Thread: Is Islam Taking Over Britain?

GROWTH OF ISLAM IN THE U.K.

Written by: Unknown Posted on: 04/24/2003

Source: CCN

SUBJECT: GROWTH OF ISLAM IN UK

Greetings

I wanted to contribute a response to your inquiry concerning the growth of Islam in Britain.

I am an American, currently resident in the UK, with professional research experience in matters involving the Middle East. Statistics clearly infer that over the past 20 years Islam has been the fastest growing religion in Britain.

The largest mosque in Western Europe is situated in London's Regent Park, and there is an Islamic university alongside. In 1945 there was one mosque in England, in 1950 there were 25, in 1960 there were 80, in 1976 there were 200, etc. Muslims here in Oxford were finally given permission to establish a mosque a few years ago, and it is located near where I live.

Within the past couple of years in one part of Birmingham one has been able to hear above the urban din the electrically amplified calls to prayer of a Muslim muezzin, just like in cities in N. Africa and the Middle East.

In one sense these facts are terribly disconcerting. When one passes through the English countryside it is the spires of the parish churches which are most prominent above all the villages, yet in recent years the abandonment of church buildings because of disuse has been a topic of much concern. One thinks of England, and one thinks of a *Christian* nation. The imprint of Christianity ÿis everywhere. ÿLast Saturday I attended a memorial service in the University Church for a don who died last ÿsummer, and ÿthe ÿparticular congregation was predominantly ÿagnostic ÿor atheistic, but ÿthe service itself was ÿChristian ÿthrough ÿand through...a tradition.

England is an Islamic target. During an international Islamic conference in London in the late 1970s the keynote speaker said, 'If we can win London for Islam, it won't be hard to win the whole Western world.' But all this evidence is only part of the picture. Muslims are not noticed proselytising here...but, then, Muslims do not generally proselytise the way evangelical Christians do. *Jihad* means 'struggle' rather more than 'war', and *influence* can be part of it.

More here:

GROWTH OF ISLAM IN THE U.K. A commentary on the rise of Islam in the U.K. and an analysis of its beliefs. Believersweb.org

I bring this up because of my experience both here and for many years on another webs site that is frequented by many Brits. The hostility towards anything Christian related is quite evident. Anytime a Christian theme is mentioned, or a Biblical verse is quoted, or a fact of history related to Christianity is broached, it raises the hackles of many a poster. It's not too long before snide remarks are forthcoming quickly followed by personal attacks, sometimes unrelenting.

Most often, the Christian who dares raise his head and speak out does so alone and at risk of ridicule and rebuke for believing in such 'myths' for being a Bible thumper, a nutcase, and other names that many of you are familair with and some have even used.

Is this what has happened to a once Christian nation? Not just neutrality towards Christianity, but hostility?

Is this attitude what has allowed Islam to flourish in a nation that once led the world in bringing the Gospel to and evangelizing other nations? How long before Britain is no longer considered a Christian nation, but rather an Islamic nation? Five years? Ten? Or has Britain already become an Islamic nation for all intents and purposes?

Do any Brits care? Does it matter? No big deal? Christianity is a myth anyway and the Islamics might as well take over?

Islam is plainly a anti-Christian religion. If Islam flourishes in Britain, will Christianity ever stage a comeback? Do you even care? Does it matter?

Is there an Islamic Revolution taking place in the UK?

Islam is growing in organisational strength, not just numbers, in Britain. It has undergone massive restructuring in the last five years. Mosques and other institutions are proliferating, and Muslims are exerting their influence in such fields as education, censorship and politics.

This is no accident.

A document produced by a prominent Muslim leader in the UK in the early 1980s described the Islamic movement in the West as 'an organised struggle to change the existing society into an Islamic Society with the Qur'an and Sunna as its base'. It clarified the aim as not being just Islamic schools, cultural centres and religious rights but 'the ushering in of an Islamic revolution'.

Isa Masih May 1997: The growth of Islam

Islamic bank aims to tap into Scottish market


By Valerie Darroch


THE Islamic Bank of Britain plans to establish its first Scottish branch in Glasgow next year buoyed by a worldwide resurgence in interest in Islamic finance.

The bank, which launched an internet and phone banking service last week, is also looking at expansion into France and Germany in 2008.
Ashraf Piranie is finance director of the Islamic Bank, which became the UK’s first standalone Sharia-compliant retail bank when it launched two years ago. He is keen to serve Scotland’s Muslim population, which is approaching 50,000 and has its highest concentration in Glasgow.
“Glasgow is on our target list. We’d like to have a branch office there in 2007. We’ve had very positive feedback, not just from Glasgow but also Dundee,” Piranie said.


The bank, which has its headquarters in Birmingham, is to roll out a series of new products, such as Sharia-compliant overdrafts and trade finance terms for business banking. It already offers personal banking products and residential and commercial property finance.

Islamic bank aims to tap into Scottish market - [Sunday Herald]



How long before you open an account at an Islamic Bank?

Yes, I guess it's true that the faith of Islam is growing in the UK. Of course this minority does attempt to make its voice heard in all areas of public life.

