A study into Anti-Blackness amongst young Muslims within the UK Published July 5, 2020
250 non-Black Muslims were surveyed between 4th and 5th June 2020. The split of people surveyed is as follows – the bulk of responses were from people of South Asian origin, (49% Bangladeshi, 30% Pakistani and 13% Indian). Arab, White and Other made up the remaining 8%
82% of people have witnessed anti-black racism from their own family and friends. 31% of people admitted themselves to holding anti-black prejudice either past or present. Of the 82% of people who have witnessed anti-black racism from their friends or family, 85% of those people heard clear anti-black stereotyping. Moreover, 60% of people have regularly heard racial slurs come from non-black Muslims. However, what is even more concerning is that 63% of people have been told by their friends and family to fear black people.
In our study, we asked people to recount what type of anti-black discrimination they have witnessed and the word ‘mosque’ was mentioned countless times. Here are a few examples:
“You hear the older generation all the time using racial slurs when black Muslims come to the mosque.“ Response 227
“In my local mosque it’s usually full of Bangladeshis and some Pakistanis. On occasion we have black brothers pray there too and they get a lot of stares and hushed comments.“ Response 186
“My father-in-law refuses to pray at the mosque when it’s a black imam leading the prayer. He makes comments about they are not ‘real Muslims’ just because they may follow a different madhab from us.“ Response 207
Another theme that sticks out is the notion that there are visible signs of “tribalism and nationalism” within UK mosques that leads to “cliques” being formed. Specifically, the accounts noted people moving away from black Muslims during congregational prayers from both male and female mosque-goers.
The responses also showed that 13% of people that had black friends growing up were told to cut ties with these friends for no valid reason other than the colour of their skin. The fear mongering from parents and elders within non-black Muslim communities is continuing to divide the Ummah and further anti-black racism. In addition to this, the volume of responses that mention the use of abhorrent racial slurs within their family and friends circles is an overwhelming 60%. The variety of words from South Asian and Arab languages all stem from a place of discrimination. The madaaris, mosques, charities and other Muslim organisations need to do their utmost to address this issue.
https://muslimcensus.co.uk/anti-blackness-amongst-young-muslims/
2016
Most Muslims in Britain consider themselves to be “British”, rather than “English”, “Scottish”, “Welsh” or “Northern Irish”, and most feel that this is their only national identity, although a substantial minority identify with some foreign nationality. Those who were educated abroad are much less likely to think of themselves as British than those educated in Britain. Religion plays an important part in the lives and identity of most Muslims in Britain, particularly those who are UK graduates.
However, a strong sense of religious identity sits alongside a strong sense of British identity – Muslims are more likely than the British public as a whole to say that their national identity is important to their sense of who they are (55% of Muslims say this, compared to 44% of all adults).
Muslims tend to have more conservative attitudes towards gender roles and homosexuality than the rest of the public, although many of these views were more widely shared by the British public as a whole not long ago. A majority (52%) of Muslims disagree that homosexuality should be legal in Britain, although attitudes among young Muslims are somewhat more liberal (18% of all Muslims but 28% of those aged 18-24 think that it should). Close to half of Muslim men and a third of Muslim women agree that “Wives should always obey their husbands”.
83% of Black and Asian Muslims agree, including 37% who strongly agree, that it is important that people of their ethnic group should maintain their own values, beliefs and traditions. (Muslim women, 41%, are even more likely than Muslim men, 34%, to strongly agree.) The overall figure is the same for non-Muslim ethnic minorities (83%) although they are fractionally less emphatic with 33% who strongly agree. 73 Similarly, three-quarters agree that “It is good for society if different ethnic groups keep their own customs and traditions” (21% “strongly agree”, and a further 53% merely “agree”). For non-Muslim ethnic minorities, 15% strongly agree and 56% agree.
