‘Society does treat me differently and that is a shame’: understandings and feelings of Britishness amongst visibly observant young Muslims

ABSTRACT

There has been increasing media and political questioning of the national loyalties and identities held by young British Muslims, with a particular focus on those seen to separate themselves through strict and religiously observant dress and lifestyles. This paper draws primarily on research focusing on the meanings of ‘Britishness’ held amongst a group of visibly observant young Muslim adults. Empirical evidence is provided to demonstrate that although these young adults demonstrated an explicit and visible sense of Muslim identity, this co-existed without any conscious conflict with their British identity. The young adults’ acknowledgement of their religious attachment developed from a positive and proactive identification with Islam rather than one in opposition or rebellion against a British identity. Therefore, in a wider context, their lives must not be analysed only through the lens of religion, dress and appearance as this has repercussions in relation to national policy formation and subsequent perceptions of wider society.

KEYWORDS:

• Young Muslims
• visibly observant
• Britishness
• culture
• religion

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Professor Paul Thomas for his comments on an earlier draft of the paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 We utilise this term in the popular understanding as being related to attire: for instance women wear the face covering Niqaab, Hijab and Jilbaab and men have a full beard and wear the Jubba or topi.

2 Cf. Said 2003 on Orientalism.selod.

3 Hybrid in the context of Bhabha 2006.