British Islam, Bangladeshi Culture & the Absurdity of Calling for Hijra (migration) 🇧🇩🇬🇧

Photo by Levi Meir Clancy on Unsplash

The BBC aired a documentary called ‘Being British Bengali’ which I found interesting and recommend. Though only 30 minutes in length, it touched on some important topics regarding the social and economic development of the British Bengali community. These are my notes on the topic and how it all relates to being a ‘British Muslim’.

Today we are facing an identity crisis as young Muslims who cannot entirely relate to our parent’s and grandparent’s brand of religious conviction and prior social struggles, and yet can feel alienated by British culture as well. Modernity has baffled older generations as they refuse to navigate and adapt anymore and feel that subsequent generations have lost their sense of pride and love for the homeland.

Only Islam! Not culture

As British Bengalis have access to both cultures, an outsider may assume this is an advantage for one living in England, and it should be. But due to economic struggles, intolerance, and racial challenges, many of our youth have put their Bengali heritage of secondary value and commonly identify as ‘British Muslims’. I’ve come to understand that traditions, culture & language are all access routes to a more nuanced and deeper knowledge base and wisdom in Islam. I fundamentally disagree with the ‘Islam, not culture’ movement that seems to be prevalent in our young community.

From what I have observed, this movement is generally young, and consists of two opposing characteristics.

1. Those that prefer an expression of Islam with less perceived innovation and does away with most (if not all) cultural influences.
2. 2. Those that prefer the way of Sufism, taught by English speaking Sufi teachers with minimal cultural influence.

My contention is, that those who promote this type of thinking, whereby culture should have no influence on one’s Islam at all, have not thought of the logical implications of such a position. One implication to consider is that after 1400 years there are many cultures in the world that are deeply interwoven with Islam, and it is through these cultures that many Muslims know Islam. And so, telling them that they should follow Islamic practices and ignore their culture is like pulling the rug completely from underneath them, as many of them would have difficulty knowing culture from Islam. The majority of our parents and grandparents fall into this category, and it’s simply not valid to imply that their belief and Iman to be of less value based on a vague slogan. It is not a realistic outlook.

To some extent, I guess our parents and grandparents are right. The majority of our 3rd and 4th generation British Bangladeshis have almost completely lost touch with what their parents and grandparents call their motherland. This is natural. With each passing generation, cultural traditions evolve into something that can be unrecognisable or fade away into obscurity until all that latter generations can recall are myths and legends. As Bengalis, our heritage and history have great significance, and it is our innate disposition to pass this knowledge onto our children.

Culture is defined as food, clothing, language, traditions, habits, arts, music, and any other cultural aspects that define a group. Islam has set a clear standard for believers to see each other as brothers in faith, and it prohibited retaining any cultural norms that contradict Islam. However, Islam tolerated most differences and history is enough to show this. What is important is our identity is fundamentally based upon a common brotherhood. Even the tribes of Madinah (where Prophet Muhammad governed from) had different cultural traits and these tribes were not eradicated nor their cultures.

Another implication of the ‘Islam not culture’ movement is risking the promotion of an abstract understanding of Islam as we see in some circles. As humans, we can only understand the world through interacting and understanding the things in it. The Messenger was not abstract, rather he was raised and was part of a particular culture, and Islam engaged with many cultures of the world through the ages. The Quran was revealed within a particular time frame and was understood by a particular group of people of a particular culture and tradition, who spoke and understood each other in a particular manner. It is intellectually unsound to suggest that Islam of any era and region can be interpreted or understood without first understanding the culture and tradition it flourished in.

British Bangladeshis have come a long way and have become part of the British way and life. I have no doubt that our community will grow and flourish in the coming generations and will continue to contribute in many ways to the British way of life. But many are becoming detached from their cultural heritage due to several contributing factors. Indeed, having a British Muslim identity is yet another cultural identity that many people see themselves as part of in various degrees. The irony is that many of those that like to push the slogan ‘Islam, not culture’ have grown up or identified themselves as British Muslims.

