A closer examination of the clash of civilizations reveals that the most important and prominent element in this struggle always revolves around identity. Identity represents the true and main component of any group, category, state, or civilization; without identity, distinction ceases to exist, and the essential being disappears.

The Significance of Identity

Therefore, the issue of identity is one of the most significant problems facing Muslim minorities in the West in general. Identity has been the foremost crisis for early Muslims in non-Muslim societies, and now we can say that the issue of identity has become more sensitive and complex than ever, especially after the increase in the number of converts to Islam in the West and the rise of the phenomenon of "Islamophobia." This situation has made identity the primary reference through which individuals of Muslim minorities outside the Islamic world are judged.

Rising Hostility and Its Causes

With the rising hostility towards Muslim minorities in the West in recent years, researchers and specialists in minority affairs have found that this stems from fundamental and significant reasons, including the following:

1. Safeguarding Religion and Protection Against Assimilation

Preserving the identity of members of Muslim minorities is, in itself, a safeguard for the religion of Islam within these minorities and a protection against assimilation and melting away.

2. Cohesion and Resilience Against Destructive Integration

The adherence of Muslim minorities to their identity, in both its Islamic and civilizational aspects, makes them more capable of cohesion and resilience in the face of destructive integration campaigns and false globalization, as well as attempts to impose a Western identity on everyone.

3. Protection Against Westernization and False Integration

Preserving the Islamic identity of minorities protects them from intended Westernization and false integration, thus allowing the retention of the identity of the Muslim nation that is intended for obliteration. Clearly, the more these minorities can create a space for themselves that ensures freedom of worship and belief, the more they can preserve their heritage and civilizational, social, and cultural identity.

4. Positive Participation and Civilizational Interaction

Positive participation and civilizational interaction stem from individuals' own feelings about their identity and the degree of pride they have in it. The more minorities cling to what their identity dictates, the more steadfast and stable they become. This has always reflected positively on the environment in which a person or group exists. Conversely, as the identity of these groups weakens, their members tend to withdraw from the field of civilizational interaction, which results in their inability to effectively influence the surrounding communities.