The identity politics of many Muslims, and critics of Islam, are deeply corrosive

A poll suggests that most British Muslims identify more with their faith than with their nation.

- Kenan Malik

Condemning Muslims as 'sectarian' is only adding to the clamour that they have no place in the west.

The head of the Saudi-backed Muslim World League counsels British Muslims to talk less about Gaza and more about domestic issues. Labour MP Tahir Ali is criticised for campaigning for a new airport in Mirpur in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir; he claims the criticisms have led to “Islamophobic” attacks. After push-back, the BBC changes a headline describing converts to Islam as “reverts”, a term some Muslims use to suggest that Islam is the natural state of humankind.

Just a taster of debates about British Muslims over the past week. At the heart of each of these controversies is the question of how Muslims should relate to western societies, and western societies relate to them. For some, the answer is easy. On the one side, many claim Islam to be incompatible with western values and that allowing Muslims to settle here has led to what they regard as the degeneration of western societies. On the other are those who insist there is no issue, and those who raise concerns are bigots. Both are wrong. There are issues about Muslims and integration that need discussing, but those issues are rarely as presented in these debates.

Part of the problem is a view of Islam as fixed and static, a belief that it has remained the same throughout history, as have Muslims’ beliefs about their faith. It is a perspective ironically shared by dogmatic Islamists and implacable critics of Islam. In reality, not only are Muslims as diverse as any other community, but their connection to their faith is constantly evolving. To understand Muslim attitudes and attitudes to Muslims, we need to track that changing relationship between Muslims, their faith and wider society.