 who were [[Somalis in the Netherlands|Somali]].<ref>{{Citation|url=http://www.cbs.nl/en-GB/menu/themas/bevolking/publicaties/artikelen/archief/2007/2007-2278-wm.htm|title=More than 850 thousand Muslims in the Netherlands|date=25 October 2007|publisher=[[Statistics Netherlands]]|access-date=15 March 2008|last=van Herten|first=Marieke|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071105013512/http://www.cbs.nl/en-GB/menu/themas/bevolking/publicaties/artikelen/archief/2007/2007-2278-wm.htm|archive-date=5 November 2007|url-status=live}}</ref> Those who were [[Indo people|Indonesian]] (the early Muslim settlers in the country) numbered 7,000.<ref>{{cite thesis|author=Karolina Vrbová|title=De invloed van Ayaan Hirsi Ali op de Nederlandse maatschappij en politiek inzake de islamitische vrouwenkwestie|url=https://is.muni.cz/th/uqmc4/?lang=en;fakulta=1421|location=[[Masaryk University]]|language=nl |degree=Bachelor's thesis|year=2008}}</ref>

At the end of 2012 the Dutch Central Bureau of Statistics estimated the number of Muslims in December 2010 to be around 4% of the total population.<ref name="cbs.nl">{{Cite web|url=https://www.cbs.nl/nl-nl/nieuws/2012/51/een-op-de-zes-bezoekt-regelmatig-kerk-of-moskee|title=Een op de zes bezoekt regelmatig kerk of moskee|first=Centraal Bureau voor de|last=Statistiek|website=Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek|date=21 December 2012 |access-date=3 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191103181316/https://www.cbs.nl/nl-nl/nieuws/2012/51/een-op-de-zes-bezoekt-regelmatig-kerk-of-moskee|archive-date=3 November 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Denominations and movements==
{{main article|List of mosques in the Netherlands}}
[[File:Taibah Jama Masjid mosque Amsterdam.jpg|thumb|[[Jamia Taibah Mosque Amsterdam|Jamia Taibah Mosque]] an [[Indo-Surinamese|Indo]]-[[Surinamese people in the Netherlands|Surinamese]] mosque in [[Amsterdam-Zuidoost]].]]
There are about 400 mosques in the Netherlands, with about 200 Turkish mosques, 140 Moroccan mosques and 50 Surinamese.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/2005/51571.htm|title=Netherlands|date=2005|work=U.S. Department of State|access-date=16 April 2017}}</ref>

=== Umbrella organizations ===
The Contact Body for Muslims and Government (CMO), representing approximately 80 percent of the Muslim community, discusses the community's interests with the Government.<ref name=":1" />

=== Shi'a Muslims ===
{{main article|Shi'a Islam in the Netherlands}}
108,728 [[Shiites]] were reportedly living in the Netherlands as of 1 January 2005. This group is composed of [[Iraqis]] (43,523), [[Afghans|Afghan]]is (36,683), and [[Iran]]ians (28,522).<ref name="uluminsania.net">{{cite web|url=http://www.ulum.nl/b50.htm|title=The cultural reality of the Dutch Shi'ite Ithnā 'Asharīs by Labiba Shubbar|website=ulum.nl|date=26 January 2006|access-date=12 July 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724171940/http://www.ulum.nl/b50.htm|archive-date=24 July 2011}}</ref>

Broken down by ethnic group, Turks have more organisations than Moroccans and networks between these organisations are closer.{{Citation needed|date=April 2017}}

===Ahmadiyya===
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community was organized in 1947. There are approximately 1,500 Ahmadi Muslims in the Netherlands and [[Ahmadiyya Muslim Community|Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Netherlands]] is the main umbrella organization.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://themuslimtimes.info/2012/12/19/ahmadiyya-muslim-community-holland-to-build-mosque-in-almere/|title=Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Holland to build a mosque in Almere|last=Shah|first=Zia H.|date=19 December 2012|website=The Muslim Times|access-date=16 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170417070057/https://themuslimtimes.info/2012/12/19/ahmadiyya-muslim-community-holland-to-build-mosque-in-almere/|archive-date=17 April 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Mobarak Mosque, The Hague|Mobarak Mosque]] in The Hague was inaugurated by [[Muhammad Zafrulla Khan|Sir Muhammad Zafrulla Khan]], who was serving as the President and Head Judge of the [[International Court of Justice]] at [[The Hague]].{{Citation needed|date=April 2017}}

===Quranists===
Non-sectarian Muslims who reject the authority of [[hadith]], known as [[Quranists]], Quraniyoon, or Ahl al-Quran, are also present in the Netherlands.<ref>Edip Yuksel, [http://19.org/330/330/  Edip's Semi-personal Report (Oxford 2010)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130719102812/http://www.19.org/330/330/ |date=19 July 2013 }}, 19.org, Retrieved 27 April 2013</ref>

