We Asked an Expert How Islamists Could Actually Take Over the UK (35)

To put peoples minds at rest, these are real facts, not conspiracy theories


Contrary to this week's Fox News report, literally all of Birmingham is open to non-Muslims. But what would it take for the network's "terrorism expert" to be proved right?
Fox News told the world that, in the UK, there are "actual cities like Birmingham that are totally Muslim where non-Muslims just simply don't go in". Because that wasn't enough new information, "terrorism expert" Steve Emerson went on to describe all those real places in London where "there are actually Muslim religious police that actually beat and actually wound seriously anyone who doesn't dress according to Muslim – religious Muslim – attire".
Emerson has since apologised for his "terrible error", but his admission of ignorance, while totally necessary, is only one small battle won in the war against stupid people getting things wrong about Islam. Because while Steve might have realised the error of his ways, there are still lots – as in, a really depressing amount – of far-right British idiots who actually believe the UK is on its way to becoming a Sharia state.

This seems quite unlikely, but to put the matter to rest once and for all, I got in touch with an expert – Dr Chris Allen, Programme Director for Policy, Politics and Economics at the University of Birmingham and author of the book Islamophobia – and asked him some questions.
VICE: Hi Dr Chris. What did you think about the claim made on Fox News??Dr Chris Allen: Well, as many others have clearly stated, Steve Emerson's claims are nothing more than sheer nonsense. Yes, there are areas that have a particularly Muslim flavour, but so too are there areas where that flavour is a little more Irish, a little more Afro-Caribbean and so on. But none are off limits to non-Muslims.
In the future, would it ever be possible for Islamists to take over Birmingham, or, in fact, the entire UK??Much is made about Islam conquering by the sword, but given that there's no chance this is going to happen here in Britain, one would need to consider parallels from other countries where Islam clearly wasn't implemented through the sword. One example of this might be in Indonesia, where, over a number of centuries – from the 13th to the 16th – Islam slowly replaced animism, as well as also Hinduism and Buddhism. However, there is little that is comparable between Britain in the 21st century and Indonesia in the 13th century, and so it's impossible to draw any relevant or useful parallels between the two. In fact, there are no relevant or useful parallels because Britain isn't going to become Muslim.

But let's just pose the question for curiosity's sake – what would it take, theoretically, for Britain to become a Muslim country??Asking what it would take for Britain to become a Muslim country is akin to asking, "How long is a piece of string?" It cannot really be answered.
What do you mean by that??Let me explain. Despite scare stories to the contrary from both certain sections of the media and from the far right in particular, in the 2011 Census Muslims accounted for a mere 4.4 percent of the entire population of Britain. This 1 in 25 of the population who happen to be Muslim typically live in England in densely populated urban locations; London, the Midlands and Yorkshire, for example. So while some places in these urban areas might be perceived to be "Muslim areas", these are greatly outnumbered by the vast swathes of the country where significant numbers of Muslims are either greatly outnumbered or just non-existent – places like Devon, Cornwall, Suffolk, Norfolk, Northumberland and elsewhere.

Cont

As such, Muslims are a relatively small minority in today's Britain. In fact, so small a percentage of the population are Muslims that, according to the 2011 Census, there are five times as many people in Britain who claim to have no religion whatsoever [25.7 percent] than there are Muslims [4.4 percent]. The percentage of people who claim to have no religion is more than twice the size of all the people added together who adhere to any of Britain's minority religions
Okay. that some extremists want to forcibly turn Britain into an Islamic State, imposing Sharia law along the way.?While headlines regularly scream about Muslims wanting the flag of Islam to fly over Buckingham Palace, or report atrocities perpetrated by those claiming to act in the name of Islam – avenging the Prophet Muhammad, according to those behind the recent Charlie Hebdo massacre – one has to always remember that, despite their claims to the contrary, these are typically a handful of people who neither have the support of, nor indeed represent, the vast majority of Muslims.
As investigations have shown, most of those perpetrating these hideous and barbaric atrocities have links with each other in some way or another. Many, in fact, are those who have a history of criminal activity and are rarely from backgrounds that might be described as upholding the true ethos of Islam. So while they do make significant impact and indeed shape the way in which people perceive Islam and Muslims, there has to be that constant process of reminder that these are – despite their claims to the contrary – far from representative of the vast majority of Muslims either here in Britain or indeed elsewhere.

