Norman Tebbit on Finding 'Common Ground' With Muslims

“Mostly it seems that this rather characteristic British muddle leaves many Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs and assorted animists able to rub along with the majority of Christians and post-Christians. Probably the fact that their numbers are relatively small helps as much as anything else. However, it leaves us in a weak position when facing a culture based on a religion with many passionate adherents.

“Our Muslim minority is in a rather different position. It is quite large and growing and many of its adherents hold their views very strongly and take literally the injunctions of the Koran on how non-believers should be regarded. At present, the front line between aggressive Islamists and the host population lies principally on the boundaries between the historically working-class white areas and the immigrant enclaves.

“As a result, many former traditional Labour voters displaced by, or under pressure from immigrant settlers, have either opted out of politics or gravitated towards the BNP, and Labour politicians from those front line areas are becoming increasingly concerned at the tensions building up.

“There are Muslims out there seeking an accommodation with our society. They may not be able to defeat the Islamist fanatics, but we would be foolish to reject a hand held out in understanding and reconciliation. There is common ground to be found and the alternative is far from attractive. It must however be made clear that there can be no possibility of any legal status for Sharia. Law is a matter for the state, not the Church nor Mosque. Nor should there be any recognition of polygamy, nor toleration of forced or child marriage.”

They say good fences make good neighbours and it would seem from Tebbit’s suggestion, that the relatively small size of Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu and Sikh faith communities in the UK, presents less of a problem for the “host population,” and that smaller numbers make for better relations. But then where do we cap the size of a minority faith community in order to keep relations with the majority population in tact? Is it an absolute figure or a ratio? And wouldn’t such an approach invert the logic of tolerance for other faith groups when the emphasis is on keeping tabs on the size of minority faith groups rather than on creating conditions for harmonious group dynamics in society – whatever their proportion of the total population? And as the recent British Social Attitudes survey results show, faith adherence is on the decline for the majority of Britons, with 51% saying they “have no religion.”

Tebbit is correct in asserting that British Muslims “hold their views very strongly.” Successive surveys show that Muslims place a high premium on their religion and its importance to their everyday lives. But if Tebbit is assuming from the antics of Islam4UK, Muslims Against Crusades and Al Muhajiroun that “many of its adherents…take literally the injunctions of the Koran on how non-believers should be regarded,” he is much mistaken.

The bravado displayed by these groups and the lengths they go to to offend others in society is in no way a reflection of Islam’s teachings on respect for other faiths and particularly, the People of the Book (Christians and Jews). To view British Muslims as holding the sort of disregard and derision Islam4UK et al show for other faith and non-faith groups in society is akin to suggesting that the antics of the EDL and BNP are indicative of the average white person’s attitude towards people of other colours and creeds. These bigoted individuals are not communal representatives, for either community.

And then there’s the suggestion that tension run high “on the boundaries between the historically working-class white areas and the immigrant enclaves,” where individuals have “either opted out of politics or gravitated towards the BNP.” But as this IPPR report from last year shows, direct experience of immigrants is less likely to affect a voter’s choice for the BNP and that areas where BNP support has grown have seen less than average rates of immigration.

 

We might conclude from this that, as the IPPR report argues, it is another set of variables that accounts for BNP support, social economic and political factors and not immigration, as is mistakenly believed.

Then there’s the overall frame within which Tebbit’s blog is structured with talk of “host population,” “immigrant enclaves”, and Muslims “seeking an accommodation with our society.”

For many British Muslims the UK is not a “host population” but home. They are not members of “immigrant enclaves”, recently arrived on these shores, but citizens born and bred. And they are not seeking some tortured “accommodation with our society”. They are part and parcel of it. Indeed, more British Muslims identify with the UK as a nation than the rest of the population, according to this survey by Gallup and the Coexist Foundation in 2009.

The presence of the BNP and the EDL and the current climate, which Phil Woolas sought to exploit with his election leaflets in Oldham, does present important challenges for our society amid these growing displays of intolerance and racial and religiously motivated crimes. But it is
a challenge that Muslims, Christians, post-Christians and those of other faith groups and none must approach not on the basis of outmoded and inaccurate conceptualisations of a “host community” and its “immigrant enclaves.”

It is a challenge we face as fellow and equal citizens and the conversation we must begin on reviving religious tolerance and respect for faith in our society, whatever the religion, must start from this premise.