Those born abroad – who did not feel a significantly weaker level of belonging to Britain than those born in Britain – were also asked about their sense of belonging to their country of birth: 48% felt they belonged very strongly, 31% fairly strongly, very marginally weaker than their attachment to Britain.
Those whose parents were born abroad but who were themselves born in Britain felt a weaker attachment than this to the country of their parents’ birth (24% very strong, 37% fairly strong), although three in five still said their sense of belonging was at least fairly strong.
A different measure of the same question is not to ask respondents how important they think each element of their identity is, but to choose directly between them. When asked to choose between ethnic identity and national identity, the biggest group of ethnic minority Muslims (49%) see themselves as equally Black or Asian and British. A quarter (25%) feel more Black or Asian than British or only Black or Asian and one in five (21%) say they feel more British than Black or Asian or only British. (The other ethnic minority respondents in the EMBES were substantially more likely than Muslims to put their ethnicity ahead of their Britishness: 35% feel more Black/Asian than British or only Black/Asian, only 14% more British than Black/Asian or only Black/Asian not British.
But these differences may be related more to ethnic group or national origin than to religion: the percentages saying they felt more or only Black/Asian were Pakistani 21%, Bangladeshi 29%, Indian – mostly non-Muslim – 29%, Black Caribbean 36%, Black African 46%.) But religion proves a more powerful identifying factor for Muslims than either nationality or ethnicity: half (51%) feel more Muslim than Black or Asian (33% feel both equally and six per cent more exclusively Black or Asian); while 43% feel more Muslim than British and 6% Muslim not British (39% feel equally British and Muslim, and 6% more British than Muslim). 99
These findings contrast, however, to those of a separate, more recent (2015) survey of Muslims for the Sun, which put the choice in terms of what was “more important” to the respondent, found that 82% of Muslims said that their British identity was equally or more important than their religious identity. Only 17% said that “My Muslim identity is more important to me than my British identity”
The vast majority of Muslims in Britain take offence when they feel their religion is not being properly respected. A 2015 ComRes poll found that 78% agreed that “It is deeply offensive to me personally when images of the Prophet Mohammad are published”, although few believed this justified or could ever justify a violent response.
A 2015 ICM poll gave respondents four options to choose between as “the ideal way for you to lead your life in Britain today”. Half (49%) chose “I would like to fully integrate with non-Muslims in all aspects of life”, 29% that “I would like to integrate on most things, but there should be separation in some areas, such as Islamic schooling and laws”, while 17% said “I would like to integrate on some things, but I would prefer to lead a separate Islamic life as far as possible”, and only 1% that “I would like to live in a fully separate Islamic area in Britain, subject to Sharia law and government”.
Similarly, there is division over support for ways in which schools might reflect Muslim beliefs or culture: 33% agree while 46% disagree that girls and boys should be taught separately, 28% agree while 47% disagree that it is acceptable for a homosexual person to be a teacher in a school, and 64% agree while 17% disagree that Muslim girls should have a right to wear a Niqab in school. Only on the separate teaching of boys and girls is there a statistically significant difference between men and women (38% of men and 28% of women support that). Homosexual teachers are much more acceptable to those born in Britain than to immigrants (of those born in the UK, 39% agree this is acceptable and 37% disagree; of those born elsewhere, 19% agree and 55% disagree)
Asked in 2010 about Sharia courts being introduced in Britain, one in six (17%) preferred to “Introduce Sharia law, that is traditional Islamic law, in all cases”, 19% to “Introduce Sharia law, but only if penalties do not contravene British law” and 20% chose “Do not introduce Sharia law”, but the biggest group were the 37% who said they didn’t know184. An ICM poll for Channel 4 in 2015 found that 23% of Muslims would support there being areas of Britain where Sharia law is introduced instead of British law while 43% would oppose it; in this case 10% answered “don’t know” and 24% that they would neither support nor oppose it.185A 2016 ICM survey of Muslims186 asked a question about Sharia Law in more detail about areas of law where it could be introduced such as those “related to civil law cases such as financial disputes, divorce or other family matters but which could also cover other aspects”. Asked in this way, support for Sharia law increases to 43% with 22% saying they oppose this and a similar proportion (23%) saying they ‘neither support or oppose’ it and 12% saying ‘don’t know’.