But tell me, what does the alleged slagging off of Christian themes on a few websites got to do with this? Seems like a different subject to me, or is it followers of Islam doing this? - I think not.
I suspect the yank who wrote this stuff has his own agenda - yeah, sorry dude, the UK is not a "Christian Nation", nowhere in Europe is, thank goodness...

This is cute. It's like a spam bot talking to itself.

How long before you open an account at an Islamic Bank?

Not me, thanks. But I respect people who put their money where their mouth is.

Not only in the UK! It's the fastest growing religion in north America too!

What are there? Less than 2 million Muslims in Britain? Britain's doomed!

1.7 million Muslims in Britain 200,000 of them support the London bombings. Still a minority

OH kerux, stiring doodoo again! shame on you, learn to use your brain, not your mouse. You cut and paste from the internet more than a thai student, but at least they can keep on topic most of the time.

Is the UK to become an Islamic state ~ don't be so bloody stupid!

That's their goal. Why don't you think they'll achieve it?

It certainly won't be because British Christians are oppoing them.

Because it's going to take them a hella long time to get a majority in the UK?

Originally Posted by Kidneystone

You cut and paste from the internet more than a thai student, but at least they can keep on topic most of the time.

LOL

Hey Kerux, are you some kind of muslim hating Christian fundamentalist ? what's the point of this thread ? just trying to understand.

Originally Posted by kerux

And if you Brits keep on being a "secular society and that's the way it will stay," then they undoubtedly will.

Britain, first Eurpean predominantly Muslim country have a nice ring to it, does it?

Do you work at being obtuse or does it just come naturally?
If Britons wish their country to remain secular, how on earth would it then become the "first Eurpean (sic) predominantly Muslim country"?

Britons wishing something to not happen means it won't happen?

And you think I'm obtuse?

"A younger generation of Muslim immigrants has come of age in the West; about half are now born in the West as distinct from their parents, who migrated here in the 1950s and 1960s. The young people rejected the integration and assimilation that their parents often desired. They were no longer the meek, invisible immigrants grateful to be allowed in at all; they wished to assert themselves. In this situation issues of race and religion often fused, as growing racism forced them into a greater sense of religious identity.



In the mid-1960s, when I was in Cambridge, there was no place for Friday prayers. Now, in the 1990s, there are three and they are invariably overflowing with worshippers on Friday. At various sessions of Seerat-un-Nabi conferences (in honour of the Prophet) organized by the Pakistan Cambridgeshire Association, which I chaired, around 200-250 Muslims, entire families, turned up."

That was in the 1990s.

Muslims in the West by Akbar Ahmed

An economists is able to spot trends before they develop.

I wouldn't be investing in pork farms in the UK.

"With more than 270 Islamic financial institutions in more than 40 countries, it’s hard to believe that UK Muslims would struggle to find banking services that fit with their faith, but at the moment the market is mainly concentrated in Muslim countries of the Middle East, North Africa and South East Asia. The European market is relatively untapped.

This seems quite an oversight, as the Muslim community is one of the fastest growing in Britain today. There are around two million Muslims living in the UK and about 700,000 temporary visitors. Many are homeowners, and nearly all require bank accounts, but until recently, there were few financial service products that met their needs while complying with Islamic law.

Our initial research showed that more than three-quarters of British Muslims wanted banking services that fitted with their faith. This presented us with a great opportunity and a challenge we simply couldn’t turn down. In February 2005, Lloyds TSB became only the third British bank to launch a current account designed to comply with Shariah regulations following in the footsteps of HSBC and the Islamic Bank of Britain. The current account was followed in March with a home finance offer to help Britain’s Muslims purchase their own homes."

Islamic Banking magazine, Islamic Finance magazine, Banking magazine, Finance magazine, Islamic Banking and Finance magazine, Middle East, shariah-compliant finance, shariah-compliant banking, takaful

Originally Posted by kerux

Britons wishing something to not happen means it won't happen?

The population of the UK is some 60 million, the number of Muslims is at most approximately 2 million. By what mechanism is the UK about to become "first Eurpean (sic) predominantly Muslim country"?

It's scaremongering bollocks.

Part of the problem is the current government's internal mechanisms of policy selection.

No longer 'listening to voters' the government has a bunch of statisticians studying interest groups: Muslims are politically active and vote on mass. The Labour party recognize this and pander to their block vote.

Likewise the BBC (which has a disproportionate Muslim staff level against the national demography)

Look at the BBC website and you'll see constant news items relating to Islam - the issue is hugely over represented in terms of Muslim participation in any UK issues.

Originally Posted by Stocky

By what mechanism is the UK about to become "first Eurpean (sic) predominantly Muslim country"?It's scaremongering bollocks.

What mechanism? Brit apathy and Muslim activity.

How Islam got political: Bosnia



By Mukul Devichand
BBC Radio Four's Analysis programme

The growth of political Islam is one of the most important ideological events of the past century.
In these features, BBC Radio Four's Analysis programme charts the growth of this ideology - and its stunning effects around the world, including Britain.

Islam is a faith and code of conduct for over a billion people worldwide. But for some, Islam is also a political project. On these pages, you can read and hear the history of political Islam's development.

BBC NEWS | UK | How Islam got political: Bosnia