Muslims in Britain: identity, prejudice, progress and political influence

Muslims comprise 7% of the UK population, and they are growing rapidly. Most are British citizens, but some are not. British Muslims are overwhelmingly descended from immigrants in the last three generations who hailed from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Turkey, Nigeria, Egypt, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Somalia, Eritrea and Malaysia. Therefore, most of them originated in Britain’s erstwhile empire.

There are certain ethno-religious minority enclaves. In London, there is Bangla Town for the Bangladeshi community. The area is officially named Brick Lane, but since the influx of Bangladeshis in the 1970s, it has not been known as that. In the London Borough of Haringey, there are many Turks. There are lots of Somalis in the London Borough of Harrow. Along Edgware Road, London, one may find dozens of restaurants run by Egyptians, Somalis, Syrians, Iraqis and suchlike. They often call themselves ‘Lebanese’ restaurants, whatever the national origin of the proprietor.

Birmingham is the United Kingdom’s second-largest city. It is also home to plenty of Muslims, particularly those of Pakistani descent.

Bradford is a city in northern England, and it is known for its large Pakistani community: they make up 35% of the city. The city is colloquially known as Bradistan. Manchester and Burnley also have large Pakistani minorities.

The British Muslim community is very diverse in terms of ethnicity, but also attitudinally. There are British Muslims who approve of the Taliban right through to those who are Muslim in name only.

When the United Kingdom is broken down by religious denomination in terms of wealth, the Jews are at the top, followed by the Sikhs. Then there are various denominations of Christians, with the Church of England (C of E) people coming third. The C of E is the church of the establishment, so it is not surprising that land-owning and professional class families are often adherents thereof. Shia Muslims and then Sunni Muslims tend to come near the bottom. Some Muslim multimillionaires in the United Kingdom have made their money as entrepreneurs or bankers and the like. There are plenty of upper-middle-class Muslims who are doctors, dentists, accountants and so forth.

Muslims in the UK tend to marry younger and have more children than people of other religious denominations.

All political parties have Muslim Members of Parliament. The First Minister of Scotland, Hamza Yusuf, was a practising Muslim and was leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP). The Conservative Party had Muslim cabinet ministers when in office, including two who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer (Finance Minister). The Labour Party attracts the most Muslim votes, and the current Lord Chancellor, Shabana Mahmood, is a Muslim of Pakistani parentage. The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, again of Pakistani descent, is also a Labour person.

The UK Muslim community voted 90% Labour in the 1980s. That was partly because they tended to be working class, and Labour was seen as the party of the working class. British Muslims mostly lived in conurbations where their non-Muslim neighbours were also mostly Labour voters. Labour had been more welcoming of immigrants than the Conservative Party.

The British Muslim community now, however, is less pro-Labour than ever before. That is for several reasons. The embourgeoisement of the community means that identification with Labour is less strong. Moreover, there has been class dealignment in voting behaviour. Further, British Muslims have moved out of their conurbations in some cases. The community has been disappointed with Labour’s anti-Palestinian policies.

Pro-Palestinian candidates stood in the 2024 election. Five of them were elected to Parliament: all of these in constituencies with large Muslim communities. The Muslim community is flexing its muscles.

In the 1970s, the UK granted uniform modifications to Muslims. Muslim girls and women are allowed to wear headscarves with a school uniform, police uniform, an army uniform or an air hostess uniform. They are allowed to wear ankle-length skirts instead of knee-length skirts.

There is some anti-Muslim prejudice in the UK. In every country, some xenophobes dislike the ‘other’. Some of the prejudice is not against Muslims as such, but against brown people. The most observant Muslims tend to wear different clothes from the average Briton, and they are therefore more identifiable.

There were groups such as the now-defunct English Defence League (EDL), which appealed to the basest anti-Muslim prejudice. The EDL said it was not racist and had some Sikh members. If a Muslim commits a crime, the people will say it is because he is a Muslim. But this is not the case if a Christian or an atheist, or a Buddhist does so.

There are anti-Muslim hate crimes, such as graffiti, but fortunately, rarely violence. Schools are very alert to anti-Muslim bullying.

Some Muslims have not helped the community by saying they wish to impose a Sharia state. Some British Muslims carried out bombing attacks in the United Kingdom. Despite being denounced by all ulemas, these attacks provoked a spate of anti-Muslim prejudice.

Conflicts such as Iraq and Afghanistan exacerbated anti-Muslim animus. It is often overlooked by bigots that many Iraqi Muslims and Afghan Muslims were on Britain’s side in these conflicts. Moreover, some of the UK’s NATO allies are Muslim nations such as Albania and Turkey.

Some Britons are fed up with concessions being made to Muslims. A secular group called ‘One Law for All’ said that no exemptions should be made for any faith. They object to uniform modifications for Sikhs and Muslims. They say that halal food should not be served. Cruelty against animals legislation has an exception for halal butchering, which this pressure group wants to see repealed.

There are some indigenous Britons who have embraced Islam. Mr. Pickthall was an upper-class Britisher who, in the 19th century, uttered the Shahada. He is the best-known translator of the Holy Quran into the English tongue. There was also Mr. Quilliam in the 19th century, who was another white Briton who became a Muslim. The Quilliam Foundation is named in his honour. Its mission is to disseminate liberal Islam.

In the 1600s, the East India Company ships began sailing to South Asia. Some Indian merchants and sailors came to England. Among them were the first Muslims to settle in the British Isles. Some stayed and wed Englishwomen. Their children were half white. In the succeeding generation, the mixed-race children intermarried again, and the grandchildren were three-quarters white. These people tended to lose their Islamic faith. They were gradually absorbed into the white Christian community.

Before 1945, Muslims were 0.01% of the British population. The first mosque was constructed in the United Kingdom in Woking, a small town to the west of London. At Brookwood Cemetery, there is a significant Muslim section. It is not far from Woking.

Many white Britons are staggeringly ignorant about Islam. They say that Mohammed is the God of the Muslims and that Muslims chant ‘Ali Ali Akbar.’ Until recent times, many white Britons confused Islam with Hinduism! That is because most British Muslims were descended from people who had come from South Asia since 1947, just like the British Hindu community.