Hear the true voices of Islam
Young, disenfranchised Muslims can only be reached by those they respect
Abdul-Rehman Malik
Sunday July 24, 2005
The Observer
Last week's meeting between the Prime Minister and 'moderate' Muslim leaders had all the appearance of an emergency synod - holy, serious and urgent. Noble intentions tumbled from the lips of the handpicked guests as they marched to duty. After an hour-long session, they emerged to announce the creation of a task force charged with tackling the 'evil ideology' of militant Islam, combating social exclusion and encouraging political engagement.
A tall order. Most young Muslims in Leeds, Oldham or other towns have never heard of the people the Prime Minister asked to speak in their name.
Furthermore, most of the titular leaders who gathered last Tuesday represent only fragments of a complex community - 56 ethnicities speaking almost 100 languages, by one count. Most are at their best when condemning terrorism. Few have been able to put forward a vision of British Islam that is convincing to the most marginalised, disadvantaged and prone to militancy. It's not a question of whether they deserve a voice at the table, but whether they are trusted by the Muslims they claim to speak for.
It is foolish to speak of a 'Muslim community' as if it were undifferentiated and homogeneous. In towns like Oldham, there are parallel communities - Pakistani and Bangladeshi, divided along ethnic and sectarian lines. How can any organisation claim to represent both communities nationally, when they are divided locally? Well-publicised visits to Leeds in the aftermath of the bombings to meet still more community representatives cannot make up for regular, sustained contact with Muslim communities at street level.
Even last week's welcome fatwas against terrorist violence should be regarded with caution. Fatwas are non-binding opinions and most imams in Britain do not have the power to interpret doctrine. Mosques have little actual authority in the lives of ordinary Muslims and the edicts of imams can be ignored or followed as Muslims wish. With most mosques not accessible to women and with more young people, like the bombers, seeking guidance outside them, Britain's mosques are caught in a crisis of relevance.
It is the street-level voluntary and community sector organisations that represent the British Islam's hidden civil society, working to meet the needs of neighbourhoods struggling with violence, drug abuse and teenage pregnancy. These are the front lines of the fight against militancy and desperation.
Muslims who think that the recent attacks have nothing to do with Islam are simply in denial. Since the 1960s, a literalist, puritanical form of Islam has been gaining ground in Britain. Well funded and promoted in slickly produced manuals of 'correct' doctrine and 'authentic' practice, this aberrant theology saw to remove the celebration of difference and flexibility of law that lies at the heart of Islam's classical past. Gone were the interpretive ambiguities, replaced by certainties of right and wrong, good Muslim and bad.
It was under the watch of Muslim organisations that this form of Islam became increasingly popular and mainstream. The deteriorating political situation of the Muslim world, coupled with the rise of, at first largely peaceful, Islamist movements, has added a dangerous dimension to this reformist Islam.
Spurred by strident religious tracts and dreams of a utopian Islamic state, some doctrinal zealots have turned their thoughts to the ummah, the global Muslim community, seen not as a spiritual brotherhood, but reimagined as a political one in opposition to an immoral, imperialist and decadent West. Such literalism allowed for a hatred of 'the other' that was hitherto unknown in Muslim civilisation.
On this point, Blair is right: Muslims do need to confront militant ideologies, but politicians should be careful before putting fingers in Islam's theological pie. It was Ronald Reagan's policies in the 1980s that strengthened Afghanistan's mujahideen, through their Arab backers, many of whom promoted a violent brand of Islamic liberation theology that eventually spawned al-Qaeda.
British Muslims need honest dialogue - theological, political and social. Curtailing civil liberties is the worst thing to do now. Even if what militant preachers say is unpalatable, trying to silence them would push them and their followers further underground. To be successful, a 'task force' must be independent of Downing Street's vision of what British Islam should look like. At present, it is a reactionary, undefined body with little goodwill outside the groups and organisations already involved. Many Muslims, particularly those the task force is trying to reach, will regard such an exercise as a public relations stunt with little relevance.
If the government is to tackle the problems of extremism, social exclusion and lack of civic participation, it has to reframe the work of this group as a Royal Commission, answerable to parliament. Such a commission must be open to all who have a stake in British Islam. The participation of people like Bolton boxing hero Amir Khan and singer-songwriter and peace activist Yusuf Islam would energise the process. They may not represent anyone in particular, but they are widely respected for their achievements. A truly legitimate commission would pull people out of the grassroots, those with a track record of necessary, meaningful and creative work.
A few months ago, groups like the MCB would have dismissed claims that angry, globalised and ideologically hardened Muslim men could potentially become terrorists carrying out attacks on British soil. Now, its leadership is going to great lengths to sound as if they were trying to prevent these terrible attacks all along.
No one group should bear the burden of representing the unrepresentable. If the government wants to eradicate the causes of terror through a battle of hearts and minds, then it will not waste time with figureheads. It must get into the inner cities and join grassroots workers in their struggle to put Muslim Britain right.
· Abdul-Rehman Malik is Contributing Editor for Q-News, The Muslim Magazine (
[email protected])
