Compare and Contrast the British and French Approach to Integration, with Specific Reference to Islam - Research Paper Example

COMPARE AND CONTRAST THE BRITISH AND FRENCH APPROACH TO INTERGRATION, WITH SPECIFIC REFERENCE TO ISLAM. ”The Muslim population in Britain s back to the C18th when Muslim sailors, known as lascars, serving on British merchant ships began to settle in …important port cities (Cardiff, Liverpool, Glasgow and London0” (UK IN SENEGAL, 2009). A major part of the migrants began to arrive in the 1950s. According to the National Statistics of 2004, it has been maintained that the number of Muslims living in Britain as of 2001 is 1.6 million. “This group comprises 3 percent of the total population and over half (52 percent) of the non- Christian religious population” (National Statistics, October 2004). Taking the other country of concern in this paper- France, it has been maintained that around 3.7 to 5.5 million Muslims live in France (France In The United Kingdom, French Embassy, 2007). Following the given statistics, it is then understandable that the government of both countries and the citizens thereof have a lot to confront and contribute to the peaceful settlement or otherwise of this controversial religious sect. With reference to Muslims making these two countries their home, it has been observed that “…while the state has treated Muslims better in Britain…than in France, this hardly means that they have no legitimate grievances with state policy that would warrant their mobilization. It took decades for British Muslims to gain state aid for their schools, their schools that are funded are still few, and Muslims have failed to win statutory protection against religious discrimination” (Fetzer, Joel S. and Soper, J.C, Date?, p.148). Even so, “This backlash against Muslims included physical assaults, verbal abuse, and property damage to mosques and Muslim owned businesses.” It was and is this state of affairs that has initiated the need to promote a “successful integration” by the government of both countries (Britain and France) between its non-Islamic citizens and the ones that are (Fetzer, Joel S. and Soper, J.C, Date?, p155). According to the British government, it expresses that it is willing to work with “moderate” Muslims, in that meaning Muslims who are “peaceful, non-violent, tolerant, respectful and loving” (Moosavi, Leon, p.1). For instance, Gordon Brown called for “partnership with moderate Muslims” (Moosavi, Leon, p.1). In relation to this it can be noted that the British government feels that, or rather, understands “moderate” Muslims to be of a “moderate” Islam in that being more “’secularised’ and ‘liberalised’” even so believing that they (moderate Muslims) reinforces “the assumption that Islam is inherently contradictory to ‘Western Civilization’ and needs to be diluted in order to be compatible” (Moosavi, Leon, p.2). It follows that the British government’s ideal of “promoting this ‘secularised’ Islam is that it is intended to be more personal and practiced behind closed doors to the extent where any Muslim who allows their Islamic beliefs to influence their political activity in the public sphere is considered extreme” (Moosavi, Leon, p.2). The same ideal was further emphasized by speeches given by Ministers in which they express that Islam is a ‘“faith” which holds connotation of personal belief rather than as a ‘way of life’” (Moosavi, Leon, p.2). Similarly, the approach of France to the Islamic people living therein was that there should be “assimilation” on the latter’s part into the country’s culture. “Assimilation implied the reduction of religion to the private sphere and a lessened intensity of religious practices…” (Bowen, John R., 2002, p.6). Further, the performing of the “salat” or the prayer prescribed in the Islamic law has been “taken by one government body to indicate the degree of one’s assimilation into French culture…” (Bowen, John R., 2002, p.6). Also, according to France, “specific indices of assimilation include praying less frequently, not following the fast, abandoning polygamy and making fewer visits to the country of origin” (Bowen, John R., 2002, p.6). It should be noted herein that though France places a clear indication of what the Muslims’ “assimilation” should involve; Britain, on the other hand, does not clearly indicate its requirements relating to the same. The extent to which Britain requires assimilation of its Muslim people is made by its “emphasis on the ‘duty’ and ‘responsibility’ for Muslims to do all the