Multiculturalism is the cultural diversity of communities within

a given society and the policies that promote this diversity.

In a complex relationship between religion and culture,

Muslim identity is seen as the illegitimate child of British

multiculturalism.

Rushdie’s ‘The Satanic Verses’ made evident that the group

in British society most politically opposed to Muslims .

the strict separation of the state from religious institutions.

people of different religions and beliefs are equal before the law.

Muslim identity politics have stimulated a resistance because of the

powerful position that secularism came to have in twentieth-century

Britain.

In the twenty-first century, with terrorist events such as those of the

attacks in the USA and the London bombings on 7 July 2005, and with

the emergence of a ‘clash of civilizations’ discourse, the political opposition

came to focus on Islamism.

Runnymede Trust (a British race

equality think tank) produced a

report in 1997.

The report defined Islamaphobia as

‘’unfounded hostility towards

Muslims and therefore fear or

dislike of all or most Muslims.’’

The report described Islamaphobia:

Islam is monolithic, cannot adopt to new realities.

Islam does not share common values with other major faiths.

Islam as a religion is inferior to the West. It is archaic, barbaric

and irrational.

Islam is a religion of violence and supports terrorism.

Islam is a violent political ideology.

France

France draws the distinction between state and religion differently.

there is no state church

the state actively promotes the privatization of religion.

French civil society does not carry expressions of religion.

USA

there is no state church

organised religion in civil society is powerful and

seeks to exert influence on the political process

BRITAIN

In Britain, bishops sit in the upper chamber of the legislature.Only the senior archbishop can crown the monarchal head of state as

king or queen.A king or queen serves him as ‘Defender of the Faith’ and Supreme

Governor of the Church of England.

In the United Kingdom, there are officially two state recognised Christian denominations – the Church of England and the Presbyterian Church of Scotland.

The Queen is both head of state and Supreme Governor of the Church of England.

Today, the appropriate response to the new Muslim challenges is pluralistic institutional integration rather than an appeal to a radical public—private separation in the name of secularism.

These accommodations have varied from country to country, it

means there is no exemplary solution.

The British political system is less corporatist and less statist than many of its EU partners such as France and Germany. It is a politics in which civil society plays a greater role.

It is therefore more comfortable with there being a variety of voices, groups and representatives.

The most representative and successful national Muslim organisation, the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), whose office-holders and spokespersons are more likely to be chartered accountants and solicitors than imams.

The MCB became the chosen interlocutor of the New Labour Government, and, as domestic and international crises affecting British Muslims became more frequent and rose up the political agenda

It could be said that they achieved a significant measure of political integration.

Most of this progress has taken place under the administration of a Labourgovernment.