Head of Public Policy Tim Dieppe outlines the distinct challenges raised by Islam in the UK and how Christians can productively respond.
There is no doubt that Islam poses a challenge to Christians living in the UK.
It is growing in influence and has political as well as religious ambitions. Islam is already threatening our democracy[1] and changing our culture.
Many Christians have been focused on the challenge of secularism, but we need to wake up to what I believe is the even more serious and pressing challenge of Islam.
Just how influential is Islam in the UK? What do Muslims believe? What is attractive about Islam?
And how, as Christians, should we respond to all this?
The influence of Islam
Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman didn’t hold back in an op-ed in February 2024:
“The truth is that the Islamists, the extremists and the anti-Semites are in charge now. They have bullied the Labour Party, they have bullied our institutions, and now they have bullied our country into submission.”
“This is a crisis. And the fightback must start now, with urgency, if we are to preserve the liberties we cherish and the privileges this country affords us all. If we are to have any chance of saving our country from the mob.”[2]
She was commenting following security concerns in parliament which led the Speaker of the House of Commons to break with parliamentary convention amidst extraordinary scenes in parliament.[3]
In 2021, Sir David Amess MP was stabbed to death by a Muslim killer who was unashamed of his Islamic motives in court.[4] Ali Harbi Ali told the court: “If you encourage someone to an act of Jihad it is a good thing.” Harbi Ali also stated plainly: “I killed him in the cause of Muslims and for the sake of Allah.”
Back in 2010, Stephen Timms MP was stabbed by a Muslim woman with Islamic motives. He was fortunate to survive the attack. Earlier this year, Mike Freer MP announced that he would step down as an MP at the next election because of serious threats to his personal safety. He mentioned attacks by Muslims against Crusades.[5]
After the recent debates on Gaza in the House of Commons, a journalist said that an MP told him: “he had weighed up his own physical safety when deciding how to vote.”.[6] How many other MPs did this? Islam is now influencing our democracy, but not with benign intentions or means.
But is Braverman right? Are the Islamists in charge now? Let’s take a more detailed look at the influence of Islam in the UK to assess where we are and what can be done about it.
The fastest growing religion in the UK
At the last census in 2021, there were 3.9 million Muslims in the UK, or 6.5% of the population.[7] This has risen quite rapidly from only 105,000 in 1960.[8] The previous census in 2011 showed a Muslim population of 2.7m. Islam was therefore the fastest growing religion in the UK over the ten-year period from 2011-2021, showing growth of some 44%. Pew Research estimated that by 2050, 17% of the population will be Muslim, based on moderate migration.[9]
In 2015 8.1% of all school age children were already Muslim.[10] The name Muhammad, when allowing for spelling variants, has been the top boys name for babies in Britain for six years running.[11]
Surveys reveal lack of integration
The Policy Exchange report: “Unsettled Belonging: A survey of Britain’s Muslim communities”, published in 2016, claimed to be the most extensive research of British Muslims ever conducted.[12] The report found that 53% of Muslims were born outside the UK, while 93% had parents born outside the UK. This demonstrates that much of the growth is occurring through immigration.
The survey found that 96% of British Muslims believe that the attacks of 9/11 were not carried out by Al Qaeda.[13] The vast majority believe that there is some other explanation, and this is a common understanding in Muslim communities.
According to the report, 43% of Muslims supported the introduction of sharia law broadly defined. 53% preferred to send their children to a school with strong ‘Muslim values’. 44% said that schools should be able to insist on ‘a hijab or niqab’ in uniform, while 32% disagreed with this.
The ICM survey of 2015 found that 7% of Muslims support the objective to create an Islamic state.[14] Only 3% said that they support the way in which Isis is attempting to establish a caliphate. This is a small minority of British Muslims, but 3% of 4 million Muslims is around 120,000 people supporting violent means of establishing a caliphate. When it comes to free speech, the same survey found that 78% believed that no publication should have the right to publish pictures of Muhammad. This rose to 87% when talking about the right to publish pictures making fun of Muhammad. Muslims are thus very intolerant of criticism of their religion and do not support free speech in this respect.
The survey asked whether violence is justified in a number of situations. As many as 24% sympathised with violence by organised groups to protect their religion. 18% sympathised with violence against those who mock Muhammad. Sympathy with terrorist actions for political protest was much lower at 4%. 31% agreed that it is acceptable for British Muslims to keep more than one wife, even though that is illegal in this country. 35% believed that Jewish people have too much power in Britain.
More recent polling carried out on behalf of the Henry Jackson Society in 2024 found that only 24% of British Muslims believe that Hamas committed murder and rape in Israel on 7 October 2023.[15] 29% of British Muslims have a positive view of Hamas, and this time 32% supported the introduction of Sharia law in the UK. 21% supported legalising polygamy and 57% supported compulsory Halal food in all schools and hospitals. 52% thought that it should be illegal to show any image of Muhammad.
Read more of the article on Christian Concern website >>
Source: Christian Concern
