The London bombings
This special edition of Shariah TV, filmed exactly four weeks after the bombings in London on 7 July 2005, explores the impact of those terrorist attacks on Britain's Muslim communities. In the studio, young British Muslims share their views and put challenging questions to a panel of Islamic scholars.
The bombings in London have focused attention on Britain’s Muslim communities as never before. It is widely accepted that Muslims committed them and that the perpetrators died in the blasts – making them Britain’s first suicide bombers. It is also claimed that some of the bombers had attended madrassas – Islamic religious schools – in Pakistan where they were exposed to radical interpretations of Islam.
In the aftermath of the bombs, ordinary Muslims are experiencing increased abuse and assaults. One man has been murdered in Nottingham and mosques have been attacked. Even though Britain abolished the death penalty in the 1960s, a 'shoot-to-kill' policy against suspected suicide bombers has been enacted without recourse to Parliament. This has had deadly consequences for a young innocent Brazilian. Many young Muslims know that the victim could have been one of them. According to a Guardian/ICM poll, hundreds of thousands of Muslims have considered leaving Britain.
Has Islam been hijacked?
UK-based Muslim clerics and scholars have united to condemn the London bombs unequivocally, yet the perpetrators of suicide bombings in different parts of the world leave testaments in writing and on video proclaiming that they are fulfilling Islamic duty by becoming martyrs for Allah. They claim that the Qur'an and Hadith justify the use of force against injustice, and that force is permitted in a situation of 'war'.
Some Muslims contend that Islam is a religion of peace, which permits fighting only against other combatants, and specifically outlaws harm to women and children and to civilians. They claim that Islam has been hijacked and that individual verses of the Qur'an are being taken out of context for political objectives. So who is right?
Other scholars condemn the bombs in London but not those perpetrated by the Palestinian resistance against Israel. The controversial Muslim cleric Dr Yusuf Al-Qaradawi was quoted on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme as claiming that Israeli citizens, including children, are neither civilian nor innocent.
Where do we draw the line?
Many mainstream Muslims who believe that Islam forbids suicide attacks, recognise that they are part of the Ummah – the global Muslim community. They feel obliged to help fellow Muslims who are facing injustice and oppression, and share the anger felt across continents about the West’s invasion and occupation of Iraq, war against Afghanistan and support for Israel’s continued occupation of Palestine. They understand that people will want to act on this anger. But is it possible to explain and understand this anger without justifying the form it takes? And where should the line be drawn between acceptable and unacceptable forms of protest in a society that often denies Muslims a voice?
In the wake of the bombings, the media have questioned the loyalties of Britain’s Muslims. Is a commitment to the Ummah at odds with integration into British society? Or does belonging to the Ummah give Muslims the cultural strength to contribute effectively to a society where they frequently experience racism?
Loyalties and responsibilities
The London bombings themselves have been described as attacks on the diversity of British society in its most cosmopolitan city. And the whole range of Muslim communities in Britain were assumed by the Government and much of the media to be collectively responsible for making amends to British society – even though Muslims were among those who died at the hands of the bombers. Do collective statements of condemnation by religious leaders imply that Muslim communities accept collective responsibility? And if so, are they playing into the hands of racists who make blanket accusations against whole ethnic and cultural communities?
Muslim leaders are assumed to have power to influence the behaviour of their wider communities in ways that would never be expected of Britain’s church leaders. It appears that some young Muslims, angered by racism at home and humiliation abroad, did not elect their communal or religious establishment and do not feel bound by the views they express, supposedly on behalf of the community.
While the global grievances felt by many Muslims continue to be fed, politicians in Britain deny any link between these grievances and the bombings. Meanwhile, the tabloid media stoke up more anger. There is a climate of fear and apprehension that Muslims in Britain feel very keenly. What can Muslims here do to bring peace and security to their lives in Britain today?