Salaam IftikharThank you for contributing once more to the Wandsworth forum. I for one admire your sincerity and determination and, I must say, the lack of censorship on your own website in accepting pro-Islamic, anti-Islamic and downright racist postings from the public.One theme I have detected in your postings, however, is the belief that Muslims in the UK suffer "discrimination in all walks of life". I disagree with this view. Who is most likely to discriminate against a Muslim woman, for example? Is the fact that women in the UK of Pakistani or Bangladeshi origin remain at the bottom of the wage scale the fault of wider UK society or traditional male hegemony in the Pakistani/Bangladeshi cultures?Indeed, what do you mean by the "Muslim community"? Sunni or Shia? Philosophical Sufi or austere Salafi? How closely does the worldview of an Egyptian or Moroccan Muslim align with a Pakistani one, I wonder? You yourself Iftikhar have eloquently condemned 'Islamic' honour killings that are neither honourable nor Islamic. Such a practice is acceptable to some Muslims but not to most. There is no universality with regard to the veil either. The Muslim world is as much in disagreement and internal strife as the non-Muslim one. It would be disingenuous to deny as much.This I fear then is perhaps your greatest misconception – the monolithic caricaturing of British Muslims and non-Muslims. Most non-Muslims in Britain don't believe in "binge drinking, yobish [sic] culture and teenager pregnancy" either. There is no uniformity in any camp, religious or secular.Your characterisation of monolithic Muslim and non-Muslim communities therefore does both a disservice. So too your view that "British Muslims… are hated simply for following Islam". Would 1.6 million Muslims be here if such hatred really existed? What I think you have done then is confused objective criticism for racism or the dreaded 'Islamophobia'. Relative to most countries, Britain is extremely tolerant. We have had our share of religious sectarianism and Cromwellian religious theocracy, have campaigned for and won universal suffrage, female divorce and property rights, given back an empire and legalised homosexuality. Our relative modern liberalism has been shaped by our history.At one point in our history, criticising the king or the faith was a capital offence. Doing so now is seen as one of our virtues, testament to democratic maturity – a maturity still lacking in an Muslim world that murdered poets in the Prophet's time and still issues fatwa death sentences on authors and dissenters today.What angers many British non-Muslims then is the perceived ingratitude of the Muslims who, in settling here, refuse to integrate or adopt the language and demand change to conform to their way of thinking. This is not intolerance towards Islam but rather concern that some Muslims seem hell-bent on dragging Britain back into our undemocratic, misogynous, religiously intolerant past.It rankles even more when some call for a "Unity in Diversity" for Britain that is so conspicuously lacking in most (all?) of the Muslim world. A Qur'an is mistreated in Guantanamo and it's an attack on Islam. A Bible, Torah or Bhagavad-Gita is destroyed on entry to Mecca or the Maldives and it's Islamic righteousness. There's a double-standard here. Respect seems too one-sided, accommodation a sign of weakness. With many Muslims there is no middle ground, no chance of negotiation or rapprochement. It's either the 'Muslim' way or no way at all. Any non-Muslim in disagreement is Islamaphobic, a Muslim in disagreement even worse, an apostate (and what's the Islamic punishment for apostasy again?).Muslim toleration is often accommodating only if something conforms to the perceived Islamic viewpoint. If regarded un-Islamic, however, the much vaunted peaceful Muslim tolerance often seems to vanish. Muslim toleration then is not universal, not objective, but too often viewed solely through the lens of Islamic thinking. Please remember one thing Iftikhar - it is not racist, anti-Islamic or hateful for a non-Muslim majority to disagree with a Muslim minority or simply be unconcerned with Muslim issues. It's called 'freedom of conscience'. You seem to be relying on every ounce of western liberalism in order to one day replace it with a separatist Pakistani spin on Islam. Your aims may be noble (you seem sincere and caring to me) but the way you articulate them is symptomatic of the muddied depths to which much 'Islamic' thinking has fallen.There remains a residual 'us and them' attitude in much of the Muslim world. This is the result of centuries of Muslim insularity and the retreat into dogma. Rather than engage in open debate on the differing hues of Islam, a medieval legal system, the internal spats and downright schisms, it's easier to blame others. You don't get what you want? It must be because Britain hates Islam, we're racist. Is this an unfair view? I'll give you an example then. On the www.putneysw15.com website, 'Abou Kwemi' has posted the following comment:"why is there no mosque in putney? i feel this is probably racism attitude of putney peolpe. we must to have mosque in putney for muslim brothers and suisters to worship togethr. I call for strong support to have mosque in Putney for good relations." So, in Abou Kwemi's mind, the absence of something Islamic equates to evidence of racism in Putney. "Good relations" depend on "strong support" for a mosque. Correct me if I'm wrong, but this seems a wee bit threatening, if only in a moral sense. Must residents in Putney really give in to such regressive thinking in order to avoid claims of "racism" and keep "good relations"?With regard to state-funded Muslim schools then, has it ever occurred to you that they would most likely be funded by the very non-Muslim taxpayers you portray as racist, binge-drinking, yobbish Muslim-haters?This is why you may be receiving opposition to your aims. The way you state your case smacks of ingratitude and caprice, of people who want to retreat further into a system of separate development, that 'British or 'Western' ways aren't good enough for Muslims. Hence Gerald Howarth's view that, if such Muslims "…don't like our way of life, there is a simple remedy: go to another country, get out. There are plenty of other countries whose way of life would appear to be more conducive to what they aspire to. They would be happy and we would be happy". Such a sentiment could equally apply to non-Muslims too. If someone doesn't like the country, they're free to leave. British non-Muslims then are growing increasingly weary of sanctimonious accusations of racism and Islamophobia from people who, in their own prejudice, haven't given integration a chance. Many Muslims too are sick of such reasoning but dare not speak out against the bearded Torquemada mullahs for fear of retribution.Now, more than ever, non-Muslims and increasing numbers of young British Muslims need an enlightened Muslim identity that more reflects the modern experience. Your separatist yearnings may only compound the push-me, pull-you forces already bearing down on the children of Muslim immigrants to this country. Instead of perpetuating the discredited arguments, the careworn accusations against the country you choose to live in, why not be at the vanguard of a reformed and reinvigorated Muslim identity? Must a Muslim woman in Britain really look as though she's just stepped out of the scorching seventh century Arabian desert? Must there really be separate development of the sexes, male hegemony, constant attempts to emulate the mores of a different country, a different culture and a different era?If Islam really is open to all people of all eras, try adapting it to the country and time we live in. Don't live in separatist exclusion. If Pakistani children can't speak Urdu then this is the fault of the parents, not the state. Try teaching Arabic in the mosque – Christian schools don't receive money to teach the Bible in Greek, to learn the Aramaic utterances of Jesus or compel their young women to wear a Marian veil.Even more importantly, try giving credit and criticism where they're due. These anti-British, anti-Western diatribes are growing wearisome and weaken your case.
Fraser Pearce ● 7255d