The Open Society Institute's report on Muslims in Europe paints a picture that we're not used to seeing in the papers

By Samia Rahman

Of the various things to come out of the Open Society Institute's report on Muslim communities in Europe, including disturbing information about the level of discrimination they face, I'm not at all surprised to read that Muslims living in Britain appear to be the most patriotic. According to the research, on average 78% of Muslims in the UK consider themselves to be British, compared with 49% in France and 23% in Germany.

A heightened awareness of identity politics over the past 10 years seems to have accelerated the emergence of a pan-Islamic British identity. Predominantly second-generation Muslims from countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, Somalia and Egypt are identifying themselves less in terms of "back home" and increasingly in terms of "being here".

This development of a British Muslim identity has enabled many Muslim men and women to cast aside restrictive cultural practices and reclaim their Islamic rights in harmony with being rooted to Britain. Islam as a way of life no longer has to involve adhering to a narrow definition of what it means to be a Muslim, characterized by frequently patriarchal traditions that can be traced back to a person's country of origin.

It is telling that of second-generation Leicester Muslims, 94% consider themselves British. Could this be an endorsement of the much-maligned concept of multiculturalism, suggesting that the process of integration, as opposed to assimilation practiced in the rest of Europe, is proving fruitful in the long-term?

That the trend is for UK Muslims to nurture and establish a British Muslim identity seems to have been long overshadowed by the frenzy of Muslim-centric stories in the media. Incidents seem to make it into the news purely because their Muslim angle has been amplified. All this is likely to achieve is to perpetuate myths and pander to fears, culminating in the emergence of reactionary groups such as the English Defense League and Stop Islamization of Europe.

Whether it's a Muslim taxi driver refusing a blind man a ride because apparently Islam dislikes dogs (OK, I am a bit scared of dogs but I know a fair few Muslims who do have one) or the Archbishop of Canterbury calling for Sharia law in the UK because apparently that's what Muslims want (he didn't, and in any case, I don't actually know any Muslims who do) or everybody's favorite – the veil or face-covering (as only a tiny fraction of the population wear it surely it doesn't merit the column inches it gets), there seems no let up.

It's true that radicalization does pose a serious challenge to the Muslim community, prompting some to question its patriotism. Yet if the spotlight could be shone even for a second on the grassroots initiatives and community projects underway up and down the country reaching out to those Muslims who are disaffected, perhaps this fear could be tempered. It is a shame that those hovering on the fringes of the Muslim community who espouse the most extreme, inflammatory and unrepresentative opinions monopolize the headlines. Perhaps the OSI report will go some way towards redressing the balance.

Samia Rahman is a freelance journalist living in London. She is the former deputy editor of emel magazine and has written for the Guardian, Prospect and New Statesman. She also worked on the Channel 4 Dispatches documentary, Young, Angry and Muslim

Source: guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 15 December 2009

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