British Islam after Rushdie

The young Muslims who protested on the streets of Bradford, Bolton, and Birmingham, who attended in their thousands the rallies in Hyde Park, are no longer so young, but neither are they so old. Most are probably in their late thirties or forties. Half a generation behind them are the young Muslims of today, the inheritors of a mantle forged in the flames of a burning book.

One strand of the Islamist narrative that began twenty years ago led, tragically, to the events of the 7 July 2005. But, as I have argued before (Prospect, August 2008), Islamism is not—and never was—a unitary phenomenon and other threads have led in different directions. How have these other stories turned out?

In order to find out, I began a journey across Britain, speaking to "ordinary" young Muslims—that is, those who are not, or have ever been, affiliated to radical Islamism—from different ethnic, class, regional and doctrinal backgrounds. I wanted to hear what they had to say for themselves; I wanted to peer into their inner worlds, to mine their experiences and emotions as well as their thoughts and opinions. [Prospect] Read more