Book review: The Myth of the Muslim Tide - fear me not

Doug Saunders addresses the Islamic threat that has engulfed the West in flames of hatred.

Stay close to the facts as by doing so you will never stray far from the truth. This fundamental rule of journalism has been effectively deployed by award-winning Canadian journalist and author Doug Saunders in his book The Myth of the Muslim Tide: Do Immigrants Threaten the West?

Digging into and analysing mountains of data spanning several continents, this well-researched book is a powerfully argued debunking of the myth that Muslim immigrants to the West (mainly to Europe, USA and Canada), by procreating in large numbers, will overrun western civilisation.

The ‘clash of civilisation’ theory, which famously extends the idea that Muslims have a political agenda, driven primarily by their faith, has been frequently deployed by numerous commentators and politicians across North America and Europe. Left unchallenged, this myth has slipped into the margins of mainstream politics.

Saunders challenges this myth, anchoring his arguments with demographic, statistical and historical documents. He constantly reminds the West that less than a 100 years ago the USA and Canada were populated largely by waves of Irish Catholics and East-European Ashkenazi Jews. Both started off by having large families and living in insular communities centred round the Catholic Church and the Jewish synagogue, and a few generations later have seamlessly integrated into the western way of life. Their birth rates have fallen to that of national averages, and demographic data proves that this is indeed happening to the second and third generation Moroccans in France and to some extent with Turks in Germany.



The book offers factual counter arguments to works by Mark Steyn and the right-wing political ideologies of Geert Wilders, who implied that Muslim immigrants cannot be assimilated and that their high birth rates will eventually dominate western civilisation.

It goes on to debunk the ever popular Eurabia movement, in which commentators subscribe to the Islamisation of Europe. This idea has led to a fury of hate crimes and is partially held responsible for the Norway massacre in July 2011 when 77 lives were taken over a right-wing belief system that is based on myth rather than fact.

The author, who is the Europe bureau chief for Canada’s national newspaper The Globe and Mail, goes on to explore ideas that are dominating elections across the western world: “The fear of a Muslim tide is the fear of being swept away, a fear that they are powerful, consistent and changeless and that we are fragile, temporary and malleable... Many of us in the west have forgotten how tough it was during previous times and how difficult integration may have been for our ancestors.”

Generously interspersed with data and demographic detail, this short book is not in any way a defence of Islam. Saunders neither admires nor endorses, but produces an antidote to the poison of hate. He cautions us that the real risk to Western democracy and values is not in these immigrants but in our response to them. 

Published by Random House Canada and available for CAN $24.95 (Rs2,235)

Teenaz Javat writes headlines, news alerts, tickers and tweets for a living. She tweets @TeenazFromTo

Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, April 13^th, 2014.