The first large group of Muslims in Britain arrived about three centuries ago. They were sailors recruited in India to work for the East India Company. Over the years, there were occasional converts to Islam among the English upper classes, including Edward Montagu, son of the British ambassador to Turkey. By 2011, 2.7 million Muslims lived in England and Wales, where they account for 5 per cent of the population. It is not at all surprising that major cultural and religious differences sometimes cause conflict.
In my novel, Two Boys from Aden College, Hassan is a religious Yemeni studying law in the United Kingdom. Hassan is married to Biddy and shows violent behaviour towards her. He is having a meal at a restaurant when Police Sergeant Dooley, in civilian clothing, who is in love with Biddy, walks in to confront him:
“So what is the punishment, in English law, for the assault and battery of a wife?”
“Who are you? Why are you following me? I’ll report you for premeditated assault.”
“Oh, allow me to introduce myself, Sergeant Dooley.”
“Oh, the man trying to seduce my wife?”
“Even if that were true, under which section of the penal code is that a crime?”
“In my country, you would be severely beaten, or worse, by the woman’s husband and brothers.”
“But I’m not in your country, Hassan; you’re in mine!”
This scene brings us to the recent events that occurred in London’s Brick Lane, a hip neighbourhood that was formerly a Bangladeshi enclave. Last Friday, Anjem Choudhary, a radical Muslim preacher and the manager of the Sharia Court of the UK, led a campaign demanding an end to the sale of alcohol because of its negative effects on society. In the campaign, Choudhary also spoke against gambling, promiscuity, fighting and urinating on the streets. He claimed that Islam was the supreme religion and urged listeners to fear Allah and give up selling alcohol.
What he said obviously hit home for some as, within days, a group of Muslims started distributing leaflets warning shopkeepers and restaurant managers to desist from selling alcohol or face an Islamic punishment of 40 lashes. Worse still, Muslim groups also formed patrols and threatened to kill non-believers for consuming alcohol publicly. Having personally witnessed the large numbers of people enjoying a drink outside many of London’s pubs, this would be tantamount to genocide!
There has obviously been a negative reaction to Choudhary’s speech and its aftermath. The main opposition has been from people who are ultra-right wing, nationalistic and even perhaps racist and Islamophobic, who see red at the mere mention of the words ‘Sharia’ and ‘Allah’. These people are vociferous and are at the forefront of reminding the nation’s silent and tolerant majority of the dangers of allowing Muslims to “infiltrate” British society and create a Muslim majority by 2050.
A second group opposed to Choudhary’s campaign is made up of moderate Muslims, who have gratefully made Britain their home, possibly after having escaped from oppressive and stifling Muslim regimes in their own countries. This group has witnessed both the enforcement of Islamic laws and traditions on non-Muslims in their countries: Abstaining from alcohol and from food while pretending to fast during Ramadan, unable to worship at a non-Muslim institution, avoid holding hands with a partner and, in the case of women specifically, being prevented from driving or from going out unaccompanied by a male family member.
I grew up in Aden, a city of Muslim Arabs, in which many Hindus and a few Christians have settled for generations. These people were content to call Aden their home and happily complied with the regulations and traditions imposed on them. Not once did I hear a Hindu chastising a Muslim for slaughtering a cow, sacred to Hindus, or a Christian criticising a Muslim for polygamy.
This, in my opinion, is how it should be, especially given the fact that most young Muslims are taught the Arabic saying “ya gareeb kon adeeb” which translates to “when you are a stranger, be polite!” Choudhary and his followers would do well to heed the teachings of their elders.
Dr Qais Ghanem is a retired neurologist, radio show host, poet and author. His novels are Final Flight from Sanaa and Two Boys from Aden College. His latest non-fiction work is My Arab Spring My Canada (Amazon.com) and his combined English/Arabic poetry book is From Left to Right. Follow him on Face Book and Twitter at www.twitter.com/@QaisGhanem
