Earlier this year, the broadcaster, Trevor Phillips, presented a Channel 4 programme about British Muslims, called, What Britain's Muslims Think.'
The programme presented a rather stark and potentially frightening image of a sizeable proportion of Britain's Muslims, with a significant percentage of those surveyed, making responses which could cause some disquiet. This included a significant percentage supporting the application of Sharia Law in Britian, wanting to make homosexuality illegal, illegal, and so on.
The programme triggered off alot of debate, which, considering the on-going debate over immigration and terrorism, was not surprising.
Just over 6 or so months later, we have had another progrogramme focusing on Britain's Muslim communities; I stress communities, because, like Christianity, Islam comes in many versions, each of which have their own supporters. And, probably, like Christianity and other religions, the followers of each version varying in different degrees as to how fervently they believe what they believe about Islam.
Following on from "What Britain's Muslims Think", the British TV station, BBC 1, in December 2016, aired a mini series called "Muslims Like Us", in which we saw 10 British Muslims living together, or trying to live together in the same dwelling. This mini series was realistic, in the sense that the housemates included at least one Shia, probably 2 members who were also homosexuals, a 'radical' who has, I assume, converted to Islam, and two while Muslims, one of whom is a British woman who was born in India.
Half of the housemates were female. On the contra side, it could be argued that the sample was biased towards comprising younger and more 'open-minded', westernised Muslims. But, then again, it could be argued that these are actually the kind of Muslims who will predominate in the kind of cohesive and peaceful Britain which reasonable people would aspire towards.
What I found most refreshing about "MLU", was their 'Britishness." Except for Abdul, whose actual radicalism and religious orthodoxy would not go amiss within the vile ranks of Daesh, all the housemates demonstrated a refreshing degree of the traditional British tolerance which, I fear, is at some risk of being further diminished. Of course, this tolerance was not meted out to their fellow housemates, as they swore, cuss and argue with one another with little self-restraint.
Some of them might not feel comfortable with homosexuality, even though at least two of them seem to fall into that category. But their attitude is not atypical to that of the British population, in general, or, more specifically, probably that of orthodox Christians, especially those whose intellect and subservience to their gods do not allow them to think for themselves, or, as it were, out of the leaden box of their religion.
I found the views of most of the 10 "MLU" participants encouraging, in the hope which they bear for the evolution of a 'British/Euro-centric versions of Islam. Ones which are consistent with common British values, without leaving them bereft of the best of Islam's positive and humanistic attributes. These were not Muslims who are willing to servilely accept all the unfair, cruel and sectional values of ancient cultures, which, as has been the case with the other two main theistic religions, Judaism and Christianity, been incorporated into Islam, at face value.
Except for Abdul, who, surprisingly, holds to the view that Shias should be killed, the housemates seemed to be ordinary people who place decent human values above the homicidal ones of the kind of Sunnis whom Abdul aspire towards emulating.
Probably one of the biggest lessons to be learnt from "Muslims Like Us", is that it appears that, British society gives Muslims the option of being 'individuals', individuals who think for themselves, and do not have to allow the Islamic clergy or orthodoxy to rob them of this quintessential aspect their basic humanity. As we can see from this programme, once they are allowed to think for themselves and express their individuality, freely, they, British Muslims, are just as questioning, contentious, contradictory and even conflictual as any other British citizen.
This is, indeed, how it should be, that, irrespective of our religious persuasion, we, all of us, should be able to question what people believe, including their religious beliefs, and be able to agree to disagree, if necessary, without hatred or malice on either side.
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