Muslim Identity Politics in the UK, 1960-2010 Development, Challenges, and the Future As Illustrated by ‘The Fate’ of Freedom of Expression
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Muslim identity politics in the UK, 1960-2010 Development, challenges, and the future as illustrated by ‘the fate’ of freedom of expression Khadijah Elshayyal Thesis submitted to the Department of History, Royal Holloway, University of London, for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. 1 Declaration of Authorship I, Khadijah Elshayyal, hereby declare that this thesis and the work presented in it is entirely my own. Where I have consulted the work of others, this is always clearly stated. Signed: ______________________ Date: ____________________ 2 Abstract The past four decades have witnessed a tremendous amount of change and development in the area of British Muslim identity politics. From the establishment and growth of local and regional community groups, to international Islamic movements taking root in the UK and making an impact on the attitudes and aspirations Muslim communities. From the Rushdie affair and its legacy, through to the impact of international terrorism (9/11), and terrorism on home soil (7/7), all of these events have left their unmistakeable mark on Britain’s Muslim communities. While there has been much recent academic study on British Muslims, there has been a lack of in-depth focus given to critically charting the development of a formal identity politics through official representative organisations, in the context of the rationale for claims that have been put forward towards government, their evolution and refinement over time and the impact of factors such as multiculturalism, Islamophobia and securitisation. With this thesis, I aim to contribute towards filling this gap in the literature. I first examine how formal Muslim identity politics ‘scene’ developed into the current familiar form. I look at some of the theory that has been used both to explain and to justify it. This includes examining aspects of British culture, and that of immigrant Muslim communities, which have informed and complicated approaches to engagement and dialogue at one and the same time. It also involves looking at notions of equality as recognition, and the idea of misrecognition. I propose that ever since the Rushdie affair of 1989, political claims put forward by Muslim organisations have been driven by the existence of an ‘equality gap’, and a keen desire to close this gap has informed and motivated their identity politics. Freedom of expression is a theme of particular interest. In the form of the Rushdie affair, it was a major trigger for the coming together of disparate Muslim groups to collectively engage with the government. Since then it has consistently been a site of much sensitivity, contention and debate. Deploying examples relating to freedom of expression, I illustrate how Muslim identity politics has evolved over the years and how priorities as well as tactics for Muslim groups and successive governments with whom they have engaged have both shifted and changed. Comparing and contrasting Muslim identity politics with the experiences of Britain’s Jewish communities, I draw out salient points of commonality and difference in their respective communal organisations. By pointing out how similar Muslim claims towards government have been to those made by Jews in the past, I show not only how Muslim identity politics has consciously benefited from the prior experiences of British Jewry, but, importantly, that Muslim political claims are not as exceptional or unreasonable as critics might suggest. Finally, I take stock of how British Muslim identity politics has progressed over this period, assessing the extent to which the ‘equality gap’ has been closed. I argue that while it has been considerably narrow, the events of recent decades have led to a change in its focus. I present projections and recommendations on the future of Muslim identity politics in the UK. I argue that whereas in the past period, Muslim organisations were overwhelmingly preoccupied with lobbying of the state, the future of identity politics lies in harnessing the potential of civic partnerships based on shared interests between diverse communities. This approach, when supplemented with the traditional lobbying role played by representative groups, can more effectively address the ‘equality gap’. 