Should we make Hijrah?

Migrating (hijrah) Is a noble act in Islam and should not be taken lightly. We have a rich history of early Muslims migrating for a better quality of life and religion. Migration in the right circumstances is admirable. However, in the UK today, we have some Muslims pedalling an unqualified notion that we ought to migrate to Muslim lands. This is not only unrealistic for the vast majority of British Muslims, it’s also discouraging for the newer generation of Muslims who hear this narrative in sermons and lecture circles. Just think if the idea of hijrah was widespread amongst British Muslims…. why bother with a community that doesn’t intend to stick around?

Some stats on UK Muslims:

1. According to the 2021 United Kingdom census, Muslims in England and Wales numbered 3.8 million, or 6.5% of the population. According to recent projections the Muslim population in the UK in the year 2050 is likely to number over 10 million.
2. 24% of the Muslim population (aged 16 and above) have a degree level qualification or higher (compared to 27% in the overall population).
3. 33% are under 15 years old (compared to 19% in the overall population) and almost 50% are under 24 years old (30% overall population).
4. Almost half of the Muslim population in Britain (47%) are born in the UK.
5. An overwhelming majority, 73%, of the Muslim population in England and Wales consider British to be their only national identity, despite more than half (52.8%) of them born abroad.
6. In 2011, as a proportion of the overall adult Muslim population (16+ years old) in England and Wales, full-time students made up 18% of all Muslims (nearly 1 in 5), while this figure was 8% in the overall population (1 in 12). Today, this number is likely to be much higher due to the high proportion of Muslims then aged under 16 years of age.

https://mcb.org.uk/resources/muslim-statistics-briefings/

From the available data, the British Muslim population looks like it’s about to boom in the coming years. The data also suggests Muslims are here to stay and mass migration looks to be far from realistic. Majority of second generation British Muslims should be best placed to serve their community here in UK, and we need to encourage this. Mass migration and topics of this nature actually risk discouraging younger generations of Muslims and new converts from being productive members of a community. To those continuing to pedal such narratives on migration on social media… If you sincerely believe migration is best for you, then do it if you have the safe means to. What’s good for you is not necessarily good for the society. Otherwise, focus on the community of Muslim in this country and help the next generation be better Muslims. Slogans and lip service are worthless.

Picking out hadiths from Bukhari and self interpreting, which is what many daees who justify claims for migration tend to do, isn’t Islam. Bukhari was written for scholars & advanced students. Learn from real people of knowledge that have studied these books & sciences in depth. Not TikTok & YouTube influencers. Remember! They are ‘influencers’. This means that they are likely spending a lot of time on socials managing, editing and posting videos. Students can be good influencers, but influencers almost always are bad students. Verifying if someone is reliable to learn from is so easy. You should always be wary of influencers, especially when they are claiming to be daees. I’m not saying don’t listen to them definitely. If you find benefit in what they say, then go for it. But know that when these daees mess up (which they do more frequently than one would like), they leave behind chaos and confusion. Often the damage and consequences are irreparable

To conclude

We ourselves tend to invent divides between different cultures and traditions and call for integration, when in fact they all start to blend into one another eventually. I disagree when people push the notion of ‘Muslim integration’. Integration happens naturally and over a span of time, it cannot be achieved overnight or be forced. I’m of the opinion that ‘integration’ has lost its real meaning in the UK today. And rather than throwing around vague and ambiguous terminology, the real key to community cohesion is to encourage and promote better understanding and awareness of different cultures and traditions. For most young British Bengalis, it’s not a question of integration and incompatibility that is causing them to become detached from their cultural heritage, but rather a lack of understanding overall of cultural heritage and history. Promoting a healthier understanding of different cultures and traditions will highlight differences but not the incompatibility of social and communal interaction. Islam is not a religion that doesn’t have mechanisms in place to ensure social cohesion with other ways of life and religious beliefs.