=== Jihadists ===
{{Main|Jihadism}}{{See also|Islamic terrorism#Europe}}
<onlyinclude>
Jihadists oppose [[Culture of the Netherlands|Dutch society]] and the [[Politics of the Netherlands|Dutch government]]<ref name=":7">{{Cite web|url=https://english.aivd.nl/publications/publications/2017/12/14/publication-jihadist-women-a-threat-not-to-be-underestimated|title=Jihadist women, a threat not to be underestimated - Publication - pdf|last=Koninkrijksrelaties|first=Ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaken en|date=14 December 2017|publisher=[[AIVD]]|page=5|language=en-GB|access-date=1 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181201181028/https://english.aivd.nl/publications/publications/2017/12/14/publication-jihadist-women-a-threat-not-to-be-underestimated|archive-date=1 December 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> and hold intolerant and [[anti-democratic]] views.<ref name=":9">{{Cite web|url=https://english.aivd.nl/publications/publications/2014/06/30/summary-of-report-transformation-of-jihadism-in-the-netherlands|title=Summary of report 'Transformation of jihadism in the Netherlands' - Publication - AIVD|last=Koninkrijksrelaties|first=Ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaken en|date=30 June 2014|website=english.aivd.nl|language=en-GB|access-date=5 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190105200950/https://english.aivd.nl/publications/publications/2014/06/30/summary-of-report-transformation-of-jihadism-in-the-netherlands|archive-date=5 January 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2009, the AIVD reported that armed Islamic extremists in Somalia received support from individuals in the Netherlands. In the years leading up to 2006, there was an increase in radical activity which among other events manifested itself in the assassination of [[Theo van Gogh (film director)|Theo van Gogh]] in 2004 by the [[Hofstad Network]]. In the years after 2006 radical activities diminished despite continued military presence by Dutch forces in Afghanistan and material deemed provocative by Muslims, such as Geert Wilder's film [[Fitna (film)|Fitna]]. While Islamist networks earlier had a strong local base of support centered around charismatic leaders, several of those leaders were arrested and deported by Dutch authorities or they left the country voluntarily. This led to reduced recruiting to those networks.''<ref>{{Cite book|title=Våldsbejakande islamistisk extremism i Sverige|date=2010|publisher=Säkerhetspolisen |isbn=978-91-86661-02-1|location=Stockholm|page=75|language=sv|oclc=941475506}}</ref>''

According to the Dutch [[General Intelligence and Security Service]] (AIVD) in 2018, there are about 500 active supporters and thousands of sympathisers in the Netherlands.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://english.aivd.nl/latest/news/2018/11/09/the-legacy-of-syria-global-jihadism-remains-a-threat-to-europe|title=The legacy of Syria: global jihadism remains a threat to Europe|last=Koninkrijksrelaties|first=Ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaken en|website=english.aivd.nl|date=9 November 2018|language=en-GB|access-date=1 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181201135232/https://english.aivd.nl/latest/news/2018/11/09/the-legacy-of-syria-global-jihadism-remains-a-threat-to-europe|archive-date=1 December 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2015 the AIVD reported that jihadists exploited the boundaries in the Dutch legal framework, by testing the limits of civil rights such as [[freedom of speech]].<ref name=":9" />

In 2017 AIVD approximated the number of female jihadists in the Netherlands to be about 100 and at least 80 women had left the Netherlands to join the conflict, the majority of whom joined ISIS.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://english.aivd.nl/latest/news/2017/12/18/women-play-significant-role-in-jihadism|title=Women play significant role in jihadism|last=Koninkrijksrelaties|first=Ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaken en|website=english.aivd.nl|date=18 December 2017|language=en-GB|access-date=1 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181201180946/https://english.aivd.nl/latest/news/2017/12/18/women-play-significant-role-in-jihadism|archive-date=1 December 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Jihadist women in the Netherlands encourage both men and women to believe in their ideology by entering into discussions online and offline as well as spreading jihadist propaganda. Jihadist women also help travellers to conflict zones by providing material support or putting them in touch with facilitators. They also help by hiding the fact that someone has left to join a conflict zone.<ref name=":7" />

In the 2012 – November 2018 period, above 310 individuals had travelled from the Netherlands to the conflict in Syria and Iraq. Of those 85 had been killed and 55 returned to the Netherlands. Of the surviving Dutch foreign fighters in the region, 135 are fighters in the conflict zone and three quarters are members of ISIS. The remaining quarter have joined [[Al-Qaeda]] affiliated groups such as [[Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham]] or [[Tanzim Hurras al-Deen]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://english.aivd.nl/publications/publications/2018/11/09/the-legacy-of-syria-global-jihadism-remains-a-threat-to-europe|title=Syria's Legacy - Global jihadism remains a threat to Europe|publisher=[[General Intelligence and Security Service]]|year=2018|page=8|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181201090804/https://english.aivd.nl/publications/publications/2018/11/09/the-legacy-of-syria-global-jihadism-remains-a-threat-to-europe|archive-date=1 December 2018}}</ref>

=== Salafists ===
{{Main|Salafism}}

In 1986, the [[Saudi Arabia|Saudi]] non-governmental organization [[Al-Haramain Foundation|al-Haramain]] created the El Tawheed Foundation in Amsterdam, which created the basis of the ultra-conservative [[Salafi movement|Salafist movement]] in the Netherlands.<ref name=":6">{{Cite news|url=https://ctc.usma.edu/the-nexus-between-salafism-and-jihadism-in-the-netherlands/|title=The Nexus Between Salafism and Jihadism in the Netherlands – Combating Terrorism Center at West Point|date=3 March 2010|work=Combating Terrorism Center at West Point|access-date=22 July 2018|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180722130131/https://ctc.usma.edu/the-nexus-between-salafism-and-jihadism-in-the-netherlands/|archive-date=22 July 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Three years later, the Saudi private missionary organization al-Waqf founded the al-Waqf al-Islami in [[Eindhoven]].<ref name=":6" /> In 1990, also with Saudi funding, the Foundation Sounna was created in [[The Hague]].<ref name=":6" /> According to a 1998 report by the Dutch security service, Salafists were a minor movement in the Muslim community.<ref name=":6" /> Salafist mosques in the Netherlands have a multinational crowd of visitors: from the [[MENA|Middle East and North Africa]], the Horn of Africa, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Turkey, while [[Moroccans in the Netherlands|Moroccans]] are the predominant group.<ref name=":6" />