3 Contents Abstract 3 Acknowledgements 6 Acronyms 8 Glossary of non-English terms 10 Chronology 12 1. Introduction 16 Setting the Scene: historical and theoretical contexts 21 1.1 Free Speech in British and Muslim traditions 23 1.2 Equality in the theoretical terrain 36 1.3 Identity Politics: definition, theory and practice 43 1.4 Methodology 47 1.5 Thesis outline 49 2. Identity preservation and the birth of modern ‘Muslim 59 consciousness’: 1960s – 1980s 2.1 Muslim identity and ‘Britishness’ 60 2.2 Muslims in the ‘pre-multicultural’ Britain 62 2.3 Identity politics, race relations policy and equality in the UK 65 2.4 Muslims and identity politics: from subsistence as a primary 72 concern to the longer view 2.5 The first phase of community organising in the 20th Century 74 Conclusion 90 3. The formalisation of Muslim identity politics: Responses to hate 93 speech, discrimination and the Equality Gap, 1980-2001 3.1 Muslims and race relations policy – the Equality Gap 95 3.2 The formalisation of unity – and competition for representation 105 3.3 New Labour and Muslim representation 108 3.4 Jewish community organising in the UK – a survey 110 3.5 Institutionalisation of Muslim Identity Politics in Britain – 114 unique challenges 4 3.6 The MCB and its genesis 119 Conclusion 125 4. Turning Point 1: The aftermath of the September 11th Attacks, 127 September 2001 – July 2005 4.1 British Islam at the turn of the millennium 128 4.2 Muslims, freedom of expression and civil liberties in a post-9/11 135 Britain 4.3 New community challenges and policy trends: some losses, some 142 gains 4.4 Proactive self-expression through politics, civil society 148 engagement and creativity Conclusion 151 5. Turning Point 2: Identity politics and the threat of terrorism at 152 home, 7th July 2005 – June 2010 5.1 Terrorism on home soil 154 5.2 Legal changes and the Terrorism Act 2006: the ‘hard’ approach 159 5.3 State-initiated community-centred responses: the ‘soft’ approach 168 5.4 The MCB, the ‘Israel Test’ and the rise of ‘apolitical’ Islam – the 184 media directly influencing political trends? 5.5 British Muslims – a changed identity politics in a changing 191 political landscape Conclusion 194 Postscript 199 6. Conclusions 210 Figure 1: Reproduction of Sadek Hamid’s ‘Applying Ramadan’s six major 223 Islamic tendencies to the British Muslim context’ Figure 2: Historical version of Sadek Hamid’s ‘Applying Ramadan’s six 224 major Islamic tendencies to the British Muslim context’, based on landscape of Muslim organisations/trends between 1960-1990s. Table 1: Glossary of Muslim representative and advocacy groups 225 Bibliography 231 5 Acknowledgements The period of my doctoral research has been one of great change both academically and personally, and I fear that I will never be able to adequately acknowledge the many people to whom I owe debts of gratitude and appreciation – but I shall try! Professor Cecile Laborde of the School of Public Policy at UCL was my first supervisor, and it was while studying for my MA, also under her supervision, that I became deeply interested in the issues and dilemmas of Muslims in multicultural Europe. Her advice, guidance and comments on the first two chapters especially, were invaluable. I benefited enormously from the regular Political Theory Seminars at the SPP, where some of my earliest ideas were tested out, challenged and revised. I also specifically thank Katerina Mantouvalou, a former colleague at UCL, for her comments and feedback on some of my initial drafts. Thereafter, it has been an immense honour to complete the thesis under the supervision of Professor Humayun Ansari. I cannot thank Professor Ansari enough for having the confidence in my work and accepting and facilitating my transfer from not only a different university, but also a different discipline. His advice, comments, insights, questions and support throughout have been immensely beneficial as well as motivational. I held formal interviews and informal conversations with a large number of individuals from British Muslim communities and organisations, as well as some from the Jewish communities. I was touched by the generosity – with both time and information, and occasionally hospitality – that I was shown by all my interviewees. Many have requested to remain anonymous, so I will respect their wishes by simply acknowledging them collectively, heartfelt thanks to you all! I consider myself extremely fortunate to have some truly superb friends who have always shown genuine interest in my work, and helped to keep me in touch with the ‘real world’ – Thank you to Faaria, Shaheen and Zarina, and thank you to my friends from my undergraduate days at King’s College London, particularly Sophia. Special thanks are reserved for Jasmine Gani who, as ever, has been an absolutely invaluable friend and colleague. But I can truly say that without the help and support of my family, I would not be submitting this thesis. They have all in different ways endured this journey with me through unstinting support – emotionally, financially, and otherwise. Their good humour and countless sacrifices have been humbling. Basma, Abdurrahman, Abdulkhaliq, Jamal, Amr, Mariam and Nada as well as Maryam, Serene, Noor and Hamza – thank you! Most of all, my parents, Dr Farid Elshayyal and Dr Fatma Amer are owed a huge debt of thanks. Being the daughter of two academics, the burden of expectation in education has always been high, and I know it is one I will never fulfil, but I hope this thesis will go some way towards making them proud! My mother especially has been a massive inspiration to me. Whenever I felt daunted by the road ahead, I remembered how she completed her own doctoral thesis with five children to care for.