Conservative attitudes towards gender roles and homosexuality are prevalent… Approaching half (45%) of Muslim men and a third (33%) of Muslim women agree that “Wives should always obey their husbands”. Agreement levels are much lower among the general public as a whole, indicating that a significant number of Muslims have more traditional views on gender roles. Also, 38% of Muslim men and 23% of Muslim women say that it is acceptable for a British Muslim to keep more than one wife.
These beliefs are most prevalent among the oldest groups and among Muslims not born in Britain, but are nevertheless also widespread among young and British-born Muslims: 56% of those aged 65-and-over believe wives should always obey their husbands compared to 38% of those aged 18-34 and 38% of those aged 35-64, while 33% of those born in the UK and 44% born elsewhere agree; polygamy is acceptable to 34% of foreign-born and 27% of British-born Muslims, to 45% of those aged 65+, to 26% of those aged 35-64 and to 33% of those aged up to 34. 211
Attitudes among young Muslims are more liberal but most remain conservative A majority of Muslims disagree that homosexuality should be legal in Britain: 38% strongly disagree and 14% tend to disagree, whereas only 8% strongly agree and 10% tend to agree. 212 (By way of comparison, 73% of the whole adult public (and 67% of Christians) said that it should be legal in the control group survey with a representative sample from the same poll. But although Muslims’ views are now out of line with the more liberal views of the British public as a whole, it should perhaps be borne in mind that as recently as 1993 the British Social Attitudes survey found 50% of the adult British public believing that “sexual relations between two adults of the same sex” were “always wrong”.213)
Young Muslims are significantly more likely to agree that homosexuality should be legal (28% of 18-24 year olds, 23% of 25-34 year olds), but even in these age groups there was a clear plurality against: as many 18-24 year olds strongly disagree as agree, strongly or otherwise, and among 25-34 year olds almost twice as many do so. 214 Three-quarters of Muslims (77%) do not think that Muslims who convert to other religions should be cut off by their family.
Three in five Muslims from the main ethnic minority groups say it would bother them “not at all” (42%) or “not very much” (19%) if a close relative were to marry a white person, but one in eight (13%) would be bothered “a great deal”. Also, it would bother 15% of Asian Muslims a great deal if a close relative married a Black person, while 9% of Black Muslims would have the same reaction if a close relative married an Asian – but these figures are almost identical for non-Muslims in the same ethnic groups (16% of Asian non-Muslims would be bothered a great deal if a close relative married a Black person, and 9% of Black non-Muslims if a close relative married an Asian. Asian Muslims have stronger misgivings about the possibility of a relative marrying somebody white (14% would be bothered “a great deal”, 38% “not at all”) than either Black Muslims (7% bothered “a great deal”, 64% “not at all”) or non-Muslim Asians (8% “a great deal”, 45% “not at all”).
Nine in ten Muslims (93%) agree that “Muslims in Britain should always obey British laws”.226 That said, as many as 44% of Muslims say that they sympathise with people who use violence to protect their family (17% completely sympathise, 27% sympathise to some extent), but there is less hesitation in condemning violence for others: 24% sympathise with violence organised by groups to protect their own religion but 43% “completely condemn it”; 22% sympathise with violence to fight injustice by the Police (completely condemned by 45%), 20% with violence to fight injustice by governments (completely condemned by 48%) and 18% violence against those who mock the Prophet (completely condemned by 53%). 227
Comparatively a poll of non-Muslims carried out by YouGov on behalf of Maria Sobolewska at the University of Manchester shows that many in the public believe terrorism can be justified in various circumstances including occupation of one’s country (said by 54%), fighting against an oppressive regime (52%), and fighting for your country’s independence (42%).228 And although a separate poll found that four in five (78%) agreed that “It is deeply offensive to me personally when images of the Prophet Mohammad are published”, few of those believed this justified a violent response: only 11% agreed, while 85% disagreed, that organisations which publish such images “deserve to be attacked”, and 68% agreed that “Acts of violence against those who publish images of the Prophet Mohammad can never be justified”.
