Britain is home to 1.6 million Muslims, approximately 3% of the population. Forced assimilation has been rejected in favour of multiculturalism in hope of empowering minority communities and enhancing their sense of cultural identity.
However, events such as the Rushdie affairs and the suicide bombings of London have prompted doubts as to whether multiculturalism is indeed working.
"In recent years a dangerous younger generation of Islamic extremists have emerged, often with no direct affiliation with al-Qaeda or other identified terror groups. The youngsters do not need signed orders from bin Laden or other terror leaders to launch an attack. For them al-Qaeda is an ideological reference point, a state of mind.” -Simon Reeves, Terrorism Expert.
During my undergraduate study, I witnessed the active recruitment of young Muslim students by radical groups such as Al-Muhajiroun and Hizb-Al-Tahrir on campus. These groups are often integrated into the Islamic Societies, which are funded by the universities themselves. Recent regulations have prevented groups such as Al-Muhajiroun from recruiting openly. As a result, however, these organisations have become more illusive, breaking up into numerous sub-organisations and changing their names.
Community run mosques are also radicalisation tools employed by al-Qaeda sympathisers. I attended a Somali youth’s conference last summer (the audience consisted mostly of high school students) designed to brainwash these naïve, impressionable youths and to poison their minds against their adopted country. Videos depicting the suffering of Muslims in Palestine and Iraq were shown, followed by speeches on Jihad and restoring the honour of Islam. Is it any wonder then that an event such the 7/7 bombings occurred without the detection of the security services?!