Ruth Kelly's 'British version of Islam'

On the 9 April 2007, the New Statesman magazine carried an article by Secretary of State for Communities Ruth Kelly, titled 'Time for a British version of Islam'. It followed a speech she made the same week on the same subject. She spelled out plans for the Muslim community in Britain. Kelly’s arguments are not new. They have been policy ever since David Blunkett was Home Secretary. In December 2006 Tony Blair made a speech mentioning the very same policies. The policies that they hope will lead to this ‘new’ version of Islam can be summarised in the following ways:

1. Government control over mosques via the Charities commission [which is under Home Office jurisdiction].
2. Government control over after school and weekend madrassahs/Quran classes through regulations on supplementary schools by the department of Education.
3. Government control over Imams through the immigration process and through regulated Imam training programmes.

The government first established some ‘working groups’ after the bombings of 2005. They were given insufficient time to address problems in our communities and their solutions focussed around an inquiry on the Iraq war. Hence, they were sidelined for not giving sufficiently ‘government-friendly’ recommendations. After this they established the Mosques & Imams National Advisory Body (MINAB). Until now it has not proved compliant enough. Some of the groups that the government formerly engaged with have been rebuffed because they failed to tow the line on key issues. They have used the issue of funding as their key bargaining tool - effectively saying that unless Muslim organisations cooperate they will not receive government funding. In a similar way mosques and organisations who rely on government grants or tax relief through their status as registered charities, will find their funding will be conditional, or they will be subject to the new powers of the Charity Commission, which can intervene in mosque affairs in a manner that bypasses normal legal processes. By asking madrassahs to adhere to the Department of Education’s regulations on supplementary schools, they can introduce aspects of the curriculum –such as citizenship, which Ruth Kelly has proposed. In December, Tony Blair threatened that there would be ‘no excuse for madrassahs not meeting their legal requirements and they will be enforced vigorously.’Through these policies Ruth Kelly and others aim to create a British version of Islam which is essentially a compliant and subordinate Muslim community, which cheers on, or at least stays silent, as the government pursues its global war on terror. Anything less is labelled as ‘extremism’ or being an ‘apologist’ for terrorism – no matter how much we rightly continue to state that violence against civilians, such as in 9/11 or 7/7, is not allowed by Islam