The homegrown plot to blow up transatlantic flights has intensified fears that the 1.6 million Muslims in Britain are rejecting political tolerance and free speech for a violent, radicalized version of Islam. Do British Muslims really pose a threat to that country and its traditional values?
Some answers are provided by the most comprehensive survey to date of Muslim opinion in Britain. And the results from NOP Research, broadcast by Channel 4-TV on August 7, are startling.
To begin with, 50% say that 9/11 was a conspiracy by the American and Israeli governments -- more than twice as many as those who say it was not a conspiracy. Meanwhile, one in four British Muslims believes that last year's 7/7 attacks on London were justified because of British support for the U.S.-led war on terror.
When asked, "Is Britain my country or their country?" one in four say it is not their own. Thirty percent of British Muslims would prefer to live under Sharia (Islamic religious) law than under British law. Half of those who express a preference for living under Sharia law say that, given the choice, they would move to a country governed by these laws.
Twenty-eight percent dream of the U.K. becoming a fundamentalist Islamic state, which comports with last year's Daily Telegraph newspaper survey that found one-third of British Muslims believe Western society is decadent and immoral and that Muslims should seek to end it.
The news is no less alarming on the question of freedom of speech. Seventy-eight percent support punishment for the journalists who earlier this year published cartoons featuring the Prophet Mohammed. Sixty-eight percent support arrest and prosecution for those British people who "insult Islam." When asked if free speech should be protected, even if it offends religious groups, 62% of British Muslims say it should not be.
According to NOP Research, "hardcore Islamists" constitute 9% of the British Muslim population. A slightly more "moderate" group is comprised of "staunch defenders of Islam." This second group comprises 29% of the British Muslim population. Young Muslims are significantly more likely than older Muslims to hold this position and, tellingly, are twice as likely as older Muslims to reject the democratic process.
The Muslim threat to British security is so severe that London's assistant police commissioner, Tarique Ghaffur, has called for an inquiry into the radicalization of young Muslims. Ghaffur has observed "a generation of angry young people vulnerable to exploitation."
The predictable sociological explanation is that the extremists are the victims of social exclusion. But the NOP survey found no significant difference in political and religious attitudes by social class. Upper- and middle-class Muslims are as likely to be radical defenders of Islam as lower middle class and poorer ones.
Before the London bombings, British intelligence services estimated that 1% of British Muslims either support or are involved in terrorism. It seems improbable that there are really 16,000 potential Muslim terrorists in the U.K.: This is a mainly peaceful and productive immigrant population. But the number prepared to act against their own country is still significant: The British government has learned that, in recent years, 3,000 British Muslims have returned home from al-Qaeda training camps.
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