Is London's Future Islamic?

[Louis]

It’s the capital’s fastest growing religion, based on noble traditions and compassionate principles, yet Islam can still be tainted by mistrust and misunderstanding. Here Time Out argues that an Islamic London would be a better place

 

The noise from the expectant crowd hushed to a murmur as an open-backed lorry that had driven slowly up the Mall – known since the Islamic revolution of 2021 as The Way of the Martyrs – nudged its way through the thousands gathered in Mohammad Sidique Khan Square. On the lorry, two masked guards held a young man, black hood over his head; a quiver running through the material suggested he knew what was coming.

 

The lorry halted by the plinth that had once held Marc Quinn’s sculpture ‘Alison Lapper Pregnant’ – long since removed as an insult to decency – and was now the place of public execution. A rope noose attached to a wire cable hung from a mechanised hoist. The main doors of what had been the National Gallery flung open and an Imam walked down the steps of the new Institute of Islamic Jurisprudence, opened only a week before by Sultan Charles, Prince of Islam and protector of the faithful in England.

 

The official executioner placed a stepladder against the plinth. The lorry pulled up and the young man was pushed out, then forced up the ladder. The noose was forced over the condemned man’s head. The crowd chanted ‘Allahu akbar’ (God is greater than everything).The hoist driver put his finger on a green button … Okay, not really – that’s a hysterical, right-wing nightmare of a future Muslim London: where an cruel alien creed is forced on a liberal city. A society where women are second-class citizens, same sex relationships a crime and Sharia law enforces terrible public disfigurement and death. But the reality is a long, long way from this dark vision.

 

For a start, Islam is not an alien religion to London. At the end of World War I the city sat at the heart of an Empire that had 160 million Muslim subjects, 80 million in India alone. London was the largest Islamic capital in the world. Forty years later and the end of the Empire, unrest and war and poverty in south Asia had lead to mass immigration to the mother country and London became a Muslim capital in another sense.

 

According to the 2001 census there are 607,083 Muslims living in London (310,477 men and 296,606 women). The majority of Muslims live in the east of the city and, by 2012, the Muslim Council of Britain estimates that the Muslim population of Tower Hamlets, Newham, Waltham Forest and Hackney will be 250,000. There are plans afoot (though no formal application has yet been submitted) to build the UKs biggest mosque – capable of welcoming 40,000 worshippers – near the 2012 Olympic site, a move which has prompted predictable outrage from some quarters. Consequently, Muslim disillionment with a reactionary and often ill-informed press is at an all time high.

 

But rather than fear the inevitable changes this will bring to London, or buy in to a racist representation of all Muslims as terrorists, we should recognise both what Islam has given this city already, and the advantages it would bring across a wide range of areas in the future.

 

Public Health

On the surface, Islamic health doesn’t look good: the 2001 census showed that 24 per cent of Muslim women and 21 per cent of Muslim men suffered long-term illness and disability. But these are factors of social conditions rather than religion. In fact, Islam offers Londoners potential health benefits: the Muslim act of prayer is designed to keep worshippers fit, their joints supple and, at five times a day, their stomachs trim. The regular washing of the feet and hands required before prayers promotes public hygiene and would reduce the transmission of superbugs in London’s hospitals.

 

Alcohol is haram, or forbidden, to Muslims. As London is above the national average for alcohol-related deaths in males, with 17.6 per 100,000 people (Camden has 31.6 per 100,000 males), turning all the city’s pubs into juice bars would have a massive positive effect on public health. Forbid alcohol throughout the country, and you’d avoid many of the 22,000 alcohol-related deaths and the £7.3 billion national bill for alcohol-related crime and disorder each year.

 

Ecology

‘The world is green and beautiful,’ said the prophet Muhammad, ‘and Allah has appointed you his guardian over it.’ The Islamic concept of halifa or trusteeship obliges Muslims to look after the natural world and Muhammad was one of the first ever environmentalists, advocating hima – areas where wildlife and forestry are protected. So we could expect more public parks under Islam, but halifa also applies to recycling: in 2006, 12,000 Muslims attended a series of sermons at the East London Mosque explaining the theological evidence for a link between behaving in an environmentally sustainable way and the Islamic faith.

