Can you be Muslim and British?

by

Sr. Ruqaiyyah Waris Maqsood.

There are many questions these days about the issue of being Muslim and British. Are we just Muslims, full stop? Or are we Muslim and British? Or, indeed, are we Muslim, Asian and British? In my case, of course, as an elderly white English lady, I can never be or feel Asian – even though I was married to one for nearly ten years! Similarly, I can never feel Arab, or Indonesian, or Somalian, or Persian.

It may be worth reminding some Muslims who have originated from countries other than the UK, or whose parents came here and naturally still wish to live, behave, think and speak as their families did in their countries of origin, that to be a Muslim has nothing to do with being a Pakistani, or a Saudi, or a Turk, or a Persian, or indeed, a Britisher.

In a few weeks I will be going to Liverpool to help launch the fund-raising for an Islamic Cultural Centre with a difference – it is housed on the premises of the first mosque in the UK, founded by an English convert, William Henry Quilliam, (Abdullah Quilliam, born 1856) who enjoyed the title of Sheikh-ul-Islam of Britain bestowed upon him by the Turkish Sultan! He, like me, was not only British but white and English. He converted at the age of 31, I converted at the age of 44, and Quilliam’s white English mother – previously a Methodist Christian activist and preacher – converted at the age of 63. Quilliam was often attacked and vilified by the British because in the eyes of the wider community his adoption of Islam implied a rejection of Queen (Victoria) and country, specially since the Empire was at loggerheads with the Ottoman Caliphate.

So, is being Muslim and British a clash of civilizations? Is it easy to be Muslim and British as well? Do I have any allegiance to the British way of life? Well, I do, absolutely, if by that we mean decency and honour, and being hardworking and thrifty and honest.

Am I proud to be British? Sometimes I become very ashamed of things done by British people or politicians, but I don’t feel I can equate those things done with being British. That doesn’t make sense to me.

Should I be as British as possible so long as it doe not compromise my faith? Yes - I cannot see the problem. It hasn’t been a problem for me. Am I politically correct? Absolutely not. For example, I belong to the generation that still thinks sex before marriage, living together and having children without being married, and being flagrantly and publically homosexual, are wrong. I feel I am entitled to my points of view, and if a modern law decrees otherwise, I would go to my grave believing I have the right to try to have the law changed back again.

On my conversion to Islam I had no problem with putting my allegiance to God before all else, since I had tried to do that all my life as a Christian. In my career as a teacher of Religious Education in tough schools where many youngsters suffered a lot, I always felt that I was working for God and that He was my true boss - not the Headmaster. Also, as regarded the laws of the country I lived in, my allegiance to God would always come first. As it happens, I never once felt that any of these rules called upon me to do anything that was contrary to God’s will. If such a situation had arisen, I would have launched into the democratic campaign to have the law changed.

Should a Muslim take part in the public life of any country in which they happen to live if the law is not based on the Shariah? I think so, yes. If the laws are in keeping with the spirit of Islam, as is most often the case in the UK, then there is no problem anyway. If the laws are against the spirit of Islam, then I feel it is important to either follow the advice of the Qur’an and move away to a place where that is not so, or to work hard through democratic means to bring about a change of the offensive law.

I have read the materials of those Muslims who are determined to bring about a khalifate, and who seem happy to do it by attacking, abusing, rejecting and ignoring the country which is their home. This seems crazy to me. A caliph, by definition, should not be that sort of person, but a noble and pious person, full of understanding and compassion and care for others, who was not politically ambitious but put forward for the office by the majority vote of those who see his worth and talents. Unfortunately some of the jihadi Muslim voices heard here in the UK try to make people feel disloyal to Islam if they join in the process of voting at all.

I would love to see the UK ruled by Muslims, but not by corrupt or sleezy Muslim, or by the small coterie of arrogant zealot sectarians taking over by force. Those types are usually strident, abrasive, dismissive, rude, and give the impression that Muslims cannot bear the slightest insult and have huge chips of resentment on their shoulders. They actually sound very much like the BNP at times!! They drive off untold numbers of potential converts, which is not a problem to them as they only regard their own sectarians as the real Muslims, and despise non-Muslims and other Muslims anyway!

I would love to see Muslim influence in the UK come about by our own existing system, more MPs becoming converts to Islam, and more existing Muslims becoming MPs. When I read all the whingeing about Muslims being put up in unwinnable seats, it fills me with dismay. Not the unwinnable seat offered, but the fact that yet again Muslims are seen to be whingeing. There is no such thing as a real unwinnable seat, as the history of the UK’s swings from right to left amply show. To win a seat you must be a worthwhile person, engaged in public work that has earned admiration from others, able to give a good speech. It does not make any difference which religion you adhere to.

I even once had hopes that the cricketer Imran Khan would put up for the job here and not in Pakistan, and what fun it would be if he ended up as the first Muslim Prime Minister. But then, I really would prefer the first Muslim Prime Minister to be a convert white woman!