The Union of Islamic Communities and Organisations in Italy (, UCOII) is one of the three main Italian

Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

ic organisations in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, along with the Italian Islamic Religious Community and the Italian Islamic Confederation.

History

The UCOII, founded in Ancona in 1990, is the product of the fusion of various previously existing organizations: such as the

Syrian Syrians () are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine and Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend ...

and

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

components of the Unione degli Studenti Musulmani in Italia (USMI) organization, some female Islamic organizations such as Islam Donne and the contribution of some individuals such as Hamza Roberto Piccardo. Hamza Roberto Piccardo is a former militant of

Autonomia Operaia Autonomia Operaia ( Italian for "Workers' Autonomy") was an Italian far-left movement particularly active from 1973 to 1979. It played an important role in the Italian autonomist movement in the 1970s, alongside earlier organisations such as Po ...

who converted to

and is currently the director of the publishing house Libreria islamica (formerly known as “Al Hikma”). The

presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified b ...

initially had been assumed by Nour Dachan, a leader of the Syrian component of the

Muslim Brotherhood The Society of the Muslim Brothers ('' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( ', is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar, Imam and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna in 1928. Al-Banna's teachings s ...

. The secretary position initially had been assumed by Ali Abu Shwaima, a leader of the Palestinian component of the same organization; successively the position has gone to Roberto Piccardo.

Criticisms

The mosques affiliated to UCOII are overwhelmingly directly or indirectly linked to the

and for such ties the association has been sourly contested. The UCOII claims that such ties are limited to the personal militancy of their leadership and the management of UCOII relates more closely to other groups such as: the

European Council for Fatwa and Research The European Council for Fatwa and Research (ECFR) is a Dublin-based private foundation, founded in London on 29–30 March 1997 on the initiative of the Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe. The council is a largely self-selected body, ...

European Islam European Islam, or Euro-Islam, is a hypothesized new branch of Islam that historically originated and developed among the European peoples of the Balkans (primarily Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and East Thrace, but also in Bulgari ...

, scholars like the Mufti of Egypt

Ali Gomaa Ali Gomaa (, Egyptian Arabic: ; born 3 March 1952) is an Egyptian Islamic scholar, jurist, and public figure who has taken a number of controversial political stances. He specializes in Islamic Legal Theory. He follows the Shafi`i school of Isl ...

Tariq Ramadan Tariq Ramadan (, ; born 26 August 1962) is a Swiss Muslim academic, philosopher and writer. He was a professor of contemporary Islamic studies at St Antony's College, Oxford and the Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of Oxford, He is ...

. And the UCOII focusses on the scholarship of Islamic feminists and to the writings of Italian converts and Muslim youths and students in

. However, the

is led by

Yusuf al-Qaradawi Yusuf al-Qaradawi (; or ''Yusuf al-Qardawi''; 9 September 1926 – 26 September 2022) was an Egyptian Islamic scholar based in Doha, Qatar, and chairman of the International Union of Muslim Scholars. His influences included Ibn Taymiyya, Ibn ...

, the leading ideologue of the

is also a member of the organization, while

is its leader in Europe and the grandson of its founder

Hasan al-Banna Hassan Ahmed Abd al-Rahman Muhammed al-Banna (; 14 October 1906 – 12 February 1949), known as Hassan al-Banna (), was an Egyptian schoolteacher and Imam, best known for founding the Muslim Brotherhood, one of the largest and most influential gl ...

. In 2014 the

was declared a terrorist organization by UAE

References

Sources

*Andrea Pacini: "I musulmani in Italia. Dinamiche organizzative e processi di interazione con la società e le istituzioni italiane", in S. Ferrari cura di Musulmani in Italia. La condizione giuridica delle comunità islamiche, il Mulino, Bologna (2000). *"Enciclopedia delle religioni in Italia" / CESNUR. cura di

Massimo Introvigne Massimo Introvigne (born June 14, 1955) is an Italian sociologist of religion, author, and intellectual property attorney. He is a co-founder and the managing director of the Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR), a Turin-based nonprof ...

... t al. - Leumann (Torino) : Elledici, 2001. - 1047 S.; (ital.) {{ISBN, 88-01-01596-8

External links

Official website
Islamic organisations based in Italy Sunni Islamist groups Organizations affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood Organizations established in 1990