Islam in Britain

Jamie Gilham

Loyal Enemies uncovers the history of the earliest British converts to Islam who lived their lives freely as Muslims on British soil, from the 1850s to the 1950s. Drawing on original archival research, it reveals that people from across the range of social classes defied convention by choosing Islam in this period.

Loyal Enemies is a book about the past, but its core themes – about faith and belief, identity, Empire, loyalties and discrimination – are still salient today.

Much is written about young British Muslims, but what are young Muslims themselves saying and thinking about the lives they live? Seen and Not Heard:Voices of Young British Muslims brings together the views the thoughts, aspirations, and frustrations held by young British Muslims of over 15 different ethnicities, from across England, Scotland and Wales. It enables female and male voices to express, in their own words, their outlook and how they feel they are perceived, scoping topical issues such as intergenerational challenges, identity, gender, religious teachings, mosques and the media.With over half of Britain s Muslims under the age of 25, the findings contained within this research provide an insight into some of the more pertinent questions asked by policy makers, statutory services and community institutions concerning a growing generation positioned to make their impact on British society.

“Seddon, Hussain and Malik stress the importance of Muslim engagement in British society, and draw upon their extensive knowledge of Islam, social sciences, and the law, to demonstrate both the challenges and the possibilities … their ideas deserve to form the basis for debate about the future of Islam in the UK. This book will be valuable to students in Islamic studies, sociology, race and ethnicity, politics and law, but also warrants a much wider general readership.” Dr Sophie-Gilliat Ray, Department of Religious & Theological Studies, Cardiff University.

The Last of the Lascars: Yemeni Muslims in Britain, 1836-2012 charts the fascinating and little-known history of Britain's oldest Muslim community. Originally arriving as imperial oriental sailors and later as postcolonial labour migrants, Yemeni Muslims have lived in British ports and industrial cities from the mid-nineteenth century, marrying local British wives, and established a network of 'Arab-only' boarding houses and cafes. They also founded Britain's first mosques and religious communities in the early twentieth century, encountering racism, discrimination and even deportation in the process. Based on original research, this book brings together the unique story of a British Muslim community that stretches across 170 years of history from empire to modern multicultural Britain.