work in achieving ‘community cohesion; by such things as learning about British history, engaging in British culture, learning English, contributing to society and developing a sense of belonging without any mention of what ‘indigenous Britons’ must do to accommodate minorities…” (Moosavi, Leon, p.13). The French government has, however, gone as far as to deny Muslim applicants their French citizenship on grounds of “insufficient assimilation” (Bowen, John R., 2002, p.6). The same has not been fully observed in Britain. Contrary to France’s strict observation of the Muslims’ assimilation into its own culture, Britain is, on the other hand, more concerned with extremist followers of Islam or in other words, Islamic followers who are likely to become terrorists. This concern in the latter nation is not surprising, especially since the attack on London in July 7, 2005. In relation to this, Britain holds the view that ‘…those who committed terrorism or were considered extreme were…abusing Islam and twisting its ‘real’ teachings as a way of justifying their political grievances…For example, Blair said that “the extremists that threaten violence are not true Muslims in the sense of being true to the proper teaching of Islam….Elsewhere, David Blunkett said “we tackle those who distort and destroy the name of Islam….Therefore, it is clear that the discourse does not reject Muslims and Islam per se, but specific variations of them. That some Muslims are worth accommodating is justified in the repeated arguments that Muslims have contributed a great deal to British society and that the majority are ‘integrated’, ‘decent’ and ‘law-abiding’…’ (Moosavi, Leon, p.2). The British Embassador in Dakar, Peter Newall, speaking on integration of the Muslims into the British society, stated that “Terrorists’ messages seek to create mistrust and divisions, We must strengthen our common values and understanding in response” (UK IN SENEGAL, 2009). Though the approach of Britain and France is different towards the Muslims who are also their probable citizens, the two countries however do agree on how their own Muslim citizens should conduct and behave themselves. For instance, Tony Blair stated that Britain’s citizens, including Muslims should conform to Britain’s common values. Further, they should obey the rule of law, perform their duties towards the state and other citizens while even so, holding their rights. The “citizens” should also maintain “freedom from violence and discrimination” (Moosavi, Leon, p.6). France, reflecting on its Muslim citizens feels that “The idea of regularly practicing one’s religion can…indicate an incomplete adaptation to modern life, or to French life. Too much prayer, the wrong clothing, too many trips back to the old country, all suggest that the person is a bit too transnational to be properly national. Despite public assurances to the contrary…it is possible, and perhaps likely, that a growing adherence to Islamic norms of ritual practices will continue to conflict with (some) French ideas about the appropriate everyday behaviour of French citizens” (Bowen, John R., 2002, p.7). France, requiring a more major shift of lifestyle of its Muslims citizens from the Islamic one to the French way of living, it has been maintained that even religious symbols are not to be incorporated in dress or attire. This condition was aroused after 1989 wherein three schools girls wore the headscarf to school; thus invoking a widespread controversy as to the secularism of the French nation. In relation to this, “In 2003, President Churai appointed a commission to consider the question if religious signs in public schools , the Commission de reflexion sur l’application du principe de laicite, chaired by Bernard Stasi (a former minister). The Stasi Commission suggested in its report delivered in 2003, that wearing conspicuous religious symbols should be banned in public schools…. Its [France] target is no longer Catholicism but rather Islam, and the issue no longer takes the form of overt religious conflict but rather of disguised religious conflict around issues such as girl’s headscarves in school…” (Modood, Tariq., Triandabyllidou, Anna., Barrero, Richard Z. Ed., 2006, p.59-60). ‘The report of the Stasi Commission on Laicite “ensures that groups or communities of any kind cannot impose on individuals a belonging or a religious identity”’ (Modood, Tariq., Triandabyllidou, Anna., Barrero, Richard Z. Ed., 2006, p.60). Contrary to the aforementioned situation in France, Britain’s former Prime Minister, Tony