MUSLIM ANTI-SEMITISM IN CONTEMPORARY GREAT BRITAIN BY DR RAKIB EHSAN March 2020
In late 2019, the Henry Jackson Society commissioned polling organisation Savanta ComRes to undertake a survey involving a weighted sample of 750 British Muslims. Respondents were asked about their perspectives on a number of topics. These included: other faith groups; prominent geopolitical players; and the perceived level of Jewish global control. This represents one of the most systematic and comprehensive surveys into the socio-political attitudes – both domestic and international – of British Muslims. According to the study:
When compared with their perception of other faith groups, British Muslims have the least favourable attitude towards Jewish people. l The only people viewed less favourably by British Muslims than Jewish people are those belonging to no religious group (atheists/non-believers).
British Muslims who are more socially integrated through their friendship groups, have a more favourable view of both Jews and the State of Israel. These are a number of observations of significance:
A December 2019 ICM Unlimited poll found that 18% of the general population felt Jews have disproportionate influence over business and finance. In this survey of British Muslims, 34% were of the view that Jews have too much control over the global banking system.
The same ICM poll found that 15% of the general population felt Jews have disproportionate influence in politics. In this Savanta ComRes poll, 33% of the British Muslim respondents were of the view that Jews have too much control over the global political leadership.
On the matter of ‘dual loyalty’, the ICM survey found that 24% of the general population believed British Jews were more loyal to Israel than to the UK. The corresponding figure for British Muslims, in this survey by Savanta ComRes, is 44%.
When compared to British Muslims who are not university-educated, British Muslims who are university-educated are more likely to agree with the view that British Jews are more loyal to Israel than to the UK, along with holding the broader belief that Jews have too much global control.
The majority of British Muslims who report that they attend a mosque at least 3-4 times a week, believe British Jews are more loyal to Israel than to the UK – 55%. The corresponding figure for British Muslims who very occasionally or never attend a mosque is 34%.
……………………….Elsewhere, the Pew Global Attitudes Project claimed that only 32% of British Muslims view Jewish people in a positive way, whereas the figure for the general population is 74%. 18 Staetsky’s work also demonstrates that UK Muslims are significantly more likely than the general population to hold anti-Semitic views. 19 Only 37% of British Muslims feel Jews make a positive contribution to society, whereas the figure for the general population is over 60%. 20 Whereas 8% of Muslims believe the Holocaust is a myth, 2% of the general population do; and while 4% of the public feel the Holocaust has been exaggerated, 14% of Muslims do. 21 Staetsky’s Institute for Jewish Policy Research (JPR) report also suggests that religious Muslims are more likely than the general Muslim population to hold anti-Semitic views, with 10% of religious Muslims saying the Holocaust is a myth and 18% that the Holocaust has been exaggerated
However, there are other findings which are cause for concern. When compared with British Muslims who either never or very occasionally attend a mosque, British Muslims who frequently attend a mosque are more likely to be of the view that British Jews are more loyal to Israel than to the UK, and also more likely to think that Jewish people have too much control in the global spheres of media, banking, politics, arms manufacturing, and entertainment. It is important to note that a comfortable majority of those who frequently attend a mosque, are also of the view that British Muslims are more loyal to Saudi Arabia than to the UK. Indeed, frequent attendees are far more likely to be of the view that various faith groups are more loyal to a foreign country of religious significance, than to the UK. This perhaps reflects a broader ‘Religion First’ perception – with religious frequent attendees thinking that a number of faith groups, including their own, are more loyal to other countries (and territories) of religious significance.