But what if the people trying to take over are really militant, like ISIS? Seems like they've managed to conquer quite a bit of land out in Syria and Iraq.?For these handful of individuals to be able to acquire enough power to "enforce" Islam in Britain require a huge leap of faith, and one that has no justifiable evidence to it whatsoever.
Why's that??Not only do they face a majority population which vehemently disagrees with them and their approach to religion, but so too do they face the same opposition and distaste by the vast majority of Muslims going about their everyday lives here in contemporary Britain. As such, it is as unlikely that your average British Muslim sharing the convivial space of Birmingham city centre agreeing and being receptive to the imposition of an Islamist version of Islam on Britain as it would for the non-Muslim Briton in exactly the same space. There is no appetite whatsoever for any form of religion being imposed in Britain – Islam or otherwise – let alone any hardline, Islamist interpretation of the same.
Wow, so the EDL were wrong all along. Who knew. Anything else you want to say to all the deluded far-right worriers still fearing an Islamist takeover??I do not believe that there is any evidence whatsoever to suggest that Britain will become a Muslim country, so people, stop worrying. And if you can't, take comfort in the fact that Britain has a great history in resisting the imposition of anything on it – our recent history in providing the European bulwark against fascism being an excellent case in point.

While this article is from 2015, it is still relevant today.
Scaremongering does a disservice and actually exacerbates many of the problems the mistruths are actually trying to solve.

Muslims are 1 in 10 for the working class and 1 in 50 for the bourgeoisie. How Islamic is your community/society? Depends how rich you are.

Nationalists and the poor will make many minor inaccuracies whilst remaining essentially and instinctively correct. Their objection is a streetwise objection, not an academic one. The wealthy like to f*ck the poor over for getting the details wrong, there's a battle between street smarts and educated ideology with the former being unintelligent and the latter unwise.

How it would happen is by the British retreating into a life of hedonism and singledom because they can't find a decent job or get a foot on the property ladder whilst muslims subsist and sleep 6 to a room. There's no limit to the depths in quality of life islam will plunge to in order to produce the maximum quantity of children. But we can't live like that. In a race to the bottom we will be outbred because mass immigration is a disaster in the context of cutthroat capitalism, there would be a bloodbath when people are in such stark competition with everybody else.

Imo the main thing we need is a welfare state which does not distort behaviour and instead treats everybody equally. In this country I'd keep housing benefit, the NHS and PIPs for the severely disabled with the rest of the welfare state being consolidated into a £1000 a month for each citizen. The effective aim is to conquer poverty, remove the lower middle class from taxation, reduce inequality and encourage individualism in general. A UBI would be rather damaging to any conservative family clan be that mormon, muslim or redneck because it'll blaze new pathways to private initiative. A self-confidence and a tolerance will arise from having your basic needs met no strings attached, having the greater means to be an individual will erode conservative gang/clan culture.

I consider and universal basic income a part of the infrastructure like the roads. Like the roads it'll allow people to get about society, to travel and to connect with people you otherwise would not have. Same as before this fourth industrial revolution we're going through today demands an additional layer to be added to the infrastructure.

and who will fecken pay for it?

Just trying to put a balanced perspective on the hogwash being posted all over CS,
I find it sad that those who at first appear educated and knowledgeable, still think youtube videos and conspiracy analysts to be the real truth, rather than look at the whole picture.

Yes, this article is 3 years old. Who says it’s content it is still relevant riz? Who is VICE and what makes them the authority on anything? Isn’t VICE amusement?

Had you read the article and actually understood it, you would realise that the Person answering the questions was the highly respected Dr Chris Allen, Programme Director for Policy, Politics and Economics at the University of Birmingham and author of the book Islamophobia.

George Bush jr. Is highly respected by some, too, but I seldom believed anything he said, especially 3 years later. That’s dated information riz, as you pointed out. I’m not trying to be cocky. Let’s talk current relative information.

what would we do without Experts!

Sorry not true, firstly I have never voted left in my entire life, and I have voted in every election since I was 18 years of age.
Just because someone doesn't agree with right-wing extremism does not mean they are liberal or indeed left of centre. Until you understand that, it is pointless discussing anything,

The information he discussed is very relevant today, sorry you cannot see that.