There are large Muslim populations living in western Europe (study from 2010), and numbers are rising, with especially large populations in France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and the UK.
The majority of Muslims in England are ‘westernised’ (for want of a better word) in that they enjoy living in a secular liberal society and participating in English culture. However, these days many that live within large Muslim communities do not become westernised; some groups are instead pulled back towards to the more ‘fundamental’ Islamic roots of their parents’ home country.
Although in no ways representative of the Islamic community as a whole, the anti-western sentiment being propagated in England has taken root and continues to increase its influence. For some Muslims, this pull perhaps only influences minor attitudes in their way of life, like a young man giving up on drinking alcohol, or a young woman choosing to cover her head at all times. For others it becomes a more complete aversion to our liberal democracy and in some cases even a desire to commit violent crimes in the name of Islam.
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Some fifty years ago, when the first Muslim immigrants came to England, they were a very small minority and all of the second generation were raised in the same way as an English person was. Nowadays, the sheer size of Muslim communities in England means that many born to Muslim families in Britain live in a predominantly Muslim community, shielded from western culture. Many Muslims are forbidden to marry people who are not Muslim, and many cannot even have relationships with non-Muslims. In the towns with large Muslim populations many Muslim children are born, raised and currently live within Muslim communities, extremely cut off from the English people, culture and in some cases even the language. Many of the British born Muslims feel a sense of homelessness, as they in part reject the stricter way of life of their parent’s nature, and huge cultural/social barriers prevent them from integrating into British society. This is creating huge cultural divides in our society and enclaves in which the extremer forms of Islam exist.
The phrase ‘extreme’ Islam can be somewhat misleading, because since 9/11 it has become associated with terrorism. The most important distinction to make is that of religion and politics. There are vast numbers of religions practiced in the UK and throughout Europe, but unlike the purely faith based nature of Hinduism, Christianity, Sikhism and Bhuddism etc, the ‘extreme’ or ‘fundamentalist’ forms of Islam are more than just religion, but include political elements.
At this point it may be necessary to remind readers that the majority of Muslims in Britain are law abiding citizens, whose Islamic views and practices do not conflict with British law and do not conflict with British (or Christian) values to any level which would offend British people. However, the ‘extreme’ form of Islam is incompatible with our western laws and values, and answers to another authority.
Sharia law is described as the law of God and therefore overrules any human law. There are significant numbers of British Muslims that wish to implement Sharia law in Britain and small numbers that openly call for it. Large numbers of Sharia courts are currently in operation in England in order to settle disputes such as family or financial issues. Now obviously there is only one law in Britain, and this cannot be broken, regardless of whether one chooses to live their life by another law or not. So in theory, the rise in popularity of Sharia law will not change the law of the land, and therefore it shouldn’t bother us if people want to live their life by a different code. However, there is a growing concern about the impact it will have on our liberal democracy.
As unfortunate or as irrational as it may be, the majority of English people are opposed to many of the anti-liberal messages that stem from the ‘extreme’ forms of Islam, particularly the treatment of women, Jews and homosexuals. However, to publicly acknowledge the existence of ‘extremist’ related crime or to link it to the existence of large Muslim residential areas and schooling is to risk being called a racist.
The fear of speaking out against Islam also allows other historical and cultural effects, that may seem small and insignificant, to encroach on western society or to undermine the law without criticism; for example the teaching of British Islamic wars in schools or the inequality under the law for female nurses. Instead of resisting foreign cultural aspects that we are unhappy with, our own culture bends to accommodate it.
In the UK, there is a inherent belief in democracy, which one could equate to an ideology - the belifef that the law should be made for the people, by the people, and that all men must abide by the same law. In our particular form of parliamentary democracy, the law makers are our elected representatives, who are temporarily and conditionally granted executive power.
Sharia law does not change according to democratic parliamentary decisions, and its fundamentalist interpretations treat women, homosexuals and other races and beliefs unequally. As Muslim populations increase, there is a fear that the ‘extreme’ pull of Islam will also increase, and that the country will slowly get less liberal, as more people in the country are influenced by ideology that rejects the basic democratic principles upon which this country was founded. People are worried about the effects that ‘multiculturalism,’ as a way of thinking, will have on the future of western liberal society in England.