Listening to British Muslims: policing, extremism and Prevent – 2020
Channel 4 commissioned a NOP poll of British Muslims for Dispatches – 2015
61% of British Muslims said they thought of Britain as “my country”. There was support for some degree of integration – 94% of respondents disagreed that Muslims should live separately from non-Muslims but at the same time, given the choice 36% would prefer to have fellow Muslims as neighbours. Asked if they would prefer to live under Sharia law or British law, 30% said Sharia while 54% preferred British law. 28% of British Muslims agreed that they dreamt of Britain one day becoming an Islamic state.
Asked about attitudes towards free speech, there was little support for freedom of speech if it would offend religious sensibilities. 78% of Muslims thought that the publishers of the Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammed should be prosecuted, 68% thought those who insulted Islam should be prosecuted and 62% of people disagree that freedom of speech should be allowed even if it insults and offends religious groups. This is one of those areas where it would be useful to have parallel polling of non-Muslims – we know from past polls that the general public think that things like the cartoons should be able to be published, but then, non-Muslims are not the ones offended by them. Perhaps the closest parallel of something that Christian groups thought was offensive and wanted banned was Jerry Springer the Opera – in that context a poll of the general public suggested that only 17% of people thought that programmes that might offend religious sensibilities should not be shown at all.
Back to the Muslim poll, NOP also asked if British Muslims thought that religious leaders who supported terrorism should be removed – 68% agreed, with 22% disagreeing. Cross-referencing these results, NOP characterised 9% of the Muslims they surveyed as “hardcore Islamists” – people who thought that it was perfectly okay to speak in support of terrorism, but thought people should be prosecuted for insulting Islam. This small minority tallies with NOP’s other questions on terrorism – 9% of respondents said it was acceptable for religious or political groups to use violence, 13% of people said they understand why young British Muslims might become suicide bombers (though again, this needs to be put in context. Parallel polls of Muslims and non-Muslims have shown that there are a small minority of non-Muslims who think terrorist attacks on civilians can be justified).
NOP also gave respondents a list of people and asked them if they respected them or not. The most respected figure amongst British Muslims (out of those in the survey) was the Queen (69% respected her highly, or a fair amount), followed by Sir Iqbal Sacranie (48%) and then, perhaps surprisingly, Tony Blair (44%), narrowly ahead of George Galloway on (40%). More worryingly 19% say they respect Osama bin Laden (6% say they highly respect him), 17% respect Saddam Hussein and 16% respect Abu Hamza.
NOP also found a tendency for British Muslims to believe some, well, strange things. 45% thought that 9/11 was a conspiracy between the USA and Israel. 36% thought that Princess Diana was murdered to stop her marrying a Muslim. More seriously, only 29% thought that the holocaust occured, 2% denied it happened entirely, 17% think it was exaggerated (which is the stance proposed by most of today’s holocaust deniers), 24% said they had “no opinion” and 23% didn’t know what the holocaust was. Again though, putting this in context, nonMuslims think odd things too – an ICM poll in 2004 found 14% of people in the UK thought that the scale of the holocaust had been exaggerated, 27% of the general public told NOP in 2003 that Princess Diana had been murdered (a poll commissioned, unsurprisingly, for the Sunday Express).
