The British Muslim: Conundrum, Compatibility or Contradiction

Written by members of the Young Muslim Advisory Group of which I am a member www.ymag.opm.co.uk

On 1st March, 2010, we once again witnessed the resurrection of the age old stereotypes that seem to have smuggled their way back into our minds, propagated by none other than Andrew Gilligan.

During the ‘Dispatches’ programme, which aired on Channel 4 on Monday evening, a string of false and baseless accusations about the Islamic Forum Europe (IFE), were displayed in front of us on national television. The sinister undertone of the programme insinuated that the Muslims associated with the IFE, and the East London Mosque, are a threat to the social, political and economic stability of our country.

Gilligan went as far as implying that the IFE, and associated Muslims, have gone out of their way to ‘influence’ the political system, in order to disseminate their own form of overt Islamic extremism. Gilligan criticises the fact the IFE put in a petition calling for a referendum on the electoral process, claiming that it was a cynical attempt to ‘islamisize’ the area and exert their influence over the borough. In another part, Giligan claimed the IFEs infiltration was so large that they now included ‘prayer breaks’ during council meeting, something which would normally be seen as a progressive step forward in such a cohesive society. On the contrary, Giligan painted an image that such ‘islamization’ of our political system are part of a wider conspiracy to take over UK as a whole. Such a claim seems absurd and is rather damaging to any minority wishing to get involved.

This completely baffled us as being young Muslims ourselves; we’ve found that we have been encouraged to be more active within the political sphere of our country. In fact, being members of the Young Muslim Advisory Group (YMAG), we are always engaged with the Government about issues affecting Muslims. However, according to Gilligan, if Muslims are ‘too politically engaged’ than we must be harbouring some extremist thinking or ideology. This makes us wonder if the UK dream of a ‘British Obama’ vision can ever be fulfilled.

The programme bought back to life the stereotypes that we, as the YMAG, have worked so hard to diminish. It was highly discouraging to see Jim Fitzpatrick MP amongst those on the show who were supporting this ominous farce aimed to disrepute the IFE and all of it’s associates.
It is disheartening to see our work, and the work of so many other organisations working to encourage and engage Muslims in our country, being bought into question.

Organisations such as the IFE and the East London Mosque, have made extremely positive contributions to their respective communities and this has been completely ignored and sidelined. And instead, the limelight is now on aspects of their excessive involvement as part of a wider theme of islamification; something we would expect to hear in an EDL march and not in a serious documentry such as Dispatches. The IFE have not broken any laws; nor have they incited any hatred or called for violence of any other people. Yet ‘Dispatches’ and more specifically, Gilligan, have painted a rather unrecognisable picture of them.

The main message of the programme is clear. British Muslims have no right to take part in the political culture of our country. So where does this leave us?