 

Education

Presently, Muslim students perform less well than non-Muslim students. In inner London, 37 per cent of 16 to 24-year-old Muslims have no qualifications (the figure for the general population of the same age and location is 25 per cent). When it comes to university education the picture is equally gloomy: 16 to 24-year-old Muslims are half as likely to have degree level or above qualification than other inner London young people.

 

Again, social factors rather than religion have led to this state of affairs. Young Muslims in London are often of south Asian origin and therefore more likely to live in households where English is not the first language, more likely to encounter racism (both intentional and unintentional) during their education, and more likely to suffer from poverty and bad housing conditions.

 

But Tahir Alam, education spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain, claims Muslim children do better in their own faith schools than in the mainstream state sector: ‘Muslim schools have their own distinct ethos. They use the children’s faith and heritage as primary motivators to provide the backdrop for their education and behaviour. This ethos is consistent with the messages that children are getting at home, so it is a very coherent operation between the home and the school.’

 

If Islam became the dominant religion in London the same ethos could be applied to schooling across swathes of underprivileged and deprived areas of the city. This could have a revolutionary effect on educational achievement and, perhaps just as importantly, general levels of discipline and self-respect among London’s young people. While controversy rages over faith schools, there are 37 Muslim schools in London. As of 2004, only five were state schools, but there is growing pressure to bring more into the state sector which, according to Alam, will ‘help raise achievement for many sectors of the Muslim community. Many private Muslim schools are under-resourced and if they can be brought into the state sector this valuable experience can be extended to more children.’

 

Food

Application of halal (Arabic for ‘permissable’) dietary laws across London would free us at a stroke from our addiction to junk food, and the general adoption of a south Asian diet rich in fruit juice, rice and vegetables with occasional mutton or chicken would have a drastic effect on obesity, hyperactivity, attention deficit disorders and associated public health problems. As curry is already Londoners’ and the nation’s favourite food (see our Brick Lane food feature), it would be a relatively easy process to encourage the adoption of such a diet. Not eating would be important as well. The annual fasting month of Ramadan instils self-discipline, courtesy and social cohesion. And Londoners would benefit philosophically and physically from even a short period when we weren’t constantly ramming food into our mouths.

 

Inter-faith relations

In an Islamic London, Christians and Jews – with their allegiance to the Bible and the Talmud – would be protected as ‘peoples of the book’. Hindus and Sikhs manage to live alongside a large Muslim population in India, so why not here? Although England has a long tradition of religious bigotry against, for instance, Roman Catholics, it is reasonable to assume that under the guiding hand of Islam a civilised accommodation could be made among faith groups in London. This welcoming stance already exists in the capital in the form of the City Circle (see Yahya Birt interview), which encourages inter-faith dialogue and open discussion.

 

Arts

Some of the finest art in London is already Islamic. The Jameel Gallery at the V&A houses ‘ceramics, textiles, carpets, metalwork, glass and woodwork, which date from the great days of the Islamic caliphate of the eighth and ninth century’ up until the turn of the last century. Or take a free daily tour of the Addis Gallery of Islamic art (at the British Museum). London-based Nasser David Khalili, an Iranian-born Jew, has amassed what is considered to be the world’s largest private collection of Islamic art. Islamic influences have also flourished in other areas of the arts, with novelists, comedians (Birmingham-born Shazia Mirza was an instant hit on the London circuit), and music (from rappers Mecca2Medina on, to the less in-your-face Yusuf Islam).

 

Social justice

Each Muslim is obliged to pay zakat, a welfare tax of 2.5 per cent of annual income, that is distributed to the poor and the needy. If the working population of London, 5.2 million, was predominantly Muslim this would produce approximately £3.2bn each year. More importantly, everyone would be obliged to consider those Londoners who haven’t shared their good fortune. London would become a little less cruel.

 

Race relations

Under Islam all ethnicities are equal. Once you have submitted to Allah you are a Muslim – it doesn’t matter what colour you are. End of story.

[Mac]

I know this is a non-demominational site but let me offer the following.....

 

Psalm 32:1,2

 

ATB

 

Mac

[Romey 1878]

What does that Psalm say?