From 2002 to 2003 onward, a small number of second-generation Moroccan immigrants were drawn to violent radicalization and some of those formed the terrorist [[Hofstad Network]].<ref name=":6" />

In 2009, the AIVD reported that Salafist mosques, while spreading an isolationist and intolerant ideology, no longer functioned as incubators for jihadist terrorism and the movement was not growing.<ref name=":8" /> This decrease resulted in Dutch governmental organisations to shift their efforts to other problems.<ref name=":9" />

Close contacts between salafists in the Netherlands and salafist networks in the Middle East give the latter an influence over factions in the Netherlands, an influence the [[General Intelligence and Security Service]] (AIVD) describes as undesirable. Along with "official" centres, there are independent preachers who organize meetings throughout the country as well as an enormous amount of material on the Internet.<ref name=":8">{{Cite book|url=https://english.aivd.nl/binaries/aivd-en/documents/publications/2015/09/24/salafism-in-the-netherlands-diversity-and-dynamics/salafism-in-the-netherlands.pdf|title=Salafism in the Netherlands: Diversity and dynamics|publisher=General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD) National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism (NCTV)|year=2015|pages=7–8, 12|access-date=6 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190105145451/https://english.aivd.nl/binaries/aivd-en/documents/publications/2015/09/24/salafism-in-the-netherlands-diversity-and-dynamics/salafism-in-the-netherlands.pdf|archive-date=5 January 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2014, the AIVD noted that growth of the movement had resumed.<ref name=":8" />

In 2014, the AIVD reported that the proselyting "dawah" strand of Salafism, though rejecting jihadist violence, is typified by:<ref name=":8" />

* undermining the democratic legal system.<ref name=":8" />
* promoting intolerance, discrimination and hatred of [[Antisemitism in Islam#The Netherlands|Jews]] and [[Anti-Shi'ism|Shia Muslims]].<ref name=":8" />
* isolationism, where they strive to create "enclaves" enforced by suppressing dissent through intimidation and excluding those unwilling to conform. In practice few adherents observe isolating strictly.<ref name=":8" />

In 2014 there were 13 Salafist mosques in the country which rose to 27 in 2018. The number of Salafist preachers was more than doubled in the same time span, from 50 to 110 according to the [[Nationaal Coördinator Terrorismebestrijding en Veiligheid|Dutch counter-terrorism authority (NCTV)]].<ref name="dutchnews.nl">{{Cite web|url=https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2018/04/30-islamic-organisations-in-nl-have-requested-funding-from-kuwait-saudi-arabia/|title=30 Islamic organisations in NL have requested funding from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia|date=24 April 2018|website=DutchNews.nl|language=en-GB|access-date=26 January 2020}}</ref>

In 2019, an investigation by the Nieuwsuur TV programme and the newspaper NRC, investigated fifty mosque schools, obtaining educational material from ten Quran classes given by fundamentalist organisations. The investigation showed that children were taught that infidels go to hell. Punishments against homosexuals and "enemies of God" were glorified. In an ideal Islamic state operating under sharia law, heretics would be punished by the death penalty, adulterers stoned and magicians killed by the sword. Children were warned against having social contacts with non-Muslims. Muslims should strive to leave the Netherlands and settle in a Muslim country. When confronted with these results, an imam and a teacher distanced themselves from these elements in the material.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2019/09/mosque-run-salafist-schools-are-teaching-children-sharia-law-report/|title=Mosque-run Salafist schools are teaching children sharia law: report|date=11 September 2019|website=DutchNews.nl|language=en-GB|access-date=26 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2019/09/10/in-de-koranschool-leren-kinderen-dat-nederland-niet-hun-land-is-a3972824|title = In de koranschool leren kinderen dat Nederland niet hun land is| newspaper=NRC | date=10 September 2019 | last1=Kouwenhoven | first1=Andreas | last2=Holdert | first2=Milena }}</ref>

== Religiosity ==
[[File:Westermoskee - Amsterdam (26579109769).jpg|thumb|left|[[Westermoskee]] is the largest mosque in the Netherlands]]

In 2002, roughly 50% Muslims attended mosque at least once every 2 weeks. This was higher than the number of [[Catholic Church in the Netherlands|Roman Catholics]] (25%) who attended church once at least once every two weeks, but lower than the number of [[Protestant Church in the Netherlands|Calvinists]] who did the same (55%).<ref name=":1" /> By 2009, only 24% of Muslims in the Netherlands attended mosque once a week.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cbs.nl/nl-nl/publicatie/2009/31/religie-aan-het-begin-van-de-21ste-eeuw|title=Religie aan het begin van de 21ste eeuw|last=CBS|website=www.cbs.nl|date=29 July 2009 |language=nl-NL|access-date=16 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202234607/https://www.cbs.nl/nl-nl/publicatie/2009/31/religie-aan-het-begin-van-de-21ste-eeuw|archive-date=2 February 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

A 2004 study found that the importance of Islam in the lives of Dutch Muslims, particularly of second-generation immigrants was decreasing. This observation was based on the reducing participation of younger Muslims in Islamic rituals, organizations, and prayer. The study also predicted that the trend would continue with increasing education and "individualization". However, the study also found that second-generation immigrants attached more importance to religion that the first generation as an "individual experience." The study concluded "the expression of religiosity by Muslim youth was not much different to that of their Dutch Christian or Jewish peers".{{r|:1|page1=178}}

