Who speaks for Muslims?

Identity and representation | Is anyone in charge?
Who makes the rules? | Generation gap

Identity and representation

Who speaks for Muslims? Unlike Christians, Muslims have no official clergy. In practice, mosque committees and respected scholars are often accepted as speaking for Muslims in matters of religion.

In Britain, when it comes to community issues, several bodies purport to speak for Muslims, either nationally or locally. They may meet with the Home Office, police, MPs or other officials, and are often thought by non-Muslims to be speaking for the entire community. These include, among others, the Muslim Council of Britain, The Muslim Parliament of Great Britain, and The Islamic Society of Britain, though none of them represents all Muslims in the UK.

But many Muslims, especially women, do not accept that these organisations represent them, viewing many of these bodies as self-appointed. Even if they agree with what one or another of these organisations says, they resent the idea that they claim to speak for all Muslims when there is no proper machinery for consultation within the community.

Faith schools

In England, around 30% of maintained schools – those funded by the state – are described by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) as being 'religious in character'. This is a total of some 7,000 schools. Some of them teach a locally agreed religious education syllabus, and have the local authority as admissions authority; more often they have their own religious education syllabus and admissions policy. Such schools are described as 'faith schools'.

There are five Muslim faith schools in England, and none in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland. There are also a number of private Muslim schools throughout the UK. The main argument for state-funding of specifically Muslim schools is simply that, since the state funds such schools for other faiths (mainly Christians), it would be unjust and possibly illegal under European Human Rights legislation to deny them to Muslims.

Until recently, there has been little discussion in England about whether the state should fund faith schools. But in areas of religious conflict such as Northern Ireland, schools have been blamed for perpetuating divisions. Now, some fear that Muslim schools could also exacerbate the isolation felt by the minority community, turning out a generation of children who are even further alienated from the mainstream.

The DfES does not accept that the existence of faith schools is divisive: '[They] can make an important contribution to community cohesion by promoting inclusion and developing partnerships with schools of other faiths, and with non-faith schools. We want to see faith schools working with other local schools to bring children of different cultural and ethnic backgrounds together, and to promote understanding between different sections of our society.'

Community values

Faith schools of all kinds tend to be popular with parents – even those of a different religion from that of the school. Often, they have an ethos and values that parents support. Children who attend a school that reflects their community's faith can work together and learn about their own cultures. Where there are dietary laws, these can be catered for, as can language problems where large numbers of children come from, for example, Urdu- or Bengali-speaking families.

But all schools – including faith schools – reflect the communities they serve and in which they are situated. Even if schools were secular, it is unlikely that this would make much practical difference to divisions within our communities. For example, at the Sir John Cass School, a Church of England secondary school in Tower Hamlets, east London, around 80% of pupils are Muslims. In effect, the children are being educated separately – though not in a Muslim school.

But the vast majority of Muslims continue to send their children to ordinary primaries and comprehensives. This suggests that most Muslim families, for a range of reasons, do not want their children's education to be restricted to Muslim schools.

Like schools, residential institutions specifically based on faith offer shared values, language and culture, which can all be a comfort where families cannot care for an older or sick relative. Unlike schools, they are unlikely to perpetuate divisions in future. The problems may be practical ones, such as difficulty in finding staff familiar with the culture and traditions, or in finding places where prospective residents can be close to their families and communities.

Aspects of identity

For devout Muslims, religion cannot be separated from the rest of their identity. Islam is the most important part of their lives, and provides the values by which they live – such as peace and respect for other people. But, like members of other religions, and of none, Muslims expect to put conscience ahead of the law when these conflict. This is not new: people have done this throughout history.

Most Muslims in Britain see their religion as a private matter – not something they would expect the law or state to interfere with. Neither would they seek to impose their religion on their neighbours. While Islam has traditionally sought converts, devout Muslims believe that such conversion should come from the heart and cannot be forced on anyone.

But many Muslims do demand that the state should give them the respect and facilities it gives to other religions. They argue that where there are laws to protect other religions (such as laws protecting Sikhs and Jews, and laws relating to blasphemy, which currently only apply to Christianity) it is unjust when these do not extend to Muslims. Some believe that there would be contexts in which 'Muslim' might usefully be considered a 'racial' category – as is Jewishness. Others, though, think this would merely confuse the issue.

Muslims, like other people, have many different identities, and religion is just one of these. There may also be a cultural and ethnic identity that is expressed in language, diet and, often in dress. Some identify themselves as Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi or any other nationality in origin, but legally British (as are many white converts to Islam, of course). Muslims also identify themselves with their town, city or country.

Life in Britain

In Britain, ethnic identity is sometimes confused with religious identity. Muslims experiencing racism are often unclear about whether it is their skin colour, the country their families came from or their religion that is the subject of attack.

As British citizens, Muslims play an important part in the wider community. Muslim MPs, councillors, mayors, teachers, doctors, magistrates, social workers and many more individuals work within British society, among and for non-Muslims. Muslims run businesses, schools and universities – they can be found in almost every part of British life. Muslim community leaders often see it as part of their duty to encourage young Muslims to join in and contribute to the wider community.

Their faith or their political allegiance, or both, may be the driving force in this. They see themselves as Muslims who are British, as British people with Muslim beliefs and values, as Muslims with beliefs and values about society that they wish to share with the rest of the community.