Muslim Identity Politics ─ Islam, Activism and Equality in Britain

The rise of divisive and far-right politics and growing Islamophobia in Britain poses new challenges for Muslim advocacy organisations. In the last fifty years, Muslim identity politics has worked to preserve religious identity, lobby the state and offer concerted responses to the political establishment. This is the first book to critically chart the national and global factors influencing the political mobilisation of British Muslim activists as Muslims. From analysing the establishment of regional organisations after 1960, Khadijah Elshayyal traces the changes of thought, direction and method for Muslim identity politics. She argues that the Rushdie affair experience was highly formative, bringing with it international media attention, the opportunity for negotiation with the government and prompting new debate around the subject of freedom of expression. This issue has continued to be a point of contention, evident in significant 'turning points', including the 9/11 attacks in the US, the 7/7 London bombings in 2005 and the current conflict in Syria and the rise of Daesh/ISIS. Drawing on history and taking a socio-legal perspective, Elshayyal studies these periods with regards to political interaction and the impact of governmental policy on Muslim communities. The book identifies an 'equality gap' experienced by Muslim citizens and recommends where transformation and progress in Muslim identity politics can be made. Based on primary sources and in-depth interviews, this book will be a vital resource for government officials, policy-makers and researchers interested in multiculturalism, Islamophobia and security issues in Britain.

Khadijah Elshayyal is Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Edinburgh University's Alwaleed Centre for the Study of Islam in the Contemporary World. She completed her PhD in the History Department at Royal Holloway, University of London, and her MA in Legal & Political Theory at the School of Public Policy, University College London. Elshayyal has experience working in the Muslim media sector and has conducted research on various aspects of ethnic minority political engagement. She has published in the book Muslims and Political Participation in Britain and writes articles and opinion pieces in The Guardian, The Runnymede Trust's 'Race Card', and The Platform.