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.
|
However, the unfriendly policies of American governments towards Muslim states in the Middle East (Iraq, Palestine) and Afghanistan, and this, often backed by the British government, has created an aura of animosity; a feeling of ‘them against us’; and partly, I feel, this is to blame for the lack of trust among British Muslims towards the authorities.
We are different
An interesting aspect of the study is in its interpretation of what constitutes Muslim culture: oppression of women, including denial of their status in the community and the lack of integration among Muslims in a secular society; is unfamiliar to me as a Malaysian. Most of the views of the locals with regards to Islam are shaped by the community’s interaction with South Asian Muslims, who form a large part of British Muslims, especially (but not exclusively) in the North West.
I have long since been intrigued; and decided to pursue the matter with some British Muslim friends I know – coursemates, people I meet at the mosque, my students. They all had one thing in common: they came from a South Asian background.
My observation, and this is neither a hypothesis nor a theory, but merely an observation, is that South Asian immigrants to Britain bring with them a strong sense of their local culture; and by living among themselves and not integrating with the British community, whom are perceived to be too Westernised, callous and have a way of life inconsistent with South Asian values (which are not necessarily Muslim values per se, because not everyone from a South Asian country is Muslim), managed to create an us-against-them environment even before September 11.
I hasten to add here that this transportation of culture isn’t unique to just South Asian immigrants – you can see it in many immigrant communities – Chinese, Greek, Italian, Mexican, Carribean. The hit movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding draws inspiration from this, as does the character Joey from the sitcom Friends.
The fact that some practices within South Asian culture may be inconsistent with Islamic values escape the radars of local Britons, because they are not used to any other culture infused with Islam, and therefore have a propensity to interpret certain aspects of South Asian culture as Islamic.
As a Malaysian living in Britain, I myself have been subject to certain stereotypes propagated the British towards Muslims, many of which are more of a South Asian cultural origin than being Islamic. One commonly asked question which I answer with much chagrin is, “Have you been promised to someone whom you have to marry?” - this is uncharacteristic of most Muslim Malaysians I know, and for a fact I have heard many an Imam, even those of a South Asian descent, chastise parents for pre-arranging the marriages of their children without their consent.
Another perplexing issue for me is the lack of a women’s prayer space at some mosques in the UK. Apparently, I have been told, in certain cultures women do not go to mosques to pray, and therefore there is no need for such a space. What do they do when these women travel and need to stop and pray, I ask. They don’t, came the answer from a very perplexed looking South Asian colleague of mine.
Fear of the unknown
Also interestingly, at least to me, is the fact that South Asian parents are not very encouraging of their children taking up tertiary education until very, very recently. This belies the notion of the importance of knowledge in Islam: indeed the first word revealed to Muhammad s.a.w. was ‘Read’. According to my colleague, one oft-cited reason why parents in her South Asian community are reluctant to allow their children to obtain further education is out of fear that university life would allow Western values to infiltrate and eradicate their values; and their children will turn out to be like ‘British children’ : rowdy, disrespectful and unfilial.
I hold no answer whether this view is representative or not; but I have observed that a proportion of British Muslims I meet do not live on campus or in the dorms – but commute to and from home, which is thankfully less than an hour’s drive away.
While women bear the brunt of this, surprisingly this is not exclusive to them. While I refrain from making generalisations, a colleague of mine confessed that in her community, her sister who is a year older than her was the first person to ever obtain a university degree; and when my colleague obtains her PhD, she will be the first in her community too. When I think about my fellow Malaysian Muslim women, I see us as being leaps and bounds ahead; and for that I am grateful.
On a personal basis, I think the infiltration of Western culture permeates whether we live in a Muslim country or otherwise: anecdotal evidence can be seen not only in Kuala Lumpur, but also in countries in the Middle East and the Gulf. My view is that what defines which choices young people make are their upbringing - and an integrated upbringing, balancing religion and local culture is possible. Having said that, bringing up children in a culture where Islam is regularly practised is a lot easier - growing up as a child in Britain myself before returning to Malaysia, I can vouch for this.
It’s the same everywhere
Could the problem faced by British Muslims lie in the imposition of a no-longer-local culture on the lives of their youngsters? I personally feel there is nothing wrong with going with the flow of British culture - so long as it does not compromise one’s religious beliefs as a Muslim. One could argue that the Brits are famous for their drinking culture and this is inconsistent with Islamic teachings; I would counter that by saying that alcoholics are not native to Britain or America, but can be found all over the world, Muslim country or otherwise; and therefore in the strive to be British, Muslims need not embrace the drinking culture, but neither must it be used as a reason to distance themselves away from being British.
The identity crisis faced by British Muslims as I see it is not unique; and may perhaps be a version of the same identity crisis faced by immigrant communities worldwide. Greek, Italian and to a lesser extent, Irish Americans strongly identify with their culture; but there is no clash of ideology perpetuated by governments in the same way that Islam is being attacked; and perhaps this is why other immigrant communities have not been asked to stand up and be counted in the same way. Also, in this day and age, religious identity is not as strong in some communities when compared to that among Muslims; and in a time when religion is seen as something to be shunned rather than embraced, one’s choice to adhere to religion and religious practices also creates a gap.
The fear perpetuated by the events of September 11 has distanced the Muslim community - already self-distanced by choice in some parts of Britain - even more; and this gap must be bridged before it gets too wide. This fear, of course, is a two-edged sword: on the one part causing people to pass judgment and create stereotypes that do not exist; but on the other, creating an awareness and an inquisitiveness that may well open the door to others outside the Muslim community that we are, indeed, just like them. Same hopes, same fears, same dreams - just different packaging.
These are my thoughts. Hope to hear from you again and yes, I’ll buy you a packet of crisps when I come back,
Idlan