According to a 2011 survey, roughly 60% of Muslim women of Moroccan or Turkish origin wear a [[headscarf]]. The most common reasons cited for wearing a headscarf was "religious obligation" following by "cultural tradition."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.motivaction.nl/kennisplatform/publicaties/samenvatting-nationaal-hoofddoek-onderzoek|title=Samenvatting Nationaal Hoofddoek Onderzoek|last=Moha|first=Ahmed Ait|access-date=16 April 2017|language=nl-nl|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170417160035/https://www.motivaction.nl/kennisplatform/publicaties/samenvatting-nationaal-hoofddoek-onderzoek|archive-date=17 April 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> On the other hand, the wearing of full veils is incredibly rare, with an estimated less than 500 Muslim women in the country choosing to don a niqab or burqa. Of the women who do wear full-face veils, 60% of them are converts to Islam. {{r|:1|page1=184}}

According to a 2018 survey very large proportions of Turks and Moroccans regard themselves as Muslim which represented two thirds of all Muslims in the country. The fraction self-identifying as Muslims is higher among those with Moroccan ancestry (94%) than those with Turkish ancestry (86%). The fraction declined  in the Turkish group from 93% in 2006 to 86% in 2015, but there was no decline in the Moroccan group. Islam takes a central role for nearly all Somalis and in many ways their religiosity rose from the 2009 already high levels. Religion has a less important role for Surinamese Muslims: they pray less, visit mosques less frequently and less than a fifth wear the hijab. Research from 2009 indicated that relatively many Iranians are irreligious and that a fifth were Christian. Afghan and Iraqis are between the Iranians and Somalis in their religiosity.<ref name=":11">{{Cite web|last=Ministerie van Volksgezondheid|first=Welzijn en Sport|date=7 June 2018|title=De religieuze beleving van moslims in Nederland - Publicatie - Sociaal en Cultureel Planbureau|url=https://www.scp.nl/publicaties/publicaties/2018/06/07/de-religieuze-beleving-van-moslims-in-nederland|access-date=7 March 2021|website=www.scp.nl|pages=77–79|language=nl-NL|format=PDF}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Religious behaviour and religious attitudes among Muslims<br>15 years and older, by origin, 2015<ref name=":11" />
!Turkish
%
!Moroccan
%
!Somali
%
!Surinamese
%
|-
|Regards self as Muslim
|86
|94
|95
|9
|-
|Non-religious
|10
|5
|5
|34
|-
|Visits mosque at least weekly
|40
|37
|38
|16
|-
|Prays five times a day
|33
|78
|80
|21
|-
|Fasted every day during Ramadan
|55
|87
|70
|34
|-
|Eats halal everyday
|80
|93
|94
|69
|-
|Wears the headscarf (women)
|49
|78
|90
|19
|-
|My faith is an important part of who I am
|89
|96
|93
|80
|-
|I wouldn't like it if my daughter married someone from another faith
|60
|63
|50
|22
|-
|Muslims should be able to live in accordance with the rules of Islam
|61
|66
|74
|41
|}

==Politics==
Muslims are slightly less likely to vote in elections than non-Muslims at a rate of 69% compared to 77%, respectively. The most popular party among Muslims, is [[Denk (political party)|Denk]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2017/02/ethnic-minorities-desert-labour-turn-to-denk-ahead-of-march-vote/|title=Ethnic minorities desert Labour, turn to Denk ahead of March vote|date=6 February 2017|website=DutchNews.nl|language=en-GB|access-date=13 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190625145240/https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2017/02/ethnic-minorities-desert-labour-turn-to-denk-ahead-of-march-vote/|archive-date=25 June 2019}}</ref>

After the 2003 elections, there were at least ten MPs from Muslim background among the 150 Members of Parliament,<ref>{{harvnb|Demant|Maussen|Rath|2007|p=33}}</ref> but as few as three among them may have been active believers, while two explicitly classified themselves as ex-Muslims.<ref>{{Citation|date=21 February 2003|access-date=15 March 2009|url=http://tempora.hosting.kun.nl/tempora/default.asp?actie=tekst_detail&tekst_id=200342126188083|title=Tweede Kamer telt 14 katholieken te weinig|publisher=Radboud Foundation|language=nl|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060630102004/http://tempora.hosting.kun.nl/tempora/default.asp?actie=tekst_detail&tekst_id=200342126188083|archive-date=30 June 2006}}</ref> Muslims in the Netherlands are more likely to be active in municipal and national politics by means of demonstrations, petitions, contacting media outlets and attending meetings than running for office.{{r|:1|page1=181}}

[[Nebahat Albayrak]]<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RmZTqwDeNh8C&pg=PA279|title=Dynamics of Power in Dutch Integration Politics: From Accommodation to Confrontation|last=Uitermark|first=Justus|publisher=Amsterdam University Press|year=2012|isbn=978-90-8964-406-0|page=279|access-date=16 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170416230314/https://books.google.com/books?id=RmZTqwDeNh8C&pg=PA279|archive-date=16 April 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> (ex-[[staatssecretaris|State Secretary]] [[Ministry of Justice (Netherlands)|of Justice]]) and [[Ahmed Aboutaleb]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://citiscope.org/story/2015/city-immigrants-rotterdams-muslim-mayor-leads-example|title=In a city of immigrants, Rotterdam's Muslim mayor leads by example|last=Reimerink|first=Letty|date=20 November 2015|website=Citiscope|access-date=16 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170501070604/http://citiscope.org/story/2015/city-immigrants-rotterdams-muslim-mayor-leads-example|archive-date=1 May 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> (ex-[[staatssecretaris|State Secretary]] of [[Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment|Social Affairs and Employment]], later mayor of [[Rotterdam]]) were both the first Muslims in the Dutch cabinet.