Policy Exchange – Unsettled Belonging: A survey of Britain’s Muslim communities Martyn Frampton, David Goodhart and Khalid Mahmood MP 2016
Amongst the most important findings from the research are the fact that: z British Muslims undoubtedly comprise a more religiously devout sub-set of the UK population. This is reflected in personal assessments of an individual’s own level of devotion and in the fact that an overwhelming majority identify with their mosque and see it as representing their views (71%). z
A heightened sense of religious devotion manifests in a clear social conservatism on some issues. This was reflected, for example, in high levels of support for gender segregated education (40% supported this proposal, as compared to just 11% of the general population), as well as ‘traditional’ religious clothing within schools (44% supported the idea that schools should be able to insist on the hijab or niqab). z
There are relatively large levels of support among British Muslims for the implementation of elements of Sharia law; however, the nature of that support is quite ‘soft’. Whilst a plurality of people expressed a preference for such measures ‘in the abstract’, they were far less forthcoming in supporting them ‘in reality’. (Only 4% of those surveyed said that they used Sharia banking, for instance, and 55% said that they would not prefer to use this option). It should also be noted that younger Muslims were relatively less likely than their older counterparts to endorse Sharia. Z
It is clear that the more religious character and general social conservatism of British Muslim communities, does not detract from the essentially secular character of most Muslim lifestyles. In terms of their everyday concerns and priorities, British Muslims answer no differently from their non-Muslim neighbours. When asked what are the most important issues facing Britain today (people were allowed to give three responses), the most likely answer was NHS/hospitals/healthcare (36%), with unemployment second (32%) and then immigration (30%). Contrary to what is often asserted on both sides of the political spectrum, the priorities and everyday concerns of the overwhelming majority of Muslims are inherently secular. z
Religious devotion and social conservatism do not correlate to political radicalism. It is striking that British Muslims are more likely, as a group, to condemn various acts of political violence (and even non-violent political protest), than the UK population as a whole. 89% of Muslim respondents condemned the use of violence in political protest and 90% condemned terrorism; in both instances, just 2% of people expressed sympathy for such actions (for the population as a whole, the equivalent figures were 5% and 4%). z
When probed specifically on the question of crime, it is striking that the issue British Muslims identified as being of greatest importance within local areas was that of ‘alcohol and drug abuse’. This, as well as other essentially non-sectarian, ‘law and order’ issues (such as ‘minor street crime’) were deemed to be of greater concern than harassment on the basis of religion, race or ethnicity. In tackling these problems, a majority of British Muslims expressed support for straight-forward law and order policies such as the provision of extra police on the beat (55%) and the provision of security cameras (30%). z
A clear majority of British Muslims (69%) favour an essentially secular education, which adheres to a shared national curriculum. Only a minority (26%) believe that the school classroom is the best place for faith education, believing instead that faith should be taught at home, or in the mosque. z British Muslims tend to be among the more active and engaged members of British social and political life. They vote in elections, make use of local social and cultural amenities, and see the value of social and political engagement. z
In terms of the manner of that engagement, it is clear that only a minority of British Muslims (just 20%) see themselves as being represented by those organisations that claim to speak for their community. Moreover, within that cohort, there is no single group that can plausibly claim to speak for more than 20% of people who are so-minded. In each case, therefore, supporters represent a fraction of a fraction of the wider community. Putatively national representative organisations are no such thing. Groups like the Muslim Council of Britain enjoy the support of between 2 to 4% of Britain’s Muslims – and when one goes outside London, that level of support is vanishingly small. z
British Muslims overwhelmingly believe that Britain is a good place in which to practice their religion. 91% feel able to follow Islam in Britain entirely freely; just 7% said that they could only ‘partly’ practice their faith freely; and only 2% said they could not practise it at all
a surprisingly large proportion of British Muslims deny the existence of extremism altogether (26%). In addition, a significant proportion of British Muslims are susceptible to conspiracy theories and expressed a belief that these were often grounded in truth (roughly 40%). Of course, a belief in such theories is not limited solely to British Muslims. Crucially, however, there are certain conspiracy theories that do seem to resonate more with a Muslim audience, chiefly those that relate to narratives of Muslim victimhood. z
The prevalence of such conspiracy theories is demonstrated by views towards the terrorist attacks against America on 11 September 2001. A surprisingly large proportion of British Muslims said they did not know who was behind those attacks. Even more remarkable is the fact that some 31% said the American government was responsible for 9/11. More people claimed that the Jews were behind these attacks (7%), than said it was the work of al-Qaeda (4%) or some analogous organisation.
93% of our respondents had parents born outside the UK.7 (Though the Muslim populations of Scotland and the North East are relatively more likely to be raised in households where their parents were born in the UK.)8
As a population grouping of relatively recent immigrant origin, it is unsurprising that British Muslims occupy a disproportionately lower place in socio-economic terms, when stratified by ‘social grade’ (an admittedly imperfect science). 16% were considered to be in the ‘AB’ bracket. By way of comparison, the overall figure for the population of England and Wales as a whole is 23%).9
Asian British-Pakistanis accounted for 54% of our sample (with more from this ethnic group amongst eldest cohorts), with the second highest ethnic group being Bangladeshis (18%, and over-represented amongst the youngest cohort).10
Whereas our Pakistani respondents were more likely to be owner/ occupiers (70% of them were), the Bangladeshis polled were more likely to be social housing renters: a reflection of the different socio-economic profiles of the two communities.11
British-Bangladeshis were disproportionately located within London (33% of our London-based respondents gave this as their ethnic group) and Wales (where they accounted for 25% of respondents). British-Pakistanis were more prevalent in northern areas (Pakistanis comprised 69% of respondents in the North East, 62% in the North West, 73% in Yorkshire and the Humber, 73% in the West Midlands, 75% in the East, 88% in the South East and 93% in Scotland. 49% of those we spoke to in the East Midlands gave their ethnicity as AsianIndian (though this group accounted for just 9% of the sample population as a whole).12
Muslims who self-identified as Black-African were located primarily in London (where they made up 10% of the Muslim population), the South West (where they comprised 31%) and Wales (where they comprised 28% of the Muslim population). This varying ethnic composition (see figure 2) is worth considering when examining the regional variations in the results, as discussed below.
When asked specifically about integration, a majority of respondents, 53%, said that they wanted to ‘fully integrate with non-Muslims in all aspects of life’, while a further 37% spoke of wanting to integrate ‘on most things’ with separation in some areas, such as schooling and laws. Conversely, much fewer people took a more minimalistic view of wanting integration ‘on some things’, whilst leading ‘a separate Islamic life as far as possible’ (6%) and only 1% of respondents declared in favour of a ‘fully separate Islamic area in Britain, subject to Sharia Law and government’.95
It is notable too that the percentage of those favouring full integration ‘in all aspects of life’ was highest among the youngest cohort (among 18–24 year olds the relevant figure rises to 59%). It was the eldest cohorts (aged 55 upwards) that were relatively more likely to favour integration on most things, with separation in a few areas.96 Such results would tend to suggest that support for integration will increase as time goes by, and the British Muslim population as a whole moves further from its immigrant roots. It is also worth noting that religiosity appears negatively correlated with support for full integration. More religiously devout and observant respondents were relatively less likely to call for full integration, with support instead more likely to go for the idea of integration ‘on most things’, with separation in some areas such as schooling and laws.
Nevertheless, the fact that a quarter of British Muslims felt there was no such thing as extremism is remarkable given the continuing terrorist threat to the UK and its allies. The last three years have seen a succession of major attacks, which have targeted British interests and lives both here and across the world. As a new book by MP Liam Byrne makes clear, the scale and intensity of the threat has seemed only to escalate: in 2014/15, there were more terrorism related arrests than in any year since the turn of the century, and senior figures in the security services routinely talk about ‘several thousand individuals’ resident within the UK who support violent extremism.179
In addition, of course, there has been the phenomenon of young British Muslims leaving for Syria to join ISIS. Current estimates suggest that somewhere between 750 and 850 people have made this journey, and the authorities remain deeply concerned about the potential threat posed by those returning (currently about half have done so).18
Polling of British Muslims – Survation
Our polling found that For most Muslims in the UK, 76%, their sense of British and Muslim identity are equally important to them. Only 3% feel that it “is not important for British Muslims to integrate into British society”, suggesting this is important for the overwhelming majority of Muslims. 61% feel that British Muslims “are doing enough to integrate into British society”
