Sufis, Salafis and Islamists: The Contested Ground of British Islamic Activism

by Sadek Hamid

Overview

British Muslim activism has evolved constantly in recent decades. What have been its main groups and how do their leaders compete to attract followers? Which social and religious ideas from abroad are most influential? In this groundbreaking study, Sadek Hamid traces the evolution of Sufi, Salafi and Islamist activist groups in Britain, including The Young Muslims UK, Hizb ut-Tahrir, the Salafi JIMAS organisation and Traditional Islam Network. With reference to second-generation British Muslims especially, he explains how these groups gain and lose support, embrace and reject foreign ideologies, and succeed and fail to provide youth with compelling models of British Muslim identity. Analysing historical and firsthand community research, Hamid gives a compelling account of the complexity that underlies reductionist media narratives of Islamic activism in Britain.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780857729156
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	03/23/2016
Series:	Library of Modern Religion
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Sadek Hamid is currently a Researcher at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, University of Oxford. He has written widely about British Muslims, young people and religious activism. He is editor of Young British Muslims: Between Rhetoric and Realities (2016) and co-editor of Youth Work and Islam: A Leap of Faith for Young People (2011).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
List of abbreviations
Introduction
“
Taking Islam to the People:” The Young Muslims UK
“Khalifah Coming soon:” The Rise and Fall of Hizb ut-Tahrir in Britain
“Returning to the Quran and Sunnah:” The Salafi Dawah
Sufism Fights back: The Emergence of the “Traditional Islam” Network
Discourses of Dawah: Understanding the Appeal of the Trends
Fragmentation and Adaptation: The Impact of Social Change
Contemporary British Islamic Activism

Notes
Bibliography