Blair, once said that “Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and other faiths have perfect right to their own identity and religion, to practice their faith and conform to their culture” (Moosavi, Leon, p.13). That assurance by Blair does not, however, mean that Britain is not aware of the boundary it needs to set. The British government acknowledges that it is working on promoting a certain type of Islam. For instance, Peter Newall (British Ambassador in Dakar) stated that “Distortion of Islam by extremists is primarily for Muslim communities and scholars to address” (UK IN SENEGAL, 2009). Further, “There is often talk about how they are funding and working with specifically hand-picked Muslim scholars and Muslim organizations to promote a certain version of Islam as well as encouraging mosques to engage in certain activities and giving specific syllabi to Islamic schools for them to teach…” (Moosavi, Leon, p.2-3). Herein, it should also be mentioned that Tony Blair had “admitted” that “one of the things that we are looking at is how you make sure that there is a certain set of agreed rules and guidelines as to how any faith school should teach its own faith…” (Moosavi, Leon, p.3). On that end, it should be noted that “The first Muslim school in Britain opened in the late C19th in Liverpool. There are now over 110 Muslims schools in the UK” (UK IN SENEGAL, 2009). In relation to Muslim education and its syllabus, it has been claimed by British ministers that the values taught by the Quran are more or less similar to the “core British values”. However, in spite of this claim, Muslims in Britain are still made to feel that they have to adopt “values such as tolerance, the rule or law and equality” (Moosavi, Leon, p.6). As such, it just goes to show that the British government is contradicting itself and only verbally tending to encourage Muslim education or the promotion of the Islamic faith. Further, another aspect of the Britain’s approach to Islam in that “This idea that Islamic values contradict with the values of justice/the rule of law, tolerance, fairness, democracy, and freedom/liberty has been denied by many who argue that in fact, all these values can easily be derived from Islamic scriptures as most of them are fundamental Islamic principles…” (Moosavi, Leon, p.6). Still others who oppose the mentioned view (Islam values contradict the essential British values) maintain that it is Britain who has been behaving and acting out of the values it claims to have. For instance, Britain’s former imperial conduct which includes “crusades, slavery, colonialism neo-imperialism, or the ‘War on Terror’” ultimately leads to the conclusion that it is the history of the Muslims that have been “based on these supposedly ‘core British values’ much more than the history of the Christians has…” (Moosavi, Leon, p.7). When it comes to Muslim education in France, it has been observed that “In less visible fashion, other foreign states finance mosques, train imams, and create schools for Muslim-children. Even today, nearly all the imams and the teachers of Islam working in France received their education outside the country and retain their original nationalities (Fregosi, 1998). As a result of this continuing history, most Muslims leaders in France at one and the same time condemn foreign influence in France, and yet depend on foreign assistance for building Muslim institutions in France” (Bowen, John R., 2002, p.2-3). France’s approach to religious gatherings and instruction is more liberal in that the sermons in the mosques are “given first in Arabic and then in French, transforming the standard dual structure of the Islamic sermon into something quite new, a bilingual edition.” Further, in France “Discussions in mosques or foyers often include interventions in French and Arabic, sometimes with efforts to translate back and forth” (Bowen, John R., 2002, p.4). “According to the Interior Ministry, France had 1,685 mosques and prayer rooms in 2005 (1,558 in 2003). 