Sufis, Salafis and Islamists: The Contested Ground of British Islamic Activism

219 Pages·2016·1.852 MB·English

by  Sadek Hamid

Sadek Hamid is currently a British Academy Postdoctoral Research
FellowandLecturerinIslamicStudiesatLiverpoolHopeUniversity.He
has written widely about British Muslims, young people and religious
activismandistheeditorofYoungBritishMuslims:BetweenRhetoricand
RealLives(2016)andco-editorof YouthWorkand Islam: aLeapofFaith
for Young People (2011).
‘ItisapleasuretocommendthisbookbyoneoftheleadingscholarsofIslaminBritain.
SadekHamidhastheperfectcombinationofpersonalbiographyandexperience,alliedto
academicrigourandattentiontodetailthatmakesthisanuanced,timely,well-informed
contributiontothedebateaboutIslaminBritaintoday.’
SophieGilliat-Ray,ProfessorinReligiousandTheologicalStudiesat
CardiffUniversityandauthorofMuslimsinBritain:AnIntroduction
‘SadekHamid’sbookisabsolutelyessentialreadingforanyonewhowishestofurthertheir
knowledgeofthedynamicsofIslamicactivisminBritain.ItrescuesIslamismfromthe
rhetoricofterrorismandhighlightstheessentialdifferencesbetween“islamicisation”and
“radicalisation”.’
RonGeaves,ProfessorofTheology,PhilosophyandReligious
StudiesatLiverpoolHopeUniversityandauthorofIslamin
VictorianBritain:TheLifeandTimesofAbdullahQuilliam
‘Quitesimplybreathtaking.Arealtour-de-forceineverysenseoftheword.SadekHamid
painstakingly charts and navigates with precision the landscape of British Islam by
identifying the major intellectual trends competing, and at times vying, with one
anotherforauthorityamongsecond-andthird-generationMuslimBritons.Insodoing,
healsointroducesthekeyindividualswhohaveshapedorcontributedtothereligious
currentsinwhatisanengagingtaleofreligiousactivismandofteninter-grouprivalry
acrossGreatBritain.Thissurelywillbecomeaprimerforunderstandingtherichness,
complexities,challengesandfault-linesofIslaminBritaintoday,andhence,essential
readingforpolicy-makers,studentsandgeneralreadersalike.’
AftabA.Malik,GlobalExpertonMuslimAffairs,
UNAllianceofCivilizations
‘SadekHamidhaswrittenaninvaluablestudyilluminatingandevaluatingthechanging
landscapeofIslamicactivisminBritainoverthelastthirtyyears.Hedevotesachapter
eachtofourfacesofactivism:reformistIslamist,radicalpan-Islamist,Salafiandneo-Sufi.
Their transnational origins, history, evolution and mutual rivalries are mapped and
assessed in a measured, non-sensational and accessible manner. He also explores the
extent to which they are positioned to respond appropriately to the experiences and
questionsofanew,mediasavvygenerationofBritishMuslims.Indispensableforpolicy
makers,academics,studentsandthegeneralreader.’
PhilipLewis,authorofYoung,MuslimandBritishand
IslamicBritain(I.B.Tauris,2002)
‘Thiswell-researchedstudyprovidesanalternative,altogetherinsightfulperspectiveof
socio-religious trends that continue to influence and shape the landscape of Islamic
activismintwenty-first-centuryBritain.Itisuniqueinthatitprovidesacomprehensive,
insider-basedaccountregardingmovementsthatcompetedtopromulgateoftensimilar
reformsbutfromdifferingstandpoints.’
AbdulHaqqBaker,authorofExtremistsinOurMidst:ConfrontingTerror
andformerChairmanoftheBrixtonMosque,London
SUFIS, SALAFIS
AND ISLAMISTS
The Contested Ground of British
Islamic Activism
S H
ADEK AMID
Publishedin2016by
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Copyrightq2016SadekHamid
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maynotbereproduced,storedinorintroducedintoaretrievalsystem,ortransmitted,
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For Hena, Adam, Emaani, Tahani and Muhammad

