Experts will seek to build a clearer picture of the way online platforms are affecting traditional structures within Islam across the continent.
The study team, led by specialists at the University’s Centre for the Study of Islam in the Contemporary World, has been awarded almost €1.4million by the Collaboration of Humanities and Social Sciences in Europe.
Researchers say that while digital platforms have strengthened ties among Europe’s Muslim communities, this has widened inter-generational differences within these groups.
Digital natives are, for instance, more likely than older generations to value YouTube as a source of Islamic knowledge over the local mosque or other traditional sites of religious learning.