These reports are too little too late. The rot has already destroyed the very fabric of British Muslim society. Events like 7/7 and young Muslims like self-burning doctors of Glasgow airport, would be shampoo bombers, and shoe bombers are all pointing to the terrible diseases emanating from the British mosques.
UK government was asleep at the wheel when it allowed thousands of illiterate Mullahs to barge in the UK from poorest of the poor regions in Asia and the Middle East. And these imams became the primary source of spreading hatred and poisoning the young minds of young British Muslims.
It is time that every foreign-born Imam or preacher be treated as other imported experts such as doctors and engineers and thus subjected to mandatory 3 years training prior to assuming the Imamat and they should go through continuing education programs.
Every Imam should tested on regular basis for his compatibility with UK culture and if he fails, he should not be allowed to remain Imam.
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British Imams unqualified to aid integration: report
By M. Ziauddin
Tuesday, 24 Feb, 2009 | 10:13 PM PST |
LONDON: Most of the imams who conduct prayers in British mosques have come from outside Britain and are ‘therefore not qualified or properly equipped to help young British Muslims integrate into a democratic, multi-faith society,’ claims a report (Mosques made in Britain) released on Tuesday.
The report is based on a survey conducted by the Quilliam Foundation whose delcared aim is to achieve a more Muslim Britain.
Quilliam conducted a poll in September 2008 of over 50010 mosques in Britain, which posed five questions on women’s facilities, language, evening classes for children and where the imam(s) were from and where they trained.
According to the report released on Tuesday the survey found that out of 254 mosques, 97 per cent of imams came from outside of Britain, and out of 152 mosques, 92 per cent trained abroad.
The survey also found that out of 494 mosques, 44 per cent do not include English in any aspect of their Friday sermons and out of 501 mosques only 54 per cent say they have facilities for women.
On the basis of these results the report claims that the religious leadership in the vast majority of Britain’s mosques,’ therefore, is not in full command of the English language, and is likely to be ill-equipped to address the real concerns and everyday experiences of young British Muslims.’
The report further says: ‘Their overseas upbringing and training does not prepare them to help young British Muslims integrate into a democratic, multi-faith society, of which they have a limited understanding, and leaves them powerless to challenge Islamist extremist rhetoric propagated by young, English-speaking, and articulate Muslims.
‘This current disconnect between young, English-speaking Muslim men and women who hold their faith to be of fundamental importance, and their insular, elder, family members who retain control of most mosques, has led to young Muslims turning to other outlets for their religion-based worldview. University Islamic societies, Muslim satellite channels, annual summer camps, conferences, exhibitions, internet chat forums, and membership-based voluntary organizations have all become viable, alternative social spaces for young, engaged Muslims.’
Muslim communities in Britain are diverse, with a study undertaken by the Open Society Institute (2005) stating that ‘it is claimed that the Muslim community [in the UK] has 56 nationalities, speaks 70 languages and prays in more than 1,200 mosques’.
But the majority of British Muslims are from the Indian Sub-Continent, and Sunni Islam’s Deobandi and Barelwi denominations are dominant, although Shi’ahs, Salafis, Sufis and others contribute to the British Muslim landscape.
According to the Institute for Community Cohesion (April 2008), at a local level,
mosques form the bedrock of British Muslim communities, with high attendance rates for Friday Prayers even amongst ‘nominally practising Muslims.’ Mosques are dominated by the Barelwi, Deobandi and Salafi denominations and Muslims are more likely to ‘worship in a mosque with others from a similar ethnic
background and religious practice.’
Accordingly, most Masaajid and likewise Madrassas [supplementary schools] are established and administered along theological and most often corresponding ethnic lines’.
In addition to offering prayer facilities and religious services, mosques often also act as community centres, offering Islamic education in the form of madrasas (or supplementary schools), and recreational activities.
In a survey conducted by Policy Exchange in 2007, 86 per cent of Muslims felt that ‘my religion is the most important thing in my life’.
Further, in 2001 approximately 50 per cent of Muslims in Britain were under 25 years of age,and according to figures from the Office for National Statistics (September 2008), the Muslim population in Britain has grown by more than 500,000 to 2.4 million in just four years, with the highest proportion being under the age of four.
This report illustrates the potential richness and, simultaneously the under-utilization of resources in mosques. Non-inclusive management, low educational standards, and the age-gender gap between mosque lay and religious leaders (male, elderly, first generation immigrants) and their congregations (young, British born, male and female) poses real threats of disempowerment and loss of faith in existing structures, which could leave individuals vulnerable to extremists.
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