14 June 2014

In America, most mosques profess to teach a version of Islam adapted to the modern world. That's not what I've found here...

The introduction of a madrassa curriculum at a secular state school in Birmingham and talk of Christian pupils at risk of ‘cultural isolation’ seem to have come as a revelation to non-Muslim Britain. They should not have. Islam in Britain is dominated by a very specific, and rather illiberal, version of the faith — one that, if anything, seems to be becoming more conservative over time.

[A COMMENT] If the Deobandis control almost half of the mosques in the UK, then when politicians and left-leaning members of the media trot out their catch-phrase of "the vast majority of ordinary, moderate Muslims..." we know they are talking rot.

Given that the Deodandis are not the only extreme sub-sect of Islam operating in UK mosques, we can assume a majority of British Muslims are anything but "moderate".

Your figures that over 50% of mosques in the USA claim to follow a modernity-friendly version of Islam while in Britain only TWO out of 1,700 mosques claim the same tells its own story.

[ANOTHER] Only 1 in 10 of the UK's mosques is registered to perform civil marriages. So 75% of Muslim marriages in the UK have NOT been registered under the Marriage Act. This is an appalling state of affairs and leaves a large minority of British muslim women at the mercy of the misogynist sharia councils when a relationship fails. [The Spectator] Read more