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| The St Georges Cross has become a war banner |
The English Defense League is a grass roots movement that has spread across the whole country in protest against ‘extremist’ Islam. The EDL attracts many people from working class backgrounds, and many people with hatred and a desire to incite violence.
The way the EDL protest is often not civil. As we all know, unruly behaviour is deeply rooted in our culture; you only have to go to a football match to see it, and these people have an even more passionate cause that weekend hooligans. The EDL is not a political party and these people feel they have no other way of getting their voice heard.
In no way is violent behaviour acceptable, and neither will it serve to help the situation in any way, but nor is it any use just dismissing them as racists and ignoring them. In order to stop them it is necessary to look at what motivates these people, and what fuels their hatred.
The majority of the EDL are people who genuinely feel they are losing their country to a foreign ideology. They feel fear. These people see their own culture giving way to a foreign culture and they are fighting back in the only way they know how. Some resent the changing face of their towns. Large Muslim communities of hundreds of thousands of people exist in London and Birmingham. Bradford and Leicester too, both smaller towns, each have more than 25% Muslim populations. The local residents see new faces, new cultures, pubs closing and new Mosques being built. They are ignorant of the Muslim faith and feel intimidated by foreigners who have a culture so radically different to their own, particularly those who only speak foreign languages and wear foreign costumes. As Muslim populations increase, they fear that the country their children will grown up in, will be radically different.
They feel loathing. They resent the fact that a large proportion of their town is cut-off and segregated, and looks down upon their liberal way of life. Others see the cultural conflicts first hand, particularly those who live closer to the poorer ‘no-go’ areas and who witness racial violence (by both sides) up close. Above all, they hate the way that the public, the media and the police make concessions to the Muslim community for fear of being labelled as racist or islamophobic. A particular case which sparked an extremely sensitive debate was Jack Straw’s comments last year about ‘grooming,’ suggesting that while respecting Muslim women, who do not drink alcohol and do not wear revealing clothes and are therefore suitable for marriage, some young Muslim males lack the same respect for western women. There are sometimes huge cultural tensions felt by young Muslims caught between the stricter rules of marriage and courtship from their homeland, which is primarily through family acquaintances, and the liberal western culture of alcohol and casual relationships.
The leader of the EDL, Tommy Robinson, is young and outspoken, and has been arrested several times by the police. Below he discusses what he describes as a ‘two tier’ system, and the erosion of freedom of speech, particularly about how criticism of Islam is forbidden and racial abuse is punished more severely than equal criticism or abuse directed against other people or creeds. The incident he mentions about the Somalian girls can be read here.
Whatever your views on the English Defense League, it is clear that they are a symptom of the much deeper problem of cultural incompatibility, and the government’s failure to deal with it effectively. We all agree that the existence of the EDL is not a good thing. But the only way to get rid of the EDL and Islamic extremism, and the violence that erupts when the twain meet, is to get over these hurdles of political correctness and tackle the root causes of the problem directly.
The leaders of Islamic political action say that the root cause is the American led 'crusades' in the Middle East. Be it as it may, the UK has little to no influence in stopping the USA’s military action, so whatever the outcome abroad, this problem must be tackled here at home.
Those of us that are Muslim need to do our part in condemning the ‘extreme’ factions and promoting integration and tolerance of liberal western values, and equality for all under one democratically enforced law. Those of us that are not Muslim need to do our part in communicating and learning about our neighbours’ beliefs and understanding that it is not Islam as a whole that is the enemy. The government needs to do its part in ensuring equality under the law, so that people can speak honestly about other religions without the fear of being called a racist, and by controlling immigration and fostering integration to prevent large religious concentrations where the ‘extreme’ factions of Islam tend to take root.
The breakdown of the ‘multiculturalism’ and ‘political correctness’ conventions, that currently outlaw criticism of Islam under the banner of ‘racism,’ is opening up a fierce debate across Europe and many families no doubt feel singled out and targeted. It is an extremely difficult endeavour for which we have to do our utmost to ensure peace, fairness and justice for all Muslims that wish to live in England and embrace our liberal culture and democratic governance.
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