What does it mean to be a British Muslim?

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Such terms are notoriously difficult to pin down. Not only do they have varying contextual usages, they are highly elastic and contested.

"British" is commonly used to mean "nationality", usually evidenced by a passport. It is often used in a geographical sense too, denoting where one lives, one's homeland.

The term's core usage however refers to a nation's collective identity, arising from a socio-cultural phenomenon, the loyalty people feel to their nation, people, region or religion.

Professor Anthony Smith, the founder of Nationalism Studies at the London School of Economics (LSE), details how ethnic origins, religion, language and shared symbols over time lead to a sentimental sense of nation by its members. His research concludes a national identity is
"a named community possessing an historic territory, shared myths and memories, a common public culture and common laws and customs".

Whilst national identities exhibit many positive aspects, when politicised, they can become pernicious. The ideology of nationalism argues a nation's identity should be the basis of a polity - adopted as the basis for nation-stateemerging post-Westphalia in Europe.

Add to this toxic ideology values from secularism, capitalism, liberalism and a host of other ill-conceived doctrines, you will get the idea where Cameron and Gove are going with this when they talk about British identity and values.

What is Britishness?

British national identity comprises a given common homeland, memories, culture and political rules.

The homeland broadly comprises the British Isles and colonial territories like the Falkland Islands.

Collective memories would include ancient Britons, Celts, Angles, Saxons, Romans, the French and Hanoverian monarchs, along with events like the 1215 Magna Carta, English Civil War, Industrial Revolution, British Empire, World Wars and historical figures like Henry VIII, Shakespeare, Newton and Churchill.

The collective culture would include football, fish and chips, pubs, BBC, Eastenders, The Sun, Christmas and the English language whilst the Union Jack, House of Parliament, Big Ben, the royal family and British law would be amongst its political symbols.

Can Muslims be British?

One has to consider what an Islamic collective identity would look like.

History starts with Adam (as), succeeded by generations to whom God sent messengers and prophets, with the final messenger being Muhammed (saw) and Islam being the final code.

The Umma's memories add to this history - the Prophet's rule in Medina, followed by the Khulafah Rashida, Umayyads, Abbasids, Mughals and Ottomans. Historic heroes include the companions, Abu Hanifa, Malik, Shafi'i, Ahmad bin Hanbal, Bukhari, Sibawayh, Salat Al-Din al Ayubi, Ghazali, Ibn Khaldun, Muhammed al-Fatih, Aurangzeb and Abdul Hamid II.

The collective culture includes prayers, halal food, hijab, Eids, Ramadan, Hajj, respect for the elderly, honour, patience, nikah, circumcisions, God consciousness, tajwid and the Arabic language.

Political symbolism would require a Caliph as the single leader of the Umma, the Shari'a as law, qadis, bait ul-mal, the Prophet's flag and armies of jihad fighting tyranny.

So in conclusion - I don't think it is possible to be a "British Muslim" - the term is an oxymoron.

British values are ever-changing so they cannot be defined, their values consist of variables while our values are constant throughout history.

For example, not so long ago, British values included public execution, nowadays you mention public execution you are labelled as an extremist. Women dressed modestly, if they showed their legs, it would be shocking. Now if you say women are dressed immodestly you are labelled as extreme.

Homosexuality was a crime in this country, if you were gