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'British' and 'Muslim'?
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A picture of
Regents Park Mosque and the Islamic Cultural Centre, London.
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Is
there such a thing as a 'British Muslim'? A conference held recently
in Birmingham emphatically stated that you could only be
'British' or 'Muslim'– that you have to choose to be either; one
of ‘them’ or one of ‘us’. Despite the fact that this sounds
all too much George Bush’s logic, this issue is worth thinking
about for its implications are very serious. Ultimately though, it
doesn’t seem to be a problem for the vast majority of Muslims
living in Britain (a poll undertaken by MORI (Market & Opinion
Research International) in November 2001, reported that 87% of
Muslims surveyed feel ‘loyal to Britain'),
Let
us consider some of the Islamic teachings that may shed light on
this whole issue. Muslim identity is forged by the complex
interchange of numerous factors, perhaps the most influential among
these being the concept of God and man’s relationship with God.
For a Muslim, God is One (Tauhid) and is the Creator, Sustainer and
the final Judge of all affairs. He is the Lawgiver and the
Sovereign, but above all He is Merciful and Forgiving. And while man
is created as Vicegerent of God (Khalifah), as His Trustee on earth,
God is ever conscious that man is liable to weakness and
forgetfulness. In fact among the meanings of the word for man (insan) in Arabic is the ‘one that forgets’. Man is therefore
deputed, but encouraged to constantly bear his Lord in mind through
remembrance (dhikr), in order to be conscious of Him (taqwa) and
relinquish His duty as a khalif (vicegerent), with justice and
diligence. This strong relationship between man and God is designed
to keep God at the hub of man’s life, such that the Divine spirit
touches all of man's actions, whether related to this world or the
hereafter. In fact, there is no such division. For, God is the Guide
in all affairs. In order to remind mankind, throughout the ages, God
has chosen messengers and given them inspiration and revelation to
bring people back on track. This role now rests on the believers who
are encouraged to ‘call unto good things’, to ‘promote what is
right and discourage what is wrong’. This spiritual relationship
of lordship (rabbaniyah), sets the scene for man’s many and varied
roles in life.
This
strong relationship between man and God is designed to keep God at the
hub of man’s life, such that the Divine spirit touches all of man's
actions…
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The
Muslim is therefore a subject of God, in fact His deputy, who lives
not for himself only but to bring goodness to humanity. The concepts
of tauhid, istikhlaf and rabbaniyah form the core of a Muslim being
and essence. Islam does not give much importance to nationalistic
identities; it frowns upon all such divisions, rather than uniting
on the common bond of faith. However, this does not mean that a
Muslim cannot hold a piece of land dear to his or her heart. When
the Prophet—Peace Be Upon Him--had to make Hijrah (immigration) he
expressed much sorrow that he had to leave the place of his birth
and childhood, the place he considered ‘home’. It is narrated
that while leaving Makkah, the Prophet turned back and said, “Of
all God’s earth, though art the dearest place unto me and the
dearest unto God, and had not my people driven me out from thee I
would not have left thee.”[1]
Islam
does not give much importance to nationalistic identities; it frowns
upon all such divisions, rather than uniting on the common bond of
faith.
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What
Islam is against is the type of nationalism that degenerates into
tribalism, of support for ones kinsfolk while putting aside ethical
concerns. Or when one thinks “my countryman, right or wrong”.
The deciding factor is, then, justice. It is healthy for all human
beings to have a place they call home, that is natural and the way
Allah created us. But how could a Muslim call the centre of the old
colonial Empire their home? Surely that is like selling out? Well
actually it isn’t! Firstly, all land belongs to Allah, it is His
earth that we reside on. The Prophet described the whole world as a masjid, pure and clean. To Allah belongs the East and the West. So
what is wrong with taking a part of Allah’s earth as your home?
During early Islamic history, Muslim scholars derived specific
geo-political terms to define the way in which the law should apply
to Muslims living within and outside the Muslim territories. The
region that was under Muslim rule was defined as Dar al-Islam (abode
of Islam) and the ‘other’ regions were variously described as
Dar al-Harb (abode of war), Dar al-Kufr (abode of unbelief),
Dar
al-‘Ahd and Dar al-Sulh (abode of treaty), Dar al-‘Amn (abode of
security), etc.
Many
more definitions were coined, but by far the most popular to the
scholars were the first two, leading to what Tariq Ramadan calls
‘a binary vision of the world’[2]: the world of Islam and the
world of ‘Others’. The implication this division had on
jurisprudence was great. Though there were differences among the
various schools, most of them disliked that a Muslim should live
outside Dar al-Islam. Permission was granted for traders, students,
preachers, etc., but these were generally seen as exceptions to the
norm. This discussion was inter-linked with other debates that were
going on among the scholars of Islam: If a Muslim lives in a
non-Muslim society, what are his duties towards that society? What
are his duties towards the Shar‘iah (jurisprudence), i.e. the law
of the ‘homeland’? What if a person (living in a non-Muslim
society) converts to Islam, should he/she migrate to Dar
al-Islam?
The opinions of scholars were quite diverse. While Abu Hanifa (d.
767) disliked that Muslims should reside in non-Muslim territories
and Malik ibn Anas (d. 795) felt it was strictly prohibited,
Abu’l-Hasan al-Mawardi (d. 1058), on the other hand, was of the
opinion that if a Muslim could practice his religion in a non-Muslim
land, that land could be seen as part of Dar al-Islam. Ja‘far
al-Sadiq (d. 765) suggested that at times it might be better for a
Muslim to live in non-Muslim territory.[3] Upon close scrutiny
one can deduce that the vital criteria of Dar al-Islam were seen to
be factors such as personal security, justice, freedom of worship
and avoidance of corruption. One may, therefore, raise questions
about the situation today, where in some cases Muslims have been
forced to flee from Muslim countries and seek refuge in countries in
the West because of political problems. Bearing these factors in
mind, some contemporary scholars are questioning the whole approach
of this binary vision. Is it possible in this globalised world to
have such a vision, especially when no such entity exists that the
scholars can unanimously identify as Dar al-Islam against which a
Dar al-Harb can be defined? Fathi Osman, Yusuf al-Qardawi and Faisal
Mawlawi are notable scholars who have been working on this issue
over the last decade. Their writings now seem to be filtering into
US and European Muslim circles, especially as the latter two
scholars are involved in a European Fiqh Council established in
1997[4].
If
a Muslim lives in a non-Muslim society, what are his duties towards
that society? What are his duties towards the Shar‘iah
(jurisprudence), i.e. the law of the ‘homeland’?
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Furthermore,
if we look closely at the story of the Prophet’s life, the Makkah
he was leaving, was dominated by Mushrikeen (polytheists), yet he
felt it was his home! The whole Arab identity was one that revolved
around the dominant culture of idolatry, a culture in which baby
girls were buried alive, and in which drink and promiscuity were
common. Yet the Prophet never asked the Muslims to deny their Arab
identity, he simply redefined it, redirected it. He took the good
things from it, like the honouring of guests, honouring to one’s
word, the chivalry and bravery of soldiers, and discarded the bad
things such as idol worship, bad treatment against women, drinking,
etc. In fact this is why the Qur’an uses the phrase Amr bil
Ma’ruf wa Nahy an il-Munkar (enjoying the Good and forbidding the
Evil). Ma’ruf, commonly translated as ‘good’, actually means
in Arabic the things that are 'common and well known', established
in society. Hence you simply take on those things that are good and
reject those that are bad. There was never a revolution where the
Prophet suddenly changed the lives of people, it was a gradual
replacement of the bad things.
Yet
the Prophet never asked the Muslims to deny their Arab identity, he
simply redefined it, redirected it. |
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Even
when the Quraish were oppressing the Muslims, this was no reason for
the Muslims to denounce their Quraishi ancestry. The attitudes of
the Sahabah (the companions of the prophet) when they left Arabia
after the death of the Prophet , also show that they had tremendous
respect for local customs and habits; cultures. This is why if you
look from Morocco to Malaysia, you will 'not' see one type of food,
or language or dress. Few people often stop to think that Pakistan,
a land that many British Muslims identify with, was at one time
occupied by non-Muslims. At some stage our ancestors converted to
Islam. This type of change is constant in history where cultures,
civilisations and peoples are always in a state of flux, they are
always evolving. Let us look at India, would any of us say that it
is wrong to talk of ‘Indian Muslims’? Yet this is a clear
example of a country where Muslims are a minority. There are
political problems with Kashmir, the majority culture is
non-Islamic, etc. Yet we are used to hearing of ‘Indian
Muslims’, because somehow that is more acceptable than the terms
'British' or 'French' or 'American Muslims'.
The
attitudes of the Sahabah (the companions of the prophet) when they
left Arabia after the death of the Prophet , also show that they had
tremendous respect for local customs and habits; cultures.
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Some
raise objections of racism and people not accepting Muslims as being
truly British. Well, some people will always react like that. This
is something we must struggle against. We can see however the
tremendous impact that migrant communities have already had on
Western nations in a relatively short span of time (one wonders how
come that 'curry' is the most popular dish in the UK!). Most people
are willing to accept the diversity of Western societies. Even if we
look into the history of countries like Britain, we will see that
diversity is an integral part of it. The British Isles have been
host to Celts, Romans, Vikings, Normans, Saxons, and more recently
migrants from almost all other parts of the world. Each group adding
something to British identity, enriching it. It is interesting to
note that some of the very popular symbols of Englishness such as
the St. George’s Cross, Christianity, afternoon tea, Morris
dancing and fish & chips--all have major foreign influences. The
legend of St. George was brought to England by crusaders returning
from the Middle East. Christianity of course had the same origins,
tea comes from the Far East, Morris dancing is thought by some to
come from north Africa (‘Moorish’ dancing?), and fish &
chips are thought to be a combination of Jewish and Irish culinary
skills. Even the English language is classified as a Germanic
language coming from the Indo-European family of languages.[5] But
even if our contribution and our very presence is not valued let us
take consolation from the stories of the prophets of God in the
Qur’an. In many stories of the early prophets in the Qur'an, they
were rejected by some people from their communities. “Oh my
people”, they would call out to them. We have to remember that the
people they were talking to were not ‘good practising Muslims’,
they were people who were stealing, or were worshipping idols,
others who were oppressing the weak. These were the very people the
prophets called as their ‘brethren’, their people. Are we then
in any way better than the prophets? Too good to associate ourselves
with such ‘bad’ people? We often make criticism of Western
societies as though evil and corruption doesn’t exist in the
Muslim world, and it is common to hear us compare the best of
Muslims’ ideals with the worst of Western or British realities. We
have to compare the realities with realities and the ideals with
ideals.
We
often make criticism of Western societies as though evil and
corruption doesn’t exist in the Muslim world…
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The
question of physical manifestations of loyalty is at times a
controversial discussion among some Muslims. While adopting a
'national status' can Muslims engage in acts of
patriotism?–Perhaps the most visible of which are acts such as
displaying the flag or reading or standing for the national anthem?
According to Shaikh Faisal Mawlawi, “Muslims living in non-Muslim
countries are to respect the symbols of those countries such as the
national anthem, national flag etc. This is part of what citizenship
dictates as per modern customs…Thus, standing up for the national
anthem is not a form of prohibited loyalty. If a Muslim is to change
a wrong action in a majority non-Muslim country, let him do that
through Da‘wah [(Islamic call)], wisdom and fair exhortation. At
the same time, he should not obey any rules that involve
disobedience to Allah.”[6]
One
other question that is often posed is “which are you first: Muslim
or British?” Such a question is actually a non-issue. In fact
there are two distinct identities involved here: one is a religious
and philosophical identity and the other is a national or
territorial identity. Just as one could be Christian and British, or
Humanist and British, so one can be Muslim and British, without the
need for contradiction, tension or comparison between the two.
In
fact there are two distinct identities involved here: one is a
religious and philosophical identity and the other is a national or
territorial identity. |
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At
the centre of debates such as Muslims expressing an identity that is
British, or indeed engaging in the political process of a Western
nation-state (that may be at odds with some section of the Muslim
world) is the notion of loyalty (wala). To whom is loyalty due?
According to a fatwa of the European Council for Fatwa and Research:
Al-Wala’
can be divided into the two sections:
1.
Loyalty in religious matters. It refers to creedal loyalty, which
lies in believing in Allah and shunning other beliefs that run
counter to the Oneness of Allah. This kind of Al-Wala’ is due to
Allah, His Messenger and the believers. Almighty Allah Says: “Your
friend can be only Allah; and His messenger and those who believe,
who establish worship and pay the poor due, and bow down (in
prayer)”.[7]
2. Loyalty as regards worldly matters: This refers to transactions
between people living in the same society or between different
societies, regardless the distance and the religion. It is
permissible for Muslims to engage with non-Muslims in commercial
transactions, peace treaties and covenants according to the rules
and conditions prevalent in those countries. Books of Jurisprudence
do contain many references about such kind of dealings.[8]
Loyalty
is hence multi-faceted and operates at many different levels. Each
one of us regularly balances loyalties to ourselves, our families,
our work commitments and careers, our friends, the community, the
nation, etc. At times these loyalties can clash, but this is not a
case just for Muslims, but for all people. A person with a passion
for the environment, for example, may have personal views about how
to live and consume that do not agree with the views of the
majority, or at least with some state policies. Living in any
society involves a constant negotiation of our different values and
ideas, allegiances and loyalties. The very framework of most modern
constitutions is designed to facilitate this by giving room for
freedom of individual thought and belief.
