When Europe Loved Islam An interesting article that popped up on my Facebook about how Islam was viewed in Europe in the early to mid-twentieth century. It seems that the establishment in different countries was much more friendly towards Muslims and Islam in general, although some of it was self-serving and there's a sense that Muslims were being used in service of nationalism.

I'm not sure whether it's better to be treated as an exotic and sometimes unpleasant curiosity is *that* much better than being feared and ostracised, as European Muslims are today (to a certain extent) but it's certainly a different mindset.