White, Muslim and British

When someone mentions the word ‘Muslim’ or even ‘British Muslim’, whether in normal conversations or stories in the media, the image we conjure up in our minds would typically be Pakistani men in places like Birmingham or perhaps young Somali women in hijabs from London. If we think of famous British Muslims, the first names on our list might be Olympic legend Mo Farah or the winner of ‘The Great British Bake Off’, Nadiya Hussain.

In the context of the UK, it is not often that we associate the word ‘White’ with Muslims/Islam. In fact, in normal discourse the two are usually seen as mutually exclusive or antithetical. Whether the discussion is about societal concepts such as ‘Privilege’ or topics such as extremism and culture, White Muslims, both those who converted to Islam or were born into the faith, are often a forgotten entity.

Many Muslims often see Islam through the prism of their own cultural traditions, such as Asian or Desi culture. For example, it is still common to go to a mosque in somewhere as ethnically diverse as London and find that the sermon is completely in Urdu or Bangla. Wider society often sees Islam and Muslims as something foreign or imported. You often hear the complaint: “Muslims don’t integrate”. One can assume they are not referring to the variety of Muslim that shares the same skin tone as them but the other types of Muslim – but of course, they cannot possibly be racist because “Iz-laam is not a race”…..

To some of these types of people in these two groups, White Muslims are not seen as truly White nor truly Muslim. For the latter group, it is as if they lost some of their whiteness when they embraced Islam. As for the Muslim community, they may not see these particular Muslims as real Muslims. After all it could just be a fad they are going through or they have only been Muslim a short while. Or maybe they ‘only’ became Muslim to marry someone? Perhaps that White guy at Jummah was a spy for MI5 or Prevent? Do they even know who the founder of Pakistan was or how to make Biriyani?

Both groups of people could do with familiarising themselves with interesting names from both British history and the present day that are truly White and very much Muslim:

Zainab Cobbold: Born Lady Evelyn Murray, in 1933 Zainab became the first Muslim woman from Britain to perform the pilgrimage to Mecca.

 

Abdur Raheem Green: Born Anthony Green, after being raised as a Christian and then going on to study various religions until he embraced Islam, Green has been active in preaching Islam for the last 30 years. He is the founder of iERA, which is global Dawah organisation that has helped thousands of Muslims embrace Islam.

Sir Archibald Hamilton: Hamilton embraced Islam in the 1920s and was an English statesman and a Lieutinent in the Royal Defence Corp.

Marmaduke Pickthall: Born in the 1870s, Pickthall is most famous for translating the Quran into English. In 1930, Pickthall published ‘The Meaning of the Glorious Koran’. This translation is still widely in circulation today.

 

Abdullah Quilliam: William Henry Quilliam was a solicitor based in Liverpool who embraced Islam in 1887. He claimed to be the first native Englishman to embrace Islam. The Caliph of the Ottoman Empire, Sultan Abdul Hamid II, gave Abdullah Quilliam the official title of ‘Sheikh al-Islam’ for the British Isles.

Yvonne Ridley: Mainstream journalist who was captured by the Taliban after 9/11 whilst working as a reporter. After being released, Ridley said she was amazed the respect she was treated with by her captors and later decided to become a Muslim.

Henry Edward John Stanley: A convert to Islam, in 1869 Lord Stanley became the first Muslim member of the House of Lords.

Cat Stevens: Now more widely known as Yusuf Islam, Stevens was a successful musician with several top ten singles and albums. He embraced Islam in the 70s at the height of his fame.

Timothy Winter: Also known as Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad, Winter is an academic and lecturer at various institutions including Cambridge University as well as being a commentator and translator in Islamic issues.

 

Although they are still a minority within a minority, White British Muslims are not actually a new phenomenon or an unusual quirk.  Thousands of people in the UK embrace Islam each year and as can be seen from the names above, Muslim heritage in this country actually goes deeper than the generations that came here in the 60s and 70s.

They may not have the uphill struggle of battling racism and discrimination that their fellow Muslims have to endure. Whilst they may also not necessarily bear the brunt of Islamophobia as much as others – unless they are visibly Muslim by appearance or name, like every group of people within the Muslim community, they have their own challenges and obstacles. White Muslims, like Asian, African and other groups have cultural baggage or expectations – albeit to a lesser extent. There are issues around acceptance in the wider – predominantly Asian/Arab Muslim community. We have all heard of new Converts/Reverts struggling to tell their families, or maintain relations when they have accepted Islam. They also face some more unique challenges that many of their brothers and sisters in faith do not experience such as being seen by the far-right as ‘race traitors’ for being both White and Muslim – a huge contradiction in the shallow argument that Islamophobia is distinct and detached from racism

Being White and Muslim is not something odd, unique and nor are they the outsiders or hippies of the community. They are very much part of the ‘British Muslim’ experience and along with the Asian, Arab, Black and other communities, they are an important part in both the Muslim and wider British community and can offer a unique perspective on what it means to be a Muslim in the UK.