Last week, PM David Cameron endorsed a letter sent out by Communities Secretary Eric Pickles and co-signed by Muslim Tory Lord Ahmed, imploring more than 1000 Islamic leaders in the UK to “explain and demonstrate how faith in Islam can be part of British identity” as “reasonable and moderate.” However, this was met with objection from their recipients and Deputy Secretary-General of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), Harun Khan, who retorted: “Is Mr Pickles seriously suggesting, as do members of the far right, that Muslims and Islam are inherently apart from British society?”
In the wake of the extremist attacks on ‘Charlie Hebdo’ and kosher supermarket in Paris, there can be no denying that there is an issue with Islamist extremism. As well as alarming the public as a whole, the threat levels being raised to the 2nd highest by security officials, the Jewish minority were shaken too. Theresa May said in her statement at a Sunday service commemorating those killed in France that she "never thought” she would “see the day when members of the Jewish community" would be "fearful" for their lives in the UK. The Jewish charity the Community Security Trust reported an "unprecedented" number of calls following the recent international developments, and the term ‘international’ is key in an equitable multicultural society.
Cameron said this week that Muslim leaders “really have a problem” if they could not accept their role in controlling fundamentalist violence. Though such a comment could be interpreted as glib, Pickles’ letter was incisive: “show them these men of hate have no place in our mosques or any place of worship, and that they do not speak for Muslims in Britain or anywhere in the world (…) the Government will do all we can to defeat the voices of division, but ultimately the challenges of integration and radicalisation cannot be solved from Whitehall alone. Strong community-based leadership at a local level is needed.” Accountability is not attributed solely to the Muslim community, but acknowledged as a shared cultural issue. This concedes Lord Sacks, former chief Rabbi’s, quite rightful observation that Muslims might feel “you’re asking of us something that is not under our control”.
There is substance in the nuance of Pickles’ internationally extended address: a major issue is losing Muslim youth who travel abroad and train with the IS, drifting from the nation and their religion. National border control has had to tighten security checks as many return from Syria and Iraq; a teenager (an eighteen year-old woman) has already been detained from Stansted Airport. As important as it is for western governments to take a multi-faith stance, it is also vital that multi-faith leaders ally with their country; making clear a significant relationship is key in keeping stray young radicals, the children of both Britain and Islam, protected and fulfilled. Solidarity is more important than ever as statistics show that the world-wide web is the most integral conduit in youth radicalism and xenophobia is paramount: ‘The Economist’ printed alarming figures showing how terrorist activity creates an exaggerated projection of Muslims in general. The British believe the group to make up 21% of the population when in reality it is 5, while the French believe there to be 31% when the reality is 8. In both cases, this is roughly four times the actual amount.