[[Geert Wilders]] of the Dutch [[Party for Freedom]] was put on trial for [[incitement to ethnic or racial hatred|inciting racial hatred]], relating to his inflammatory comments regarding Islam in early October 2010.<ref>{{Citation|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2010/oct/04/geert-wilders-race-hate-trial-netherlands-video|title=Geert Wilders Race Hate Trial Begins|agency=Reuters|date=4 October 2001|access-date=17 October 2010|work=[[The Guardian]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131231060317/http://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2010/oct/04/geert-wilders-race-hate-trial-netherlands-video|archive-date=31 December 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> Wilders was acquitted on 23 June 2011, the judge citing that his comments were legitimate political debate, but on the edge of legal acceptability.

Of the 475 mosques in the Netherlands in 2018, a plurality (146) are controlled by the Turkish [[Directorate of Religious Affairs]] (Diyanet). Diyanet implements the political ideology of the Turkish [[Justice and Development Party (Turkey)|AKP]] party and employs imams trained in Turkey.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Öztürk|first1=Ahmet Erdi|last2=Sözeri|first2=Semiha|title=Diyanet as a Turkish Foreign Policy Tool: Evidence from the Netherlands and Bulgaria|url=https://www.academia.edu/36059631|journal=Religion and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association|date=2018 |volume=11|issue=3|language=en|pages=3, 12|doi=10.1017/S175504831700075X |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180919132327/https://www.academia.edu/36059631/Diyanet_as_a_Turkish_Foreign_Policy_Tool_Evidence_from_the_Netherlands_and_Bulgaria|archive-date=19 September 2018}}</ref> Critics of the Diyanet imams, some of whom do not speak Dutch, hinder the effective integration of Dutch-Turkish Muslims into the society of the Netherlands by promoting allegiance to the Turkish state while neglecting to promote loyalty to the Dutch state.<ref name=":03"/>

The [[Directorate of Religious Affairs|Diyanet]] has facilitated a fusion of religion and politics (Islamism) in the Netherlands and allowed the AKP-associated party [[Denk (political party)|DENK]] to spread propaganda in mosques under its control located in the Netherlands.<ref name=":03">{{Cite journal|last1=Öztürk|first1=Ahmet Erdi|last2=Sözeri|first2=Semiha|title=Diyanet as a Turkish Foreign Policy Tool: Evidence from the Netherlands and Bulgaria|url=https://www.academia.edu/36059631|journal=Religion and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association|date=2018 |volume=11|issue=3|language=en|pages=3, 12–13, 15|doi=10.1017/S175504831700075X |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180919132327/https://www.academia.edu/36059631/Diyanet_as_a_Turkish_Foreign_Policy_Tool_Evidence_from_the_Netherlands_and_Bulgaria|archive-date=19 September 2018}}</ref> When Turkish migrant organizations were requested to join a statement against [[domestic violence]], the religious attaché of the Turkish Embassy declared that domestic violence does not exist in Turkish society and all Turkish Islamic organizations withdrew their support from the statement.<ref name=":03" />

== Controversies ==
[[File:Transvaal Bloemfonteinstraat001.jpg|thumb|A [[mosque]] in [[The Hague]]]]

The murder of [[Theo van Gogh (film director)|Theo van Gogh]] by [[Mohammed Bouyeri]], a Dutch citizen of Moroccan descent, on 2 November 2004, as well as the arrest of the [[Hofstad Group]] on charges of terrorism, caused a lot of discussion about Islam and its place in Dutch society. The possibility of banning the [[burqa|burka]] was discussed in the cabinet.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6159046.stm|title=BBC NEWS - Europe - Dutch government backs burqa ban|work=bbc.co.uk|date=17 November 2006}}</ref>

Following the murder of Theo van Gogh, a number of websites appeared praising the murder and making death threats against other people. At the same time, starting with four arson attacks on mosques in the weekend after the murder, a significant number of apparently retaliatory incidents took place. By 8 November, Christian churches were in turn targeted. A report for the Anne Frank Foundation and the University of Leiden counted a total of 174 violent incidents in November, specifying that mosques were the target of violence 47 times, and churches 13 times.<ref>{{Citation|date=1 December 2004|access-date=15 March 2009|url=http://www.annefrank.org/upload/downloads/AnnexMonitor6.doc|title=Ontwikkelingen na de moord op Van Gogh|page=3|work=Anne Frank Stichting|publisher=[[Leiden University]]|format=DOC|last1=van Donselaar|first1=Jaap|last2=Rodrigues|first2=Peter R.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090318201118/http://www.annefrank.org/upload/downloads/AnnexMonitor6.doc|archive-date=18 March 2009|url-status=live}}</ref>

Between 23 November 2004 and 13 March 2005, the National Dutch Police Services Agency (KLPD) recorded 31 occasions of riots against mosques and Islamic schools.<ref>{{harvnb|Winkler|2006|pp=78–79}}</ref> The case that drew most attention was an arson attack that led to the destruction of a Muslim primary school in [[Uden]] in December 2004.<ref>{{harvnb|Demant|Maussen|Rath|2007|p=7}}</ref> The period of heightened tensions between native Dutch and Muslim communities was also evidenced by several confrontations between what are known as the "Lonsdale Youth" (youth groups characterised by their preference for [[Lonsdale (clothing)|Lonsdale]] clothing, which is often popular with [[Neo-Nazi]] groups) and Turkish and Moroccan youths in provincial towns like [[Venray]].<ref>{{harvnb|Winkler|2006|p=79}}</ref>

