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M a y w e w i t h l a m p s a l l t r i m m e d a n d b u r n i n g • G L A D L Y W E L C O M E H I S R E T U R NThe following was published in the EveningStandard newspaper, London, 4 September 2006 andis republished with the author’s express permission.By Dr PATRICK SOOKHDEOInternational Director of Barnabas FundONCE there were tens. Then there werehundreds. Now Peter Clarke, head ofScotland Yard’s anti-terrorist branch,speaks of thousands of militant BritishMuslims, indoctrinated and radicalisedin British mosques and madrassas like the JameahIslameah school in Sussex raided at the weekend[Sept 2 2006].This is not, primarily, because of the influenceof a handful of a few “preachers of hate”. Islamicextremism has spread in Britain thanks to aparticular brand of multiculturalism encouraged bythis government. And until the government tacklesit —especially the influence of Muslim faith schools—all their new efforts to build cohesion will cometo very little.The context goes far beyond Britain.Contemporary Islam has burst out of its colonialrestraints. Once colonialism removed power, jihadand territorial control from Islam, it was left abenign force focusing on prayer and good deeds.But contemporary Islam has reverted back to earlyIslam, with all its theological rage against the non-Muslim world. Issues like Iraq and Afghanistan havebecome valves for expressing this anger and hatredagainst Britain and the West.Increasingly, it is the values and culture ofIslam which defi ne the identity of British Muslims.A senior British Muslim leader has defined Muslimidentity as: creed, sharia and umma.The Islamic creed is non-negotiable. Thosewho do not share this creed are despised as kafir(infi dels). Hatred of non-Muslims is preached inmany British mosques.Meanwhile Islamic law, sharia, is deemed bythe majority of Muslims unalterable. Its medievalformulations cannot be updated. Yet it is thisdiscriminatory law, which many British Muslimswish to see enforced.Finally the umma, the worldwide communityof Muslims, is the primary focus of loyalty. Itrepresents the political as well as the religious.Muslims have a duty to defend each other. Thisdefensive jihad is what leads Muslims to go andfight in places such as Iraq.It might seem paradoxical that the UK, which hasgranted Muslims greater freedoms than any otherWestern country, should be the greatest Westernincubator of Islamist violence. The explanation liesnot only in the radicalisation of Islam but also in thegovernment’s policy on multiculturalism.There is a positive aspect to a multiculturalismwhere people share and enjoy each other’s cultures.But the UK’s well-meaning policy of validatingevery faith and ethnic community culturally, in adepoliticised way, is naïve when it comes to Islam.For Islam does not separate the sacred from thesecular: it seeks earthly power over earthly territory.The result is that already the UK has reached thestage of parallel societies, where purely Muslimareas function in isolation.Worse, this is about to be made semi-offi cial.In West Ham a gigantic mosque is planned by theradical Tablighi Jamaat group. The London ThamesGateway Development Corporation says that thenew mosque will make West Ham a “cultural andreligious destination”. This will be nothing lessthan an Islamic quarter of our capital city. But hasanyone asked the people of West Ham? The non-Muslims? The moderate Muslims such as Barelwisand Sufis? The Muslim women? And shouldn’tthe government be looking into why a movementclaimed as inspiration by a number of convictedterrorists should be allowed to control a wholecommunity?One must feel grateful for the police’sinterception of terrorist plots. Yet we must tacklethe root causes, rather than dealing with this threatsimply by vigilance and appeasement. Giving in tothe demands of Muslim extremists will not turnthem into liberals loyal to the UK. They will simplywant further concessions.This is now the government’s dilemma. Withthe launch of the Commission on Integration andCohesion last month {August 2006], it recognisedthat it must address the development of separatesocieties. Privately, ministers are deeply worried.Yet at the same time the government seemsfixated on empowering an ultra-conservativeMuslim leadership embodied by the Muslim Councilof Britain and Muslim Association of Britain. It sayssharia will never be permitted in Britain, yet it hasallowed sharia-compliant mortgages, and admitsthat many British cities have sharia councils.Just as important, communities minister RuthKelly has already excluded faith schools fromthe remit of her examination of integration andcohesion. Yet many Islamic schools are known tonurture values that are radically different from thoseof the prevailing society.Faith schools have a long and noble traditionwithin the British Isles. Christian denominationalschools as well as Jewish schools continue toplay an important role in community cohesion.Whether Islamic schools can fill such a role is highlyquestionable.Has the time come to say no to Islamic schools,whilst allowing the others to exist, even thoughthis may seem unjust? Or should we consider anew kind of school where all children can studycore subjects together in the same environment,with religious teachers—be they mullahs, rabbisor priests—instructing the children in their ownfaiths?I believe Islam needs different treatment fromother faiths because Islam is different from otherfaiths. It is the only one which teaches its followersto gain political power and then impose a lawwhich governs every aspect of life, discriminatingagainst women and non-believers alike. And this isultimately why a naive multiculturalism leads not toa mosaic of cultures living in harmony, but to onethreatened by Islamic extremism.Most British Muslims are not supporters ofterrorism. Some have embraced Western liberalvalues and society. Others are peaceful but simplyprefer to live in their own separate community.Mainstream fi gures such as Shahid Malik MP havecourageously called for British Muslims to fi ghtagainst extremism.But unless all of us, Muslim and non-Muslimalike, join forces against the kind of multiculturalismwhich has nurtured extremism, we may eventuallyfi nd that whole swathes of London and other citieshave become “cultural and religious destinations”dominated by Islamic extremists—men who wouldremove the very freedoms so many moderate BritishMuslims now appreciate.About the AuthorDR PATRICK SOOKHDEO is internationaldirector of the Barnabas Fund which offershope and aid to the persecuted Church.www.barnabasfund.org25