Towards Building a British Islam

New Muslims' Perspectives

Haifaa A. Jawad

• Publisher: Continuum
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN: 9780826496843
• eBook ISBN: 9781441172778
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Islamic Theology

Despite the current negative image of Islam in Europe there has been a steady growth of converts to Islam over the past few decades. British converts are a highly diverse group, with different social, economic and educational backgrounds. Recently this group has grown in confidence and become increasingly active in influencing positive Islamic discourse in Britain. The book sheds light on the intellectual and spiritual contributions of some of the prominent figures of this group of 'new Muslims', and assesses their efforts in shaping Islam in British society; including: Martin Lings, Gai Eaton, Tim Winter and Hamza Yusuf. The research investigates the potential benefit 'new Muslims' can bring to bridge the gap between Muslim communities and wider British society, thus helping in the process of building mutual trust, greater cooperation and positive understanding among all parties in Britain. The work will help readers to become aware of the evolution of a "British Islam" that is more open, rooted in British values and spiritual traditions, and forms a part of the continually changing British religious landscape.

Chapter 1

Islam in Europe

A Historical Perspective

The presence of Islam in Europe is neither an ‘alien’¹ nor a recent phenomenon.² Europeans have had encounters with Islam ever since its origins in the seventh century and the existence of Muslims in Europe can be traced back to historical Islam.³ After their success in uniting the Arabian Peninsula and establishing their state in Medina, the Muslims burst outside the peninsula to spread the word of Islam. In the process, they succeeded in taking over Syria, Palestine, Egypt and North Africa, territories that had previously been part of the Byzantine Empire. From North Africa, they sailed to Europe, taking Sicily, the south of Italy⁴ and the Iberian Peninsula, and reaching ‘as close to England as Poitiers in France in 732’.⁵ The conquest of these territories allowed them to establish a Muslim presence in Europe for many centuries, through settlements but also in due course through conversions on a large scale.⁶ The advancement of Muslims into Europe created tension and was met with a swift reaction. The faith was vilified and branded as Christian heresy, and its founder, Muhammad, was accused of being an impostor and the anti-Christ.⁷ His message was viewed as a potential threat – religiously, politically and strategically – to Europe’s interests and hence needed to be contained or eradicated as quickly as possible; however, as long as Islam was united, it was victorious, and Christendom was unable to stop its advance.

The Crusades were aimed primarily at reclaiming lost territories and re-establishing earlier Christian glory, but they were not of sufficient strength and were unable to release Christendom from Islamic rule.⁸ Europe had to wait several more centuries for its first chance of revenge when in 1492, Granada, the last major Muslim stronghold in Spain was taken over by the successful alliances of Queen Isabel of Castile and her husband Ferdinand of Aragon. This victory cleared the way for the return of Catholicism and the expulsion of both Muslims and Jews from the Iberian Peninsula. But by the time the last Muslims had been expelled from Spain at the beginning of the seventeenth century, there was already a heavy presence of Muslims in another part of Europe, this time through the expansion of the Ottomans that started from the mid-fourteenth century and led to the fall of Constantinople in 1453. Victory over the Byzantines allowed the Ottomans to march through the Balkans with ease, in the process establishing Muslim communities as a result of many factors, chief among them being conversion to Islam on the part of some of the local population.⁹ The Ottomans even besieged Vienna twice, in 1529 and 1683, although they failed to take the city.¹⁰ In addition, ‘Tatar soldiers from the Golden Horde, migrating westward settled in eastern Europe from the late fourteenth century; this led to the establishment of small Muslim communities in Poland and Lithuania’.¹¹ In contrast to Spain and Italy, Muslim expansion in the east of Europe left permanent Muslim communities.

In western Europe, initial Muslim contacts took place through visiting diplomatic missions from Turkey, Persia and India, but one can also notice ordinary Muslims there, such as Ottoman prisoners of war in Vienna who were left behind after the end of the siege of the city in 1683 and large numbers of merchants and seamen in the ports and trading centres, especially from the seventeenth century onwards.¹² Further interactions occurred during the imperial era when the balance of power shifted to Europe. A variety of well-known factors helped Europe to emerge as a collection of major modern powers in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. In contrast to Europe, the Muslim world was facing major crises, retreating and gradually giving way, allowing European states to pursue their own interests, which were becoming international in nature. And the Muslim world was at the heart of those interests; Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt in 1798 heralded the beginning of the end of the Muslim empire as a major power in the international system and set the scene for European countries to compete with each other to establish spheres of influence in the region.