These incidents took place against the backdrop of increasing suspicions and anger towards Muslims, which have developed over a longer time. In May 2006, a poll by [[Motivaction]] / GPD (1,200 Dutch adults +/- 3%) found that 63% of native Dutch citizens felt that Islam is incompatible with modern European life.<ref>{{Citation|title=Islam Incompatible with Europe, Say Dutch|url=http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/view/12143|publisher=[[Angus Reid Global Monitor]]|date=7 June 2006|access-date=15 March 2009|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090308091557/http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/view/12143|archive-date=8 March 2009}}</ref> A poll of June 2004 found that 68% felt threatened by "immigrant or Muslim young people", 53% feared a terrorist attack by Muslims in the Netherlands, and 47% feared that at some point, they would have to live according to Islamic rules in the Netherlands.<ref>{{harvnb|Demant|Maussen|Rath|2007|p=38}}</ref>

Feelings of fear or distrust coincide with a high degree of social segregation. About two-thirds of Turks and Moroccans "associate predominantly with members of their own ethnic group," while a similar proportion of native Dutch "have little or no contact at all with immigrants." Contacts between the groups are decreasing, notably those between second-generation Turks and Moroccans and native Dutch according to the [[Open Society Foundations|Open Society Institute]].<ref>{{harvnb|Demant|Maussen|Rath|2007|p=24}}</ref>

===Dual citizenship===
When two Muslim politicians, [[Nebahat Albayrak]] and [[Ahmed Aboutaleb]], both of whom hold foreign as well as Dutch passports, were proposed as state secretaries in 2007 a discussion was started by the [[Party for Freedom]] (PVV) about [[Multiple citizenship|dual citizenship]] and the possibility of foreign citizens to hold office. No other political party joined the PVV in their opinion. After their appointment, a [[motion of no confidence]] was entered by [[Geert Wilders]], which also did not get any support from any other political party. A week later the PVV entered a motion of no confidence against parliament member [[Khadija Arib]] who serves on an advisory council to King [[Mohammed VI of Morocco]]; this motion was also defeated without any support from the other parties in parliament. In a country with as many as 2 million residents with dual citizenship, it would prove virtually impossible for any political party to put forward a list of candidates without the odd dual citizen. Even within the PVV itself, the policy failed when party representatives turned out to have Turkish and Israeli passports.{{Citation needed|date=April 2017}}

===Radicalisation===
Prisons in the Netherlands separates radicalized inmates from the rest of their prison inmates to stop them from radicalizing others. De Schie Prison in [[Rotterdam]] has a number of inmates in its seven-cell terrorist section. Of its total 252 inmates, about one-third are Muslim.<ref name=":5">{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-36336011|title=The prison wing housing only terrorists|last=Vallance|first=Chris|date=20 May 2016|work=BBC News|access-date=23 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180620181303/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-36336011|archive-date=20 June 2018|language=en-GB}}</ref> Researcher Daan Weggemans at Leiden University found that for half the detainees he had studied, imprisonment had a confirmation of their belief that "the world is hostile". For the other half, imprisonment had served as a wake-up call and they broke contact with violent jihadist networks.<ref name=":5" />

The [[Parliament of Netherlands]] voted in 2016 for legislation to strip Dutch citizens who join [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant|ISIS]] or [[Al-Qaeda|al Qaeda]] abroad of their citizenship, also if they have not been convicted of any crime. The law can only be applied to individuals with double citizenship. Justice Minister [[Ard van der Steur|Ard Van der Steur]] stated the legal changes were necessary to stop jihadists from returning to the Netherlands.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/212749|title=Dutch Jihadists to be stripped of dual citizenship|website=Israel National News|date=24 May 2016 |language=en|access-date=16 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180816194727/http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/212749|archive-date=16 August 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> In September 2017, four jihadists were stripped of their citizenship.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/world/2017/sep/13/netherlands-strip-four-jihadists-of-citizenship-1656702.html|title=Netherlands strip four jihadists of citizenship|work=The New Indian Express|access-date=16 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180816230506/http://www.newindianexpress.com/world/2017/sep/13/netherlands-strip-four-jihadists-of-citizenship-1656702.html|archive-date=16 August 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

Of the foreign terrorist fighters travelling to Syria or Iraq from the Netherlands, about 40% were female.<ref name="Europol17">{{Cite journal|year=2017|title=EU Terrorism Situation and Trend Report (TE-SAT) 2017|url=https://www.europol.europa.eu/activities-services/main-reports/eu-terrorism-situation-and-trend-report-te-sat-2017|journal=EU Terrorism Situation & Trend Report (Te-Sat)|publisher=Europol|page=7|isbn=978-92-95200-79-1|access-date=23 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170729012540/https://www.europol.europa.eu/activities-services/main-reports/eu-terrorism-situation-and-trend-report-te-sat-2017|archive-date=29 July 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2017, imam Fawaz Jneid received an area ban which barred him from visiting Transvaal and adjacent Schilderswijk, due to having expressed an intolerant message which constituted a threat to national security. Jneid had earlier expressed homophobic views and derogatory comments towards murdered film-maker [[Theo van Gogh (film director)|Theo van Gogh]] and Islam critic [[Ayaan Hirsi Ali]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nos.nl/artikel/2204190-gebiedsverbod-in-den-haag-voor-omstreden-imam-terecht-opgelegd.html|title=Gebiedsverbod in Den Haag voor omstreden imam terecht opgelegd|website=nos.nl|date=23 November 2017 |language=nl|access-date=5 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190105200926/https://nos.nl/artikel/2204190-gebiedsverbod-in-den-haag-voor-omstreden-imam-terecht-opgelegd.html|archive-date=5 January 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Gulf state funding ===
In 2018 it was found that at least 30 Islamic organisations{{Which|date=January 2020}} in the country had received or requested money from Kuwait or Saudi Arabia, which was controversial due to those countries being linked with Salafism, a fundamentalist movement within Islam.<ref name="dutchnews.nl"/>