The
very framework of most modern constitutions is designed to facilitate
this by giving room for freedom of individual thought and belief. |
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But
there is a reality that we must face whichever opinion you end up
following and that is to realise that Muslims in Britain are here to
stay. We must therefore think seriously of two challenges. First,
how to build a place for ourselves here and; second, how to
contribute to the lives of the people here, I would say, “my
people”.
Integral
to both of these challenges is that we open our doors to people
around us so they know who we are and what we want. Let them see
that there is more in common between us than that which is
different. As Muslims our duty is not just to ask about our rights
and privileges, but also to contribute, to help build this society.
This is why it is necessary that we understand that this is our
society, that the people around us are our people. The Prophet
never isolated himself from the people, he always interacted with
them, engaged with them, talked to them, lived with them. It was by
seeing his behaviour, his personality that people were most
impressed. When we talk of ‘Islamic work’ in this country, many
people picture someone giving a talk, or going to the neighbourhood
knocking on people’s doors, this is all fine, but in no way is
this the whole story. It is far more important that we live in this
society and involve ourselves in it fully. We have ideas to
contribute when it comes to health, education, crime, unemployment,
homelessness, etc. Let us not sell ourselves short by being boxed
into a little niche, labelled as ‘preachers’.
We
have ideas to contribute when it comes to health, education, crime,
unemployment, homelessness, etc. Let us not sell ourselves short by
being boxed into a little niche, labelled as ‘preachers’. |
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All
of this will not come easily; if we are to really make our
contribution to this society we must do at least another thing, in
addition to creating opportunities for it to know us, and we must
strive to know it. The Prophet Muhammad was known as ‘The
Trustworthy’, ‘the Honest’, ‘the Truthful’. How many
Muslims in this country have the same reputation? We must counteract
the prejudices that hamper people’s view of us and at the same
time improve ourselves so that we can be model citizens. But that is
not enough for we also have to know our people. How many of us know
about the history of this country? How many of us have some
knowledge of English literature and philosophy? How many of us even
read the newspapers daily? How many of us really interact with
non-Muslims in our daily lives in some meaningful way? Sadly not
enough. Unless we are able to feel the pulse of society we will not
talk to people, but talk at them, and our words will have very
little effect. This again shows exactly why we need to be in tune
with our Britishness. I hope you agree.
(To
read a more detailed coverage of British Muslim identity and other
related issues see: British Muslims: Between Assimilation and
Segregation, co-edited by the author of this article. Due out in
October 2003, by the Islamic Foundation, Leicester, UK).
Dilwar Hussain
The author is a Research Fellow at the Islamic Foundation and
can be contacted by email: dilwar@islamic-foundation.org.uk.
1-
Lings, Martin, Muhammad: His Life Based the Earliest Sources.
Unwin Hyman Ltd, London. p.118.
2-
Ramadan, Tariq, To Be a European Muslim. Islamic Foundation,
Leicester, 1999.
3-
Fadl, Khaled Abou El, “Islamic Law and Muslim Minorities: The
Juristic Discourse on Muslim Minorities From the Second/Eight to
the Eleventh/Seventeenth Centuries,” Islamic Law and Society,
Vol. 1, No. 2, Leiden, 1994. pp. 148-150.
4-
The European Council for Fatwa and Research (al-Majlis al-Urubbi
li’l-Ifta wa’l-Buhuth) which brings together scholars from
different schools to consider the challenges facing Muslims living
in the West, especially Europe.
5-
See The Encyclopaedia Britannica.
6-
http://www.islamonline.net/fatwa/english/FatwaDisplay.asp?hFatwaID=79294
(Date of Fatwa: October 2002).
7-
Qur’an, 5: 55.
8-
http://www.islamonline.net/fatwa/english/FatwaDisplay.asp?hFatwaID=78491
(Date of Fatwa: August 2002).
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