CONTENTS
Acknowledgements viii
List of Abbreviations x
Glossary of Arabic Terminology xi
Foreword xiv
Introduction 1
1. ‘Taking Islam to the People’: The Young Muslims UK 15
2. ‘Khilafah Coming Soon’: The Rise and Fall of
Hizb ut-Tahrir in Britain 33
3. ‘Returning to The Qur’an And Sunnah’: The Salafi Dawah 50
4. Sufism Strikes Back: Emergence of the
‘Traditional Islam’ Network 68
5. Dawah Discourses Understanding the Appeal
of the Trends 88
6. Fragmentation and Adaptation: The Impact of
Social Change 106
7. Contemporary British Islamic Activism 134
Conclusion 152
Notes 158
Bibliography 181
Index 195
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The partial inspiration for this book came from a newsletter article
written by pioneering British Muslim journalist Faisal Bodi while he
wasastudentatManchesterUniversityin1993.Entitled‘ThePlayers’,
itmadeanamusingcomparisonofthecharacteristicsofIslamicactivist
groups competing for the attention of Muslims in campuses across the
UK.Thefollowingpagesareanattempttounderstandhowthesegroups
emergedtomobilisesecond-andthird-generationBritishMuslimsinto
faith-based collective action. I am grateful to Ron Geaves for enabling
thedoctoralresearchwhichthistextdrawsupon;heisaninspirationand
agenerousmentor.Anumberofindividualshavedirectlyandindirectly
helped influenced this book through engaging in discussions with me
andprovidinginvitationstosharemyresearchatvariousstagesoverthe
yearsindifferentpublicationsandatconferencesinBritainandabroad.
IwouldliketothankFaisalBodiforhisencouragement,YahyaBirtfor
the inspiration and collaboration, Tahir Abbas for the opportunities,
Sophie Gilliat-Ray for her advice and support and Philip Lewis for his
recommendations.Manypeoplehaveshapedthisworkbysharingtheir
recollections, especially Aftab Malik, Fuad Nahdi, Abdul-Rehman
Malik, Usama Hasan and Atif Imtiaz, who were generous with their
time and contributions through many conversations. I also appreciate
the input and assistance of a number of academics along the way, in
particularRoelMeijer,MalikBadri,RebekahTromble,MazenHashem,
Linda Woodhead, Abdulkader Tayob and Tariq Ramadan. I would also
like to express my gratitude to all the people who shared their
experiences of Islamic activism: Qassim Afzal, Saddaf Alam, Mansoor
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ix
Hussain, Jahangeer Akhtar, Abdul Haqq Baker, Abdurraheem Green,
Noman Hanif, Jai Byron, Yasir Rahman, Wakkas Khan, Afzal Khan,
Robina Shah, Balal Siddique, Hamid Rashid, Robina Ahmed, Dilwar
Hussain, Inayat Bunglawala, Ahtesham Ali, Ibrahim Osi-Efa, Tim
Winter,HumeraKhan,AbaasChoudury,LuqmanAli,JahanMahmood,
Sajjid Miah, Laura McDonald, Tahir Haqq and the many other
anonymous respondents.
I am grateful to Alex Wright at I.B.Tauris for his enthusiasm in
publishingthisbook,BaillieCard forthehelpfuleditorialsupportand
Keith Devereux, Dan Shutt and the anonymous reviewers for their
input. Early versions of Chapters 2, 3a nd 4h ave appeared in ‘Islamic
Political Radicalism in Britain: The Case of Hizb-ut-Tahrir’, in
Tahir Abbas (ed.), Islamic Political Radicalism: A European Comparative,
(EdinburghUniversityPress,2007),‘TheAttractionofAuthenticIslam:
Salafism and British Muslim Youth’, in Roel Meijer (ed.), Global
Salafism: Islam’s New Religious Movement (Hurst Publishers, 2009) and
‘The Rise of the Traditional Islam Network: Neo-Sufism and British
Muslim Youth’ in Ron Geaves and Theodore Gabriel (eds), Sufism in
Britain(Bloomsbury,2013).Needlesstosaythatanymisrepresentations
or shortcomings are entirely my own.