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 PrintableVersion From Rushdie to 7/7The radicalisation of Islam in BritainRoots of radicalisationFROM RUSHDIE TO 7/7 This fascinating book was published in late March with the claim that it is ‘the first book to offer a comprehensive and authoritative overview of the radicalisation of the Islam in Britain’. Perhaps its claim to be the first such book is somewhat blinkered, yet it certainly is a very thorough treatment of the pressing question as to why much of British Islam is so evidently more political, and arguably more militant, in 2006 than it was 20 years ago. Its author is well qualified to handle the subject. Anthony McRoy is an academic journalist and noted authority on Islam. He is also a thoroughgoing evangelical Christian, who lectures part-time in Islamics at the Evangelical Theological College of Wales in Bridgend. This book is based on painstaking research, including personal interviews with significant figures from the Islamic community in Britain. Trigger eventsThe book is divided into three sections. Its main thesis is that the British Islamic psyche has been radicalised over the last two decades by the impact of key world events, beginning with the Rushdie affair and continuing through the first Gulf War, the Bosnian crisis, the Palestinian intifada, 9/11 and the ongoing occupation of Iraq (and Afghanistan) by non-Muslim forces. In a well-researched, eminently readable and perceptive first section, McRoy demonstrates how each of these events has provoked Muslims to respond with anger and indignation (and sometimes fear) to what they have seen as the dishonouring both of their wider Muslim community, and of their religion, their prophet and their God. This reviewer found the chapter extremely helpful in understanding the transformation he has witnessed in his local Asian community over the last 20 years, as it has become an increasingly proud, passionate, confident, vocal and religious (rather than ethnic) entity. Islamic teachingIn the second section of the book, McRoy seeks to explain how key Islamic teachings bear upon the matters of jihad (the struggle to give Allah and his law what Islam views as their rightful place in this world) and democracy. This section of the book is extremely difficult to read for anyone without a very thorough grasp of Islamic vocabulary. McRoy attempts to define many Arabic words that he then uses in his text, but the result for this reviewer was confusion and even despair over its impenetrability, and the resultant endless going back over previous pages of argument. McRoy does provide a helpful three-page glossary with the definition of 90 Arabic words — but even then your reviewer discovered that some of the words used in the text are not in the glossary! The section would have been much more helpful if it had been written using appropriate English terminology, putting the technical Arabic terms in brackets. It isn’t that there is nothing helpful in the section. Its insight into the wide variety of aspects to the concept of jihad, which some very erroneously simply equate with violence, is one very valuable contribution. Its understanding of the variety of aims of different parties within Islam with regard to the development of Islamic influence in the UK is another. It is simply that McRoy’s method of approach demands too much of his readers in terms of the rapid assimilation and understanding of Arabic technical words. Not all the sameThe final section of the book is a masterful presentation of the ethos and approach of a wide variety of groupings within radical British Islam. Many British people, including tabloid journalists, tend to lump all Muslim radicals together, often under the banner of ‘extremist’. However, McRoy demonstrates that this is a gross simplification and even misrepresentation of the truth. He shows that some radicals emphasise political dialogue, partnership and the use of the mechanisms of democracy to seek to influence both the British government and the indigenous society in order to further the position and aims of Islam. Others believe that such participation is sin and view democracy as rebellion against Allah, the only rightful lawgiver. McRoy shows a profound understanding of the huge range of opinions within radical Islam, and provides a very thorough and scholarly assessment of various key groups (and their development), and the thinking of their nationally known leaders, including Anas Altikriti, Iqbal Secranie, Omar Bakri and Abu Hamza. The book makes no attempt to critique radical Islam from an evangelical perspective, though the author would be well capable of that. What it sets out to do is to explain how British Islam has become a more radical, militant and politically aware grouping within Britain over the last 20 years. It is an important, academic book that makes great demands of its reader, even if you do not wade through the 53 pages of notes! Hence, it is not for the general reader, nor for those with a passing interest in the subject. Yet it is a very important, balanced, objective, scholarly and perceptive assessment of the undeniable transformation, one might say politicisation, of Islam in Britain. Graham Heaps, © Evangelicals Now - July 2006 |
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