By J Malik

We seldom say it, but Muslims are not great with politics. We over-simplify, are quick to resort to conspiracy theories and often hide behind race and religion, playing the victim and gaining no benefit. Whilst British Muslims are now better represented and have more articulate voices in the public sphere than before, the process continues to be a slow and frustrating one.

The explanations for this are usually lazy, generally boiling down to cultural inferiority and some vague conception of a ‘clash of civilisations.’ Look more closely however and there are patterns that explain, at least in part, our difficulty in making sense of our political context.

A Cultural Focus on Hard Sciences

British Muslims are a relatively recent migrant community, with many now counting themselves as 2nd and 3rd generation citizens. The cultural inputs we have inherited from our countries of origin remain strong, and whilst this has benefits and an inherent value as part of our heritage, it also comes with shortcomings.

One of these shortcomings is the cultural premium we put on professions like medicine and engineering. Particularly prevalent amongst people of Pakistani and Bangladeshi origin (who make up more than half of the British Muslim population), this has put a disproportionately high number of young Muslims into those fields. This is understandable; generally poor migrant families wanted stable incomes for their children. But this attitude has been slow to give way, even as Muslims became more integrated and prosperous. Instead these cultural norms branched out into other relatively stable, ‘traditional’ fields like accounting and finance.

The result has left us with a dearth of social science students, particularly in political science and international relations. Our participation in the public sphere through disciplines like journalism, research and politics has been stunted, both by our own lack of breadth combined with the residual institutional ‘glass-ceiling’ and the lingering prejudice of the workplace.

A caveat exists here. It could be argued many migrant communities start by focusing on hard sciences due to their immediate financial concerns, before gradually spreading their reach to social sciences and the arts. The transition for British Muslims however may have been comparatively stunted by the continuous arrival of low-income migrants, and that Muslims continue to make up large proportions of the poor and working class.

Reconciling Past Greatness with our Great Malaise

A broader point that potentially applies to Muslims the world over is the great contrast we find in the tales of our glorious past and often troubled present predicament. Confronted with still-fresh memories of colonialism, relentless turmoil in the Middle East, persistent poverty in much of the Muslim world and our meagre contributions to the realms of science and industry, reminiscing of the ‘Golden Age’ of Islam is a common retreat for the 21st century Muslim.

The contrast is a valid one. The spread of Islam to the Southern tip of France and the far reaches of Indonesia and China within 30 years of the Prophet’s (S) death are roundly recognized as civilisationally unprecedented. The Ottoman Empire’s towering achievement of uniting a diverse region — now engulfed in so much infighting — for over 7 centuries is monumental. The consolidation of the world’s scientific knowledge and its breath-taking expansion that occurred under the Abbasids remains a subject of much interest for Orientalist scholars to this day.

However, our deep feeling of the need to revive our sense of self-worth has led us to view our history with rose-tinted glasses. We ignore the promiscuity and occasional brutality of Ottoman sultans. We overlook that the enlightened societies of our past were reigned over by rulers who were light-touch autocrats in their own right.

We resort to conspiracies to reconcile this contrast. By accepting a more balanced view of our history, whilst celebrating the genuine achievements of Muslim civilisation today, we can close the gap and adopt a more realistic approach to contemporary politics. 3 Muslims have won the Nobel Peace Prize in the last 5 years. The country that donates the highest proportion of its GNP to aid is Muslim. The largest private ambulance network in the world is run by a Muslim philantropist in Pakistan. 3 of the most promising emerging markets lauded by investors are Muslim. There are pockets of hope — glimpses into what the enlightened societies of the past may have looked like. Instead of lionising past empires and bemoaning our current plight, we could instead seek out good examples and build upon them ourselves.

The End of Times — Our Deterministic View of History

A more immovable factor that colours our world view is the emphasis in our tradition and scripts on the ‘End of Times’. Contrary to the understanding of the current British government, this aspect of Islam has always been an integral part of the average Muslim’s faith. The great generality of Muslims believe the world will end, and as this time approaches world events will become increasingly extreme and the difference between good and evil more polarised. It is also inevitably the case that as more time passes we draw closer to these events.

The prophecies of great wars and destruction in the time to come are believed not with glee, but a solemn acceptance. With concepts of the arrival of the Mahdi, Dajjal and the eventual return of Jesus, it is easy to see why many resort to simple and sometimes conspiratorial explanations in the face of the enormous oncoming events.

How can we balance this? Part of the issue stems from the lack of focus today’s public scholars put into this topic. It leaves Muslims with an exaggerated perception of the clear distinction between good and evil in the world, and allows us to accept more questionable theories than we should.
The Qur’an itself presents a nuanced account of human society, both then and now. It accounts for non-Muslims who stand up for their principles and defend Muslims against bigotry. It accounts for Muslims who violate the principles they claim to uphold in the midst of their over-zealous interpretation of them. The life of the Prophet (S) himself presents a complex and nuanced society, rather than an obvious good vs evil distinction ripe for conspiracy. By moving to a deeper understanding of those times, and the equivalent depictions of the times to come, we can begin to return towards a more nuanced, human understanding of why the undeniably complex organism that is political society remains as complex and layered as ever before.

Why are Muslims so bad at politics? was originally published in Convivencia Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

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