== Discrimination ==
{{See also|Afrikaanderwijk riots|Schiedam riots}}
[[TNS NIPO]], a Dutch research and polling agency, observed an increase in [[Islamophobia|anti-Muslim sentiment]] after the [[September 11 attacks]], but claimed unfavorable views of Muslims were already high in the country prior to the attacks.{{r|:1|page=196}} According to research by [[Ineke van der Valk]], an author and researcher at the University of Amsterdam, a third of mosques in the Netherlands have experienced at least one incident of vandalism, threatening letters, attempted arson, or other aggressive actions in the past 10 years.<ref name=DutchJaz>{{cite web |title=Netherlands mosque attacks and rising Islamophobia |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2016/03/netherlands-mosque-attacks-rising-islamophobia-160308101155120.html |first=Brenda |last=Stoter |publisher=Al Jazeera English |date=16 March 2016 |access-date=1 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170301182259/http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2016/03/netherlands-mosque-attacks-rising-islamophobia-160308101155120.html |archive-date=1 March 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=40% of Dutch mosques have been attacked, daubed with racist graffiti |url=http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2015/01/40-of-dutch-mosques-have-been-attacked-daubed-with-racist-graffiti/ |publisher=DutchNews.nl |date=6 January 2015 |access-date=1 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170301182455/http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2015/01/40-of-dutch-mosques-have-been-attacked-daubed-with-racist-graffiti/ |archive-date=1 March 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> In February 2016, five men threw two Molotov cocktails at a mosque. Some 30 people, including children, were inside the mosque at the time but no one was injured. Dutch courts called it a "terrorist act."<ref name=DutchJaz/><ref>{{cite web |title=Men jailed for arson attack on mosque, it was a terrorist act says court |url=http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2016/10/men-jailed-for-arson-attack-on-mosque-it-was-a-terrorist-act-says-court/ |publisher=DutchNews.nl |date=27 October 2016 |access-date=1 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161102221825/http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2016/10/men-jailed-for-arson-attack-on-mosque-it-was-a-terrorist-act-says-court/ |archive-date=2 November 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Dutch court convicts 5 men for mosque arson attack |url=https://www.foxnews.com/world/dutch-court-convicts-5-men-for-mosque-arson-attack |publisher=Fox News |date=27 October 2016 |access-date=1 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170301195001/http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/10/27/dutch-court-convicts-5-men-for-mosque-arson-attack.html |archive-date=1 March 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> In December of the same year, a building linked to the Association of Islamic Communities was set on fire. Police suspected it was a hate crime.<ref>{{cite web |title=Islamic Centre set on fire in Netherlands |url=http://nation.com.pk/international/30-Dec-2016/islamic-centre-set-on-fire-in-netherlands |publisher=The Nation |date=29 December 2016 |access-date=1 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170101234539/http://nation.com.pk/international/30-Dec-2016/islamic-centre-set-on-fire-in-netherlands |archive-date=1 January 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> Muslim students have more difficulties finding internships for vocational training. This discrimination is more present towards female students wearing a headscarfs.{{r|Islamophobia|page=397}}

According to the [[Open Society Foundations|Open Society]] Institute, after the murder of Theo van Gogh in November 2004, Minister of Integration and Immigration [[Rita Verdonk]] commissioned an inquiry into the radicalisation of young Muslims. The conclusion was that many of them experience alienation, feeling disconnected with both their first-generation immigrant parents and from Dutch society. Previous reports had already found that young Muslims don't share the deep ethno-national attachment their parents feel with their country of origin, and instead are coming to identify primarily with their religion. While they participate less in religious activities than their parents, they more strongly link their identity with Islam and with the global Muslim community; radical and orthodox Islamic groups offer some of these young Muslims clear answers and a firm sense of belonging. While prior research found that the degree of religiosity in general decreases among Muslims with higher education and stable employment, the new report noted that highly educated young Muslims can also experience "relative deprivation" all the more strongly - the sense that despite their efforts they receive fewer opportunities than native Dutch people of the same generation - and turn to radicalism in anger and frustration.<ref>{{harvnb|Demant|Maussen|Rath|2007|pp=14–16}}</ref>

The [[Party for Freedom]], and its leader [[Geert Wilders]], advocate for policies that critics say discriminate against Muslims<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/who-geert-wilders-netherlands-donald-trump-n732556|title=Who is Geert Wilders, the Netherlands' Donald Trump?|work=NBC News|access-date=24 April 2017|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170425122233/http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/who-geert-wilders-netherlands-donald-trump-n732556|archive-date=25 April 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> including banning the [[Quran|Qur'an]],<ref name=":3">{{Cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/news/europe/21708848-anti-muslim-populist-called-fewer-moroccans-netherlands-dutch-far-right-leader|title=Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders will face trial for hate speech|newspaper=The Economist|access-date=24 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170517071826/http://www.economist.com/news/europe/21708848-anti-muslim-populist-called-fewer-moroccans-netherlands-dutch-far-right-leader|archive-date=17 May 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Head rag tax|taxing the hijab]],<ref name=":3" /> shutting down all mosques in the Netherlands,<ref name=":4">{{Cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/03/09/netherlands-election-muslims-geert-wilders/98146882/|title=Dutch Muslims feel anti-Islam backlash in liberal Holland|work=USA TODAY|access-date=24 April 2017|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170425132837/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/03/09/netherlands-election-muslims-geert-wilders/98146882/|archive-date=25 April 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> and disallowing further immigration of Muslims to the country.<ref name=":4" /> Wilders and other PVV maintain their policies are not bigoted towards Muslims, but rather are aimed at the religion of Islam.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/feb/17/netherlands.islam|title='I don't hate Muslims. I hate Islam,' says Holland's rising political star|last=Traynor|first=Ian|date=16 February 2008|work=The Guardian|access-date=24 April 2017|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130901181251/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/feb/17/netherlands.islam|archive-date=1 September 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> In the [[2023 Dutch general election|2023 Dutch election]], the party won the most seats (37 out of the 150 total) in the [[Dutch House of Representatives]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kiesraad.nl/actueel/nieuws/2023/12/01/kiesraad-stelt-uitslag-tweede-kamerverkiezing-22-november-2023-vast|title=Kiesraad stelt uitslag Tweede Kamerverkiezing 22 november 2023 vast|website=Kiesraad|date=1 December 2023|language=nl-NL|access-date=26 November 2024|archive-url=https://archive.today/20240128072550/https://www.kiesraad.nl/actueel/nieuws/2023/12/01/kiesraad-stelt-uitslag-tweede-kamerverkiezing-22-november-2023-vast|archive-date=28 January 2024|url-status=live}}</ref>

On 29 November 2016, a majority in the [[Dutch House of Representatives]] voted to partially prohibit face-covering attire such as the niqab. Critics of the law stated that it was motivated by anti-Muslim sentiment but advocates of the law maintain it was not directed towards Muslims in particular. The political parties [[GroenLinks]], [[Democrats 66]] and [[Denk (political party)|DENK]] voted against the law.{{r|Islamophobia|page=401}}

===Opposition to discrimination===
Many organizations in the Netherlands attempt to combat discrimination against Muslims. Some examples include ''Meld Islamofobie!'', the Collective against [[Islamophobia]], SPIOR (a platform organisation of Islamic organisations and mosques in Rotterdam), the Muslim Women organisation Al Nisa, and the Turkish Forum.{{r|Islamophobia|page=404}}

==Notable Muslims==
*[[Khalid Boulahrouz]], soccer player
*[[Bruno Martins Indi]], soccer player
*[[Arnoud van Doorn]], politician
*[[Joram van Klaveren]], politician
*[[Davy van den Berg]], soccer player 
*[[Kempi]], rapper

==See also==
{{Portal|Islam|Netherlands}}
*[[Pim Fortuyn]]
*[[Theo van Gogh (film director)|Theo van Gogh]]
*[[Edwin Wagensveld]]
*[[Geert Wilders]]
*[[Fitna (film)]]
*[[Hijab by country#Netherlands|Hijab by country]]
*''[[De Meiden van Halal]]'' 
*[[Turks in the Netherlands]]
{{Clear}}

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|refs=
<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NW7DBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA182|title=The Oxford Handbook of European Islam|last=Cesari|first=Jocelyne|date=2014|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-960797-6|access-date=16 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170417161938/https://books.google.com/books?id=NW7DBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA182&lpg=PA180|archive-date=17 April 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>
<ref name=Islamophobia>{{cite web|last1=van der Valk|first1=Ineke|title=Islamophobia in the Netherlands National Report 2016|url=http://www.islamophobiaeurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/NETHERLANDS.pdf|website=European Islamophobia Report|publisher=Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research|access-date=24 April 2017|location=Istanbul, Turkey|date=2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170425204649/http://www.islamophobiaeurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/NETHERLANDS.pdf|archive-date=25 April 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>
}}

==Sources==
{{refbegin}}
* {{Citation
| year = 2007
| url = http://www.janrath.com/downloads/@EUMAP_Netherlands_2007.pdf
| last1 = Demant
| first1 = Froukje
| last2 = Maussen
| first2 = Marcel
| last3 = Rath
| first3 = Jan
| title = Muslims in the EU: Cities Report, The Netherlands. Preliminary research report and literature survey
| access-date = 18 December 2013
| series = EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program (EUMAP)
| publisher = [[Open Society Institute]]
}}
* {{Citation
 | year = 2006
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070605110344/http://fra.europa.eu/fra/material/pub/muslim/Manifestations_EN.pdf
 | archive-date = 5 June 2007
 | access-date= 15 March 2009
 | url = http://fra.europa.eu/fra/material/pub/muslim/Manifestations_EN.pdf
 | title = Muslims in the European Union: Discrimination and Islamophobia
 | publisher = European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC)
 | last = Winkler
 | first = Beate
 }}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
{{wikiquote}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070206001148/http://wwwuser.gwdg.de/~mriexin/euroislam.html#NL%20 Links: Islam in Western Europe: Netherlands]
*[http://www.cbs.nl/en-GB/menu/themas/bevolking/publicaties/artikelen/archief/2004/2004-1543-wm.htm Nearly one million Muslims in the Netherlands]

{{Islam in Europe}}
{{World topic|prefix=Islamophobia in|noredlinks=y|title=Islamophobia by country}}

[[Category:Islam in the Netherlands| ]]
[[Category:Religion in the Netherlands]]