I read with dismay the findings of the Henry Jackson Society polling report on British Muslim attitudes and beliefs in 2024. It is a document that is well worth spending 15 minutes on to give a thorough read. It is very enlightening and when compared with the Channel 4 poll report in 2016 tilted 'What British Muslims really think'.
I have spent some time looking at where the attitudes have changed over the last 7 years and in this first section I will highlight by how much if we have a similar question that has been asked. It cannot be a direct comparison but I think it is fair to infer the answers if if they have not been presented with the exact same statement. Lets start with this one asked in 2016
'To what extent, if at all, would you support or oppose there being areas of Britain in which Sharia law is introduced instead of British law?'
In 2016 the answer was that 23% strongly supported it and 17% tended to support it. In 2024 that rose to 32% in 2024 (only 23% of the total said it would be undesirable). That alone is a 40% increase in a position that runs contrary to British society.
To what extent you agree or disagree with each one: homosexuality should be legal in Britain?
In 2016, 52% of British Muslims said that it should be illegal. In 2024, only 28% said it was 'undesirable'. This is a harder one to determine given the disparity in the 2024 question 'Do you feel that the implementation of the following in the UK in the next 20 years would be desirable or undesirable? Outlawing homosexuality '.
However, this I find incredible that 52%, half the Muslim population in the UK not only thinks that homosexuality is not desirable but that it should be made illegal. I'm sorry but that is plain backward thinking. That is the position of an unenlightened, spiteful, malicious, medieval world view in my opinion. As long as there is consent without coercion between adults then it is no-ne else's business what they get up to in their bedrooms.
Over half want to make it illegal to show a picture of the Muslim Prophet Mohammed.
Here are some of the findings from 2016
Two thirds (66%) of Muslims would not inform the police if they thought somebody they knew was getting involved with people who support terrorism in Syria. This does not make me feel safe.
4% sympathise with people who take part in suicide bombings and 4% sympathise with people who commit terrorist actions as a form of political protest. That is160,000 people in the UK by the way. 160,000 people in the UK hold this opinion.
47% do not believe that it is acceptable for a school teacher to be homosexual. Positively backward thinking.
32% refuse to condemn those who take part in violence against those who mock the Prophet. Yep, again that is almost 1.3 million people in the UK that support violence for basically blasphemy.
39% agree that “wives should always obey their husbands”. Not exactly enlightened.
36% do not completely condemn those people who take part in stoning those who commit adultery. Do1 in 3 Muslims in the UK tacitly accept this then as a reasonable position to hold on this matter? Again, that is 1.44 million people in the UK that think this way.
The report did highlight what it called positive findings. I am not sure I think all of them are positive though
A large majority of British Muslims feel a strong sense of belonging to their local area (91%). My view here is that most Muslims live with other Muslims in ghetto areas - and that is the problem in and of itself.
A large majority of British Muslims feel a strong sense of belonging to Britain (86%). This is higher than the national average (83%). Fair enough but what do they think Britain is and do they share the same vision for it as the rest of us. From this report I think generally not.
A large majority of British Muslims feel that they are able to practice their religion freely in Britain (94%). Well, this makes sense. But again I would say this is more of a problem for the rest of us as this religion is not showing itself to be compatible with pour enlightened, secular society.
British Muslims are more likely than the rest of the population to feel that they can influence decisions affecting Britain (33% vs 21%). Again, I think this is actually quite worrying when you read some of my other posts about how Islam is venturing into Sectarian politics.
British Muslims are more likely than the rest of the population to feel that their local MP reflects their views (44% vs 41%). See above.
And here are some of the findings from 2024
One in four (25%) of British Muslims name the Israel Palestine conflict as their most important election issue compared to just 3% of the British public. So 1 in 4 are going to be voting about what is happening in a Country thousands of miles away. Is this a good way to run a society? To elect leaders on the basis of their opinions on matters that they can do nothing about whatsoever, that have nothing to do with the day to day affairs of the Nation?
Almost half of British Muslims feel more sympathy with Hamas than Israel with 53% of 18-34 year old Muslims; they are the most likely to sympathise with Hamas.
Nearly half of British Muslims would back the removal of an MP if they took a different stance on Israel Palestine to them.
Only 24% of British Muslims have a negative view of Hamas. Incredible. A terrorist organisation that has murdered even their own people. You don't even have to take sides in the conflict to realize these are bad people just read Wikipedia (not known as a right wing outfit by any stretch of the imagination) - war crimes in the Israel Hamas war.
Only 16% say it would be undesirable to have a Muslim political party (compared to 53% of the public). Can we infer then that 84% might tacitly agree that it is a good idea to elect an people on the basis that they share the same religion as you? Because, this isn't even a policy of entering into the unknown. Throughout history and to the present day religious, theocratic, societies have been and currently are among the most unsuccessful, poorest , unfair, intolerant and dangerous. And the Islamic ones are the worst of those -see my article here about what Islamic Countries can teach the rest of the World.
Only one in four British Muslims believe Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish homeland. Where do they think the Israelis should go then?
The summary of the report was thus:
Extreme views were generally more likely to be found in the youngest age cohort of 18-34, among graduates of all ages (as opposed to non-graduates) and British born rather foreign born Muslims, suggesting British integration policy is failing and needs urgent revision.
For me the most disconcerting poll was that 75% of British Muslims do not believe Hamas committed murder and rape in Israel on October 7th 2023.
I am not sure if that means they don't believe it took place at all or whether they do believe it took place but don't consider murder and rape apply to the Israeli victims. Either one is pretty frightening. And this is my point. We are now sharing our island, our culture and our home with people who think like this. That is at least 3 million people for this stat alone (I imagine there is a significant amount of left wing extremists who hold a similar view) walking around, riding on buses and trains, driving in cars, visiting shop[s and malls and living in homes across the UK who hold extreme and in my opinion dangerous opinions.
What is even more frightening is that the latest 2024 report tells us that the younger generation of Muslims are more extreme than their parents and grand-parents and that far from integrating into society they are becoming more and more segregated.
The release of this report is yet another red flag for the UK and the West as a whole. How much longer can keep tolerating the intolerant? How long will we wait until we realize that this group of people is driving our society a fundamentally different direction to the one most of us (I think) want to go?
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