[MikeO]

1 Blessed is he

whose transgressions are forgiven,

whose sins are covered.

2 Blessed is the man

whose sin the LORD does not count against him

and in whose spirit is no deceit.

 

[Mac]

I would like to offer this thread up to all our diverse and varied members and will say to BK....

 

Psalm 36:4

 

Read it Billy Boy.

 

ATB

 

Mac

[GoldfishMemory]

WTF is that post about and who wrote it Louis??

[Pat]

Proper Ganda that.

[Zed]

They paint a nice flowery perfect world, therefore it would model the nice flowery muslim countries that these people flee to come to London/ Uk to live a better life

[Louis]

It was from that time out magazine

[CraccerC]

oh dear...im in london 2moro for a job interview

[Mac]

Answer the following questions -

 

Do you follow the teachings of Allah?

 

Do you belive in the subjigation of women?

 

Do you like young boys?

 

Do you believe that Bush is the devil?

 

If you didn't have oil, do you honestly believe that anyone in the Western world would give a fat rats arse about you or what you think?

 

This is close to the knuckle, I know, but we are at war folks, speaking from experience, war is hell on earth, Extremist Muslims have brought us to the brink.

 

Fight or flight time.

 

ATB

 

Mac

[Blue 250]

The question was is Londons future Islamic?

 

Well after watching the news today!....maybe a better question would be

"is Isreals future Islamic"!!

 

My thoughts on Religion!........I watched the film today by Al Gore(ex American

vice president)....the name of which I have forgotten The one about Global

warming!90 mins of hard hitting facts and photo's.I have to admit it really hit home

about the problems were facing.Most if not all of them man made.

 

SO!....If there is a God of any faith.......and he or she created this beautiful planet!

I'm pretty sure they would have kicked our pathetic species of this said planet!!

 

We laughed in History lessons at the ancient world for worshipping the moon,the sun

and trees!!!!............now half the world is killing the other half because of two books!

 

Maybe those people who worshiped the the sun,the moon,trees and the seas weren't

so stupid after all!

[thebluenose]

i dont wish to offend any devout religious people on this forum but i must say this. i have the opinion that religion causes more trouble than good in this world.

 

the crusades were all about claiming the holy land and spreading christianity

 

the trouble in isreal is about a feud which jews and muslims have had for centuries

 

to a certain extent the trouble in northan ireland with catholics and protestants (the william of orange parade for example)

 

it even extends to footy teams. celtic and rangers have sectarian violence

 

and there are corrupt tevangelist in america who use peoples faith to scam them money.

 

 

PS: im a bit shaky with my interpretations if people would like to correct me im more than happy to change my opinion if im wrong.

[MikeO]

It's a very valid viewpoint Alex and I don't think anyone could say it was wrong...certainly not me.

 

I don't get religion at all...never have, even though I've tried on occasion. I'm completely and continually amazed that people who are otherwise extremely intelligent and rational believe in something so profoundly (IMO) unlikely and ridiculous. Specially when it come to the "My God's bigger than your God and I'm going to kill you if you don't agree with me" situation.

 

As someone once said (sadly I can't remember who)

 

It’s when the world degenerates into some Singapore back-alley cock-fight between True Believers of one imaginary parental figure and those of another that it all starts to get unnecessarily weird.

Edited June 15, 2007 by MikeO

[Zed]

The problem is not religion is people, the religions are just a vehicle for the problems of man. If it wasnt religion and it was all abolished it would be something else that would give people the excuse to be arseholes

[Mac]

The problem is not religion is people, the religions are just a vehicle for the problems of man. If it wasnt religion and it was all abolished it would be something else that would give people the excuse to be arseholes

 

Give that man a cigar, or a toffeeapple.

 

Well put mate, religion is a deeply personal thing, I don't care which God you follow, I don't care if you have no Faith, the only thing that really matters is being nice to each other.

 

Every holy book on the planet preaches that, so why can't we all follow our doctrines?.

 

ATB

 

Mac

[MikeO]

....I agree...with both him^ and the one above him (the supreme beings that are Mac and Zed )

[Pat]

Phew, Glad thats's sorted.

 

I waz just about to get all Aryan Brotherhood on ya'z..