Why being ‘Muslim first’ doesn’t mean being anti-India

medium120271675Try asking an Indian Muslim whether they regard themselves as Muslim first or Indian first, and you will be lucky to escape a punch in the face.Few things infuriate Muslims as much as what they see as a sly attempt to cast doubt on their Indian-ness and patriotism.“What nonsense! Of course, Indian first,” they are likely to retort.Some might even be sufficiently provoked to say: “Why don’t you ask Hindus whether they are Hindu first or Hindustani first? Why only Muslims?”British Muslims, however, are more upfront and honest in acknowledging that their faith takes precedence over their nationality.No “ifs” and “buts”.That’s what they told a widely-reported survey recently. Most of them said that their religious identity was more precious to them than their Britishness.This is particularly true of young Muslims, while the older generation, for reasons which are not clear, is more likely to identify as primarily British.However, according to the Institute for the Impact of Faith in Life (IIFL), a think-tank which conducted the study, the findings should not be read as a reflection on their patriotism.It’s a reaction to their sense of “exclusion from mainstream notions of Britishness”.“The identification as Muslim first was not about not wanting to identify as British, nor anything doctrinal demanding loyalty to Islam first. Instead, it was about not feeling welcomed to identify as British first,” said Charlotte Littlewood, the IIFL’s director of research.Those in the 12-27 age group — the so-called ‘Gen Z’ — are said to be more sensitive to what they regard as “negative” perception of their faith, ethnicity and lifestyle.They argue that it’s, in fact, others who see them as “Muslim first”, fuelling their own sense of Muslimness. medium nocaptionhttp://youtu.be/oIMSv1sqof8?si=XBE3K63RCTFRa5qlIt all started with the post-9/11 wave of Islamophobia when Muslims had their loyalty questioned almost every day — even by liberal intellectuals.Famous novelist Martin Amis, since deceased, went to the extent of suggesting imposing “collective punishment” on the Muslim community “until it gets its house in order”.“Not the ramblings of a (racist) British National Party thug, but the reflections of Martin Amis, leading luminary of the English metropolitan literary world,” noted Marxist literary critic Terry Eagleton.The initial Muslim reaction to this anti-Muslim drumbeat was a mix of denial and defensiveness (“no, no, the terrorists are not real Muslims”, etc).But somewhere along the line, they decided to adopt a more assertive approach. And in a throwback to the Afro-Americans’ celebration of their black identity (“Black is beautiful”), they got down to aggressively embracing their Muslimness.Out came the hijab, the full burqa, the beard and “topi” — the full Muslim/identity kit. Over the years, this approach has only hardened, driving Muslims and non-Muslims further apart.Now, the Muslim World League (MWL), considered as one of the world’s most influential Islamic organisations, has warned that the conflict in Gaza has “exacerbated” divisions.MWL’s comments were linked to its new polling, which found key differences in “values and perception” of society between Muslims, particularly young people, and non-Muslims.Nearly one in five Muslims wanted religion to play a role in politics, compared with 5% of non-Muslims.It confirms previous studies showing that Muslims and non-Muslims are living “parallel” lives, hindering integration. medium nocaptionhttp://youtu.be/O8YWkf3QzDs?si=rMaNBaJik5Pa6E6l“Without integration, there is isolation, fear of the other. That can cause a vacuum that the evil doers will try to fill,” according to Sheikh Mohammad bin Abdulkarim al-Issa, MWL’s secretary-general.But surprise, surprise: For all their angst, most British Muslims view the UK as a more “accommodating” country than its European neighbours, feeling freer to openly identify as Muslim than they would in France.Most would prefer to live in the UK than in a Muslim-majority country, while 77% believe it is important to “raise children to be citizens who make positive contributions to British society”.But the obsessive focus on Muslims often misses the fact that they are not alone in putting their faith before their country. Catholic leaders told the same survey that it was also true of many Christians.But it didn’t get the same play in the media.The same goes for British Jews.While they are forever grateful to Britain for giving them shelter when they had nowhere to go while fleeing Nazi terror, when it comes to faith and ethnicity, it’s always Jews first.Not a day passes without Jewish groups accusing British institutions — from universities to the BBC — and parts of the government itself of anti-semitism, and threatening to leave Britain.In Israel itself, ultra-Orthodox Haredi Jews refuse to serve in the army (compulsory for all), fearing that their strong sense of religious identity will be weakened by army service.For mainstream Israelis, this has long bred resentment, and has grown since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023, which many regard as an existential battle for the future of the country, and some 300,000 reservists have since joined the army. medium nocaptionhttp://youtu.be/2cgcl-Jxr2c?si=kwASLLdpBVmvT25wOpinion polls indicate strong public support for removing the exemptions on the Haredi draft.But a Supreme Court ruling last year revoking the exemption has met with widespread protests and defiance from Haredi Jews.Can there be a more egregious case of putting faith before the nation?Meanwhile, the stress that Hindus have come to place on their religious and cultural identity has become almost as intense as that among Muslims, Christians and Jews. I have seen private cars in Delhi displaying ‘हिंदू’ stickers or ‘हिंदू’ painted on rear windscreens.What happened to the good old “Hindustani”?Actually, the whole faith vs nationality/nationalism debate is heavily contrived and assumes that the two things are somehow mutually exclusive and you can’t be both — a good practising proud Hindu, Muslim, Christian or Jew and a patriot at the same time.You are either one or the other.It has also become a convenient stick to beat the minorities with everywhere. It’s they who are invariably subjected to loyalty tests.The majority community is assumed to be automatically loyal and patriotic, which, of course, is debatable.Ultimately, pitting faith against patriotism and framing it as a test of loyalty (for any faith group) is a wilfully divisive project — a route to further religious and cultural fragmentation.Opinion polls and surveys dressed up as academic studies don’t help and people would be well-advised to beware of their motives before deciding to cooperate with them.Finally, ‘loyalty’ is a much-abused term with anyone not seen to be a fully paid-up member of the self-styled nationalists’ club promptly declared a traitor.To improvise upon EM Forster’s famous quote, “If I had to choose between my convictions and spurious notions of loyalty, I hope I will have the guts to choose my convictions.”Read more from the author here.