The rise of Islam[1] begins with the birth of the prophet Muhammad (circa 570– 632 AD), who was born in the city of Mecca. Whilst those who follow the religion of Islam believe in a chain of prophets starting with Adam and including a large number of Judeo-Christian prophets, they believe that God’s last message to humanity was revealed to Muhammad through the mediation of the angel Gabriel, starting in 610, lasting for twenty three years, and recorded in the chief Islamic holy text, the Qu’ran.
Today there are in the region of one billion people united by their common Islamic faith. Of these around 18% live in the Arab world, yet large areas of Asia and Africa are Muslim, and Muslims make up important minorities in the former Soviet Union, China, North and South America, and Europe. The Arabic word ‘Muslim’ literally means ‘someone who submits to the will of God’, and it is a faith that is intended for the world. Thus Muslims are not bound to any one race, ethnic group or nationality.
The Muslim scriptures contained in the Qu’ran do not present a systematic political theory, but they do clearly affirm the public character of the Islamic faith. The socio-political community which Muhammad established in Medina in the early 7th century (1st century in the Islamic calendar) is viewed as a paradigm of what a genuinely Islamic state and civic culture should look like. This model civic community, or ummah, is contrasted with the lesser, more parochial networks of tribe, clan, family or business, but it is still classically collegial and corporate. It is to be organised in accordance with the ‘Five Pillars’ of faith: profession, regular worship, almsgiving, fasting and pilgrimage, all of which are cast as shared rather than individualistic endeavours.
Beyond these basic principles, several models of faith-state relationship have emerged in the centuries since the Islamic empire was governed by a single ruling authority, or Caliphate. These different models persist in the outlook of contemporary Muslims. A few, often on the ‘radical’ end of the spectrum in the Sunni tradition, look for the return of a faith-based political system, or indeed of an international Caliphate. Within the Shi’a tradition, some (particularly with personal ties to Iran or Iraq) believe that spiritual values and religious principles should be preserved in government. Most Muslims from both traditions, however, support the existence in Britain of secular government that accurately represents the diversity of religions in Britain; although like many Christians they would prefer to see religious and moral values and constraints reflected in the legal system.
With regard to Britain we can find references to Islamic scholars in the Prologue to Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales (1386). The first recorded Englishman to become a Muslim was one John Nelson, who converted to Islam at some point in the 16th century. In the 18th and 19th centuries there were converts to Islam amongst the English upper classes. The first large contingent of Muslims to come to Britain arrived in the beginning of the 18th century to work as sailors for the East India Company. The first Muslim communities were therefore found in ports around the UK. The seamen required cooks who arrived from what we now know as Bangladesh, from 1873. The first mosque in Britain is recorded as having been at 2 Glyn Rhondda Street, Cardiff, in 1860.
Nearly all British Muslims today trace their roots to those who immigrated to Britain in the 1950s and 1960s (from India and Pakistan) and the 1970s (Africa - mostly from Kenya and then Uganda),[2] or to their descendants. Today there are between 1 and 2 million British Muslims (2% - 4% of the population), and over half were born in Britain. Most British Muslims belong to the Sunni tradition of Islam.
Islam characteristically presents itself as a religion of peace, and resembles Christianity in advocating religious faith as the true basis of core social values like justice and equality. Hence the widespread shock and dismay expressed in the UK Islamic community that the terrorist suicide bombers carrying out the attacks in London on 7 July 2005 were British Muslims. This fact resulted in some commentators asking whether being ‘British’ is actually compatible with being ‘Muslim’. It is fair to note, however, that most British Muslims are moderate and law-abiding, and regard Islamic terrorists as unrepresentative extremists.
There is also an ongoing discussion within the Muslim community about the relationship between state law and so-called shari’a rules. Shari’a, which literally translates as ‘path’, is seen by Muslims as a code of rightful ethical and moral conduct. As with certain other faith traditions, there are differences of opinion and belief as to whether this code is flexible and hence adaptable to changing circumstances and environments, or whether it constitutes a fixed system of rules. Accordingly, there is a wide spectrum of opinion, ranging from progressive Muslims committed to open interpretation, to more conservative Muslims inclined to treat Shari’a as a settled divine canon objectively deduced from the revelatory text of the Qu’ran and the practice of Muhammad. The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) and the Shari’a Council of Britain have asserted on numerous occasions that shari’a rules may contradict or even overrule state law. The view that a ‘divine code of law’ must be implemented as state law constitutes the basis of a radical Islamist agenda. Although this latter position is perceived to be, and actually is, threatening within a democratic environment, it is a view advanced mainly by extremists and is seriously questioned by more moderate proponents of political Islam.
Within the Islamic community there are also of course secular Muslims. Many of these identify with Islam on the basis of having been born into a Muslim family, but do not necessarily practise their religion, except perhaps on specific occasions. In addition, there is a growing number of progressive and liberal Muslims who question orthodox interpretations of the Qur’an in the light of modern knowledge. Whilst most British Muslims remain firmly rooted in conservative readings of their faith, this should not be taken to mean that they thereby reject the concept of British nationhood, or the democratic principles associated with it.
[1] We are particularly indebted to Dr Barbara Zollner, Director of the Islamic Studies Programme at Birkbeck College University of London for her contribution to the research for this section.
[2] African states had begun to pursue policies of africanisation making life highly problematic for Asians already living there.