By 1881, Britain had become a dominant power in India, and soon afterwards it spread its influence over the Arabian Gulf region in order to protect its valuable possession, India. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 allowed Britain, after successful competition with other European countries, to take over Egypt in 1882. The occupation of Egypt led to the establishment of an Anglo-Egyptian Condominium over Sudan in 1898. In east Africa, it shared Zanzibar and Somaliland with other European countries and extended its influence as far as Yemen, taking over Aden, a key port on the Arabian Peninsula. France swept through most of north and west Africa, establishing firmly its dominion in countries as far afield as Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco. While Persia was already divided into spheres of influence between Russia and Britain, the Muslim central-Asian territories came under Russian occupation. The Sultanate of Sokoto with its Nigerian colony was absorbed by Britain. In southeast Asia, the Dutch assumed control over Indonesia, while Britain put the Malay states under its protection. By the late nineteenth century, the only Muslim power that remained was the Ottoman Empire, which was coming to the end of its lifespan. It had already lost ground to European powers, especially in the Balkans, and, by the beginning of World War I, consisted only of Turkey proper and the Arab countries of the eastern Middle East. The defeat of the Ottomans during World War I led to the final demise of the Muslim power and the taking over by Britain and France of the remaining Arab territories in the Middle East. By 1919, only Afghanistan and Yemen (excluding the port of Aden), as well as Hejaz and Nejd on the Arabian Peninsula, managed to escape direct political subjugation and retained a semblance of independence.¹³ The rise of European states as strong powers had major consequences for the Muslim world. It led to complete political and economic subjugation, with Muslims no longer having any control over their natural resources. The colonial relationship that ensued meant a loss of sovereignty and its replacement by political and economic dependence. A huge gap developed between Europe, which was progressing economically, politically and technologically, and the Muslim world, which was retreating in both the military and the political spheres.

During this period, however, other more subtle processes were occurring, the most significant of which was the movement of people from both sides, although somewhat limited at this early stage. From the Muslim world, sailors, traders, diplomats, exiles and students visited Europe for different reasons, although very few decided to stay there permanently. From the European countries, apart from military personnel and foreign diplomats, there were independent travellers who wrote extensively on the cultures of the Muslim world and on their own adventures in the lands of Islam; there were missionaries who were hoping to convert Muslims to Christianity; and there were those who wanted to make their fortunes, taking advantage of the fact that their respective governments were in charge of the political and economic affairs of those lands. Last but not least, there were visitors who wanted to know more of the world beyond the confines of European culture, and there were those who were searching for spiritual and religious fulfilment. Some of this latter group who travelled to the Muslim East converted to Islam; of these, a few stayed and married Muslim women while others returned home and set up their own religious groups to live according to Islamic principles and introduce Islam to non-Muslims.¹⁴

As mentioned, the movement of people, especially of Muslims migrating to western Europe, was of a limited extent in the first half of the twentieth century, but this pattern changed enormously after World War II, most markedly in industrial western European countries. The collapse of European economies at the end of World War II necessitated a period of reconstruction, which was initiated with the help of the so-called Marshall Plan to help Europe get back on its feet. This created a need for migrant labour to fill shortages in the indigenous European labour market; policies and supporting legislation were therefore created to encourage labourers (the majority of whom were Muslims) from former colonies to come and work in most western European countries, especially France, Germany, Britain, the Netherlands and Belgium. In due course, this legislation set the scene for a number of waves of international migration from the Muslim world; whereas earlier migrants came seeking economic betterment, later on, especially from the 1970s and 1980s onwards, there were further waves of Muslim immigrants who came mainly for political reasons. The influx of Muslim immigrants in large numbers led to the establishment of considerable Muslim communities in various western European countries after they had decided to make these countries their permanent residence. This has altered the demographic composition of Europe and its religious landscape; Europe has become a multicultural society consisting of a variety of ethnic and religious groups, of which Muslims are among the most dominant.¹⁵ Their presence on the continent is an inescapable fact, and their numbers are constantly increasing owing to several factors: first, the continuous international migration (both legal and illegal) from Muslim countries, which continues despite the stringent rules enforced in most western European countries in an attempt to reverse it; second, the birth rate among European Muslims, which is higher than among European natives; thirdly, and most importantly, the steady increase, especially in recent decades, in the number of western European natives who have converted to Islam, thus making it the fastest growing religion in Europe. Currently, Islam is the second religion in most western European countries after Christianity. The rest of this chapter will deal with the phenomenon of European converts to Islam.

