Hidden in Plain Sight: Deobandis, Islamism and British Multiculturalism Policy

Abstract

In “Hidden in Plain Sight: Deobandis, Islamism and British Multiculturalism Policy”, Sam Westrop argues that the tendency of government, the media and academia to treat British Islam as one homogenous bloc has led to extremist strains of Sunni Islam, particularly the Deobandis, exerting increasing influence over British Muslims, to little protest from a naïve political elite. While some Deobandi groups maintain isolation from mainstream society, others—borrowing the tactics employed by Islamist groups—have attempted to exploit state multiculturalism policy, to work within public bodies and to learn to practise, in front of the media, a more tolerant rhetoric. Westrop argues that despite these differences in tactics, the hardline rhetoric taught by almost all Deobandi seminaries and clerics in the UK, some backed by Salafist monies, has served to fuel extremist ideas and has seemingly contributed towards the radicalization of Muslim youth.