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Answered by Abdul Muhammad Bari

Well firstly we have to remember that the proportion of middle-class Muslims are higher in the US than it is here in Britain. More immi-grants with professional backgrounds went to the other side of the... Show more »Well firstly we have to remember that the proportion of middle-class Muslims are higher in the US than it is here in Britain. More immi-grants with professional backgrounds went to the other side of the Pond. Aspiration is higher and opportunities for succeeding more attainable. This is only half the explanation. Yes, there are sections of our community who could be inward looking, but this would be more for socio-economic reasons. There are obstacle to success and we should all work towards removing any barriers. And I would contend that our faith repudiates the politics of separation. We are called upon by our faith to reach out to our neighbours, whatever their faith will be. In fact, Islam places an obligation on Muslims to look af-ter neighbours. Please refer to my book 'Race, Religion and Muslim Iden-tity in Britain' published by Awakening in 2005. Those who use derogatory terms such as 'kuffar' and seek the politics of separation are in a minority, misguided and are not aware of their own faith. For every one person who follows this path, there would be two more who would passionately argue against it. People such as those volunteers behind the www.islamispeace.org.uk campaign. Proud to be British, Proud to be Muslim, and committed to success. We need to encourage that. Show less »