Some Selected European Converts to Islam

There are no reliable figures as to the number of converts in western Europe,¹⁶ either at the collective level or at the individual national level. As stated earlier, most European states do not usually inquire about religious affiliation in their national censuses, and mosques in most individual European countries do not keep formal records on the number of people who convert to Islam, making the prediction or estimation of numbers very difficult and haphazard, even at the provisional level. It may be added that, due to the current anti-Islamic feeling that has prevailed since the September 11 attacks of 2001, most European converts have decided not only to stop declaring their conversion publicly but have also stopped adopting new Muslim names, as often used to be the case. I know of at least two male friends who for years used Muslim names but after the September 11 attacks decided to revert to their Christian names for fear of discrimination. Like born Muslims, they feel under siege and suspected, but ironically this feeling of suspicion among converts sometimes comes from the Muslim community as well. By the same token, some female converts have also avoided donning the scarf or identifying themselves as Muslims; it is not clear how widespread this issue is, but it is certainly taking place among some female converts. Having said this, it is certainly possible to claim that the faith is attracting followers from among native Europeans – and at an increasing pace.

Conversion to Islam among western Europeans is neither new nor unheard of; the only difference is that in the past conversion took place among a few, mainly notable people who for one reason or another were attracted to Islam and accepted its tenets. In recent years, however, conversion has been taking place at an accelerating pace among people from a variety of social, political, educational and ethnic backgrounds, thus making the phenomenon highly important and significant for all parties concerned. There is now in each western European country a small but significant number of native converts who are highly active in their respective societies, some of them forming and establishing Islamic communities, though these have not yet been recognized as such. Scholars have differed in their explanations for this phenomenon: some have stated factors such as intermarriages, intellectual encounters, spiritual needs, curiosity (especially as a result of surfing the internet) and reaction to anti-Muslim feelings, while others have cited Islamic missionary activities as a driving force behind the increase in the number of converts in western Europe. In my view, this claim must be treated with caution as Muslim missionary work in reality is not well organized and is underfunded, especially after the September 11 attacks. Further, given the nature and contents of these missionary activities, it is very difficult to imagine their success and efficacy, especially among the elites of native European converts.

Despite the fact that European converts are small minorities in their respective countries, they are highly motivated and have taken active roles in mediating between the wider society and the Muslim community, as well as promoting the need for the Muslim communities. Some of them are also making an educational, intellectual/academic and spiritual contribution and hoping to form an expression of Islam that is at ease with the ideals of their respective societies. In tune with the overall theme of the book, the focus here will be on the life stories and intellectual/academic efforts of prominent European scholars who have converted to Islam and have contributed intellectually and spiritually to faith in general and Islam in western Europe in particular. The criteria for selecting these figures are based primarily on their prominence and seniority, popularity and accessibility (whether their works are available in English or not) and their impact on or the role they play through their writings in shaping the Islamic discourse in both their respective societies and the wider European context. It is important to stress that the list is by no means exhaustive and that, furthermore, my book deals neither comprehensively nor in depth with their intellectual achievements, for each one of these figures is a prominent scholar in his or her his own right, and to do them justice would require a separate and detailed work for each, which the scope of the current study does not permit. Hence, I will give a brief and concise account of their conversion and of their works on Islamic themes that have contributed immensely to the faith in their respective societies and beyond. The majority of the selected group have left us for the world of spirits but are still living with us as they have left an enduring legacy that continues to affect and influence so many people, both intellectually and spiritually. Moreover, several of them are little known in the English-speaking world; even though some good work has been done on them recently, this work is still confined to the privileged few. The average reader is still too unaware of their works to appreciate their contribution and impact. I still remember vividly (and still feel outraged by) a discussion I had recently with a prominent member of the university’s philosophy department about the possibility of introducing a course on the writings of some of these scholars, about whom he was completely oblivious! But, first, let us get started.

René Guénon or Sheikh Abdul Wahed Yahya

Little is known about René Guénon in the English-speaking world despite the fact that he has left an enduring legacy that has had an important impact on that part of the world.¹⁷ Born on 15 November 1886 in the city of Blois in west-central France, he had a conservative Catholic upbringing. As a child, he suffered from health problems that delayed his official education until the age of 12.¹⁸ To compensate for this, his aunt taught him how to read and write until he was finally able to attend school. In 1906, he moved to Paris, where he was introduced to different spiritualist groups, with which he kept in continuous contact. He also joined Rollin College, where he gained a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy and Mathematics. He spent the early years of his adultho...

Table of contents

• Cover-Page
• Half-Title
• Series_Page
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Foreword
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Islam in Europe
• Chapter 2: Early British Convert Community (or Native British Converts to Islam): An Overview
• Chapter 3: Native British Converts: Post-World War II Era Onward
• Chapter 4: Post-World War II Case Studies: Case Study I – Martin Lings or Abu Bakr Siraj al-Din
• Chapter 5: Post-World War II Case Studies: Case Study II – Gai Eaton or Hasan Abdal Hakim
• Chapter 6: Contemporary Case Studies: Case Study I – Tim Winter or Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad
• Chapter 7: Contemporary Case Studies: Case Study II – Mark Hanson or Shaykh Hamza Yusuf
• Conclusion
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index