13 of these mosques can accommodate over 1000 people. A further 30 are currently being built” (France In The United Kingdom, French Embassy, 2007).France also provides animals for the sacrifices prescribed in the Quran and it even sent French Muslims on the required pilgrimage. This state provision however still requires a more efficient management. It should be noted though, that in Britain, such state provisions are seldom maintained. However, as regards Islamic places of worship, it is claimed that “The first purpose-built mosque as opened in 1889. There are now over 1,200 mosques in the UK” (UK IN SENEGAL, 2009). One of the main problems as regards the West or particularly, Britain and France in relation to Islam and the people of that religious sect, is the fact the two nations are overclouded by this perception that there exists a totally different ‘Western’ civilization apart from the ‘Islamic’ civilization. This ideal has been enhanced by repeated ‘reference to “the Muslim world” and “the Islamic world”, in distinction from “the West” and “the Western World”’ (Moosavi, Leon, p.7). Further, the same ideal is emphasized by concerned peoples’ use of the “ ‘personal pronouns’ such as ‘us’ and ‘we’ when talking about Britain [or France] and ‘they’ and ‘them’ when talking about Muslims, even if they are British Muslims [or French Muslims]” (Moosavi, Leon, p.8).This view has been seen to “dehumanize a culture and a people [since it] creates a world for them, apart from our own Western world” (Moosavi, Leon, p.7). On the other hand though, condemning the mentioned Western ideology against Islamic countries and people, Peter Newall stated that “There is no clash of civilizations. There is no war between the West and Muslims. Terrorism does not equate to Islam or any other faith or human value” (UK IN SENEGAL, 2009). Following the discussion above, there also exists this extensive view that “…Islam is a foreign religion that belongs ‘over there’ and not ‘here’” (Moosavi, Leon, p.9). That view is mostly present in Britain. However, the same is similar in France in that the perception is one that “France is not part of the monde musulman, the Muslim world, and so Muslims cannot be expected to live according to Sharia in France” (Bowen, John R., 2002, p.8). This outlook by the two nations is therefore the reason why they expect the Muslim community to incorporate itself or adjust itself to their own, instead of trying to reason out ways by which the nations’ citizens can make these outsiders blend in; and that, without too many cultural hassles and social and political prerequisites. In one of the views given by critics, the “assimilation” that the French talk about and the adjustment that Britain requires of its Muslim people in order to bring about integration is one which only disguises itself in multiculturalism. Whether integration is truly brought about by assimilation, and that too assimilation in its true sense, is yet to be fully known. It has been observed that “French Muslims have a stronger incentive to commit time and resources to political mobilization than their coreligionists in Britain…where the political environment is more supportive of Muslim demands. It is possible, therefore that the greater need for collective political action explains the more effective formation of interest groups among French Muslims” (Fetzer, Joel S. and Soper, J.C, Date?, p148). Though it has been mentioned earlier that France is more liberal in its approach to and provisions of Islamic religious requirements; it still does not, however, have a more lenient attitude towards the aforementioned grant of citizenship, internal finances of Muslim institutions, religious expression in the case of dress and attire, and other things of the like. Britain, on the other hand, even if it seldom provides for the Muslim’s rituals’ demands; it does not, however, limit the rights of peoples’ religious expression in dress, identity, citizenship (as per its prerequisites), and other such things. Following the above discussion, it has been observed that in France, “Since the first headscarf affair [1989], successive Interior Ministers have tried to establish a representative institution for Islam on the model of the institutions representing other religions. In this way, the government has sought to structure the mobilization of its ‘adversary’ and bring French Muslims together, transcending national and even religious difference” (Modood, Tariq., Triandabyllidou, Anna., Barrero, Richard Z. Ed., 2006, p.64). In consequence to the effort made by the French government towards the integration of its own people with the Islamic ones and also the recognition of the latter’s needs and demands, “In April 2003, the Couseil Francais du Culte Musulman (CFCM) was established to give institutional legitimacy to French Muslims.” This “structure now situates Islam, institutionally on an equal footing with other religions in France as well as other countries in Europe such as Britain, the Netherlands and Belgium. Its creation is a way of orchestrating a shift from Islam in France to Islam of France, from a simple presence of Muslims and their practices visible in France to an Islam that is expressed and developed within national institutions, assuming its freedom from ‘foreign’ influences, especially those of the homeland” (Modood, Tariq., Triandabyllidou, Anna., Barrero, Richard Z. Ed., 2006, p.64). Further, it has been maintained that “The institutionalization of Islam is a response to a demand for recognition by the Muslim population. In this perspective, it leads to treatment of Islam by the state on an equal footing with other religions in France” (Modood, Tariq., Triandabyllidou, Anna., Barrero, Richard Z. Ed., 2006, p.64). Another initiative taken up by the French government is one in which it caters to the tensions between French and Muslims regarding “particular combinations of language and objects at Islamic events” (Bowen, John R., 2002, p.3). In response to this situation, the French government has formed the UOIF or Union of France’s Islamic Organizations (Union des Organizations islamiques de France) which “promotes French state control of internal Islamic affairs” and “produces a resolutely diasporic and transnationalist presentation of Islam…” (Bowen, John R., 2002, p.3). Other Muslim organizations in France include the National Federation of French Muslims or the FNMF (Federation nationale des Musulmans de France) and National League of French Muslims or the LNMF (Ligue nationale des Musulman de France) (France In The United Kingdom, French Embassy, 2007). In conclusion, it can be said that having a large number of Muslim migrants, Britain and France are trying their best to meet the needs of the people of this religious sect. It may not always be that the government of both countries do exactly what they should or must. However, it can be understood from the above discussion that Britain is broader when it comes to religious expression while France still tries to promote the secular nature on which the state has been founded. Britain does not provide a good portion of state funds towards the need of its Islamic mass while France, on the other hand, does. It has been seen that Britain does not fully adhere to Islam institutions being funded or supported by foreign states as in the case of France. With reference to the whole discussion, it can finally be concluded that between the two nations- Britain and France, contrary to the religious problems of Muslims in France, in Britain the problem “is not so much whether the state will actively promote religious practice” to that of it (state) providing “state aid to religion” (Fetzer, Joel S. and Soper, J.C, Date?, p156). References: Moosavi, Leon (Lancaster University, Sociology Department), (Date ?).The Representation of Islam and Muslims by the British Government Between 2001 and 2007, p.1-13. Retrieved on April 29, 2009 from: http://www.surrey.ac.uk/politics/research/documents/CP-LeonMoosavi.pdf Bowen, John R. (March 2002). Islam in/of France: Dilemmas of Translocality, p.2-8. Retrieved on April 29, 2009 from: http://www.ceri-sciencespo.com/archive/mai02/artjrb.pdf France in the United Kingdom ( (January 24, 2007). Islam in France. Retrieved on April 29, 2009 from: http://www.ambafrance-uk.org/Islam-in-France.html# NATIONAL STATISTICS (October 11, 2004). Religious Populations (Christianity is main religion in Britain). Retrieved on April 29, 2009 from: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=954 Modood, Tariq., Triandabyllidou, Anna., Barrero, Richard Z. Ed., 2006. Multiculturalism, Muslims and Citizens (A European Approach), p. 59-64. Routledge Publication. Retrieved on April 29, 2009 from: http://books.google.co.in/books?id=7OAAV5eEmy4C&pg=PA58&lpg=PA58&dq=french+approach+to+intergration+with+reference+to+Islam&source=bl&ots=bwRuP75vKj&sig=R73gb9yNAKuoY10OnVekw9aZkTA&hl=en&ei=U671Sef0IqXo6gOp_ZmfDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3#PPA76,M1 Fetzer, Joel S. and Soper, J.Christopher (Date?). Muslims and the state in Britain, France, and Germany, p. 148-156. Retrieved on April 29, 2009 from: http://books.google.co.in/books?id=mjWwydwh37wC&dq=french+integration+of+Islam&printsec=frontcover&source=in&hl=en&ei=Mr71SdfcO4Xm7AP3lcm9Dw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=12#PPA25,M1 UK IN SENEGAL (FOREIGN & COMMONWEALTH OFFICE) (2009). The Art of Integration exhibition: Islam in Britain’s Green and Pleasant Lands. Retrieved on April 29, 2009 from: http://ukinsenegal.fco.gov.uk/en/working-with-senegal/the-art-of-integration/ Read More