An email from Britain
Idlan Zakaria
Dear Dina,
The Guardian ran a special feature on Young Muslims in Britain recently, and their struggle in finding an identity as a British Muslim, or a Muslim Brit, whichever way they defined themselves. I’ve read and seen many calls upon British Muslims to stand up and be counted as a British citizen, both in newspapers and on TV, questioning whether their loyalty lies first and foremost with their nation or their religion; and these have come fast and furious post September 11.
I often wonder why these two points on the spectrum need be so far apart, and whether there is space for reconciliation. It is perhaps different for me, growing up in a country whose government proclaims itself to be a Muslim nation; and if we fail to find a consensus on whether this is true or not, we can at least agree that for all intents and purposes, as per the constitution, our official religion is Islam.
Islam advocates that we follow the law of the land we live in, insofar as those laws do not contravene Islamic principles and values. From this perspective, the question of whether ’should I (as a Muslim) report my Muslim neighbour whom I know is a threat to national security’ should be answered in the affirmative; in the same way one would report a non Muslim neighbour who may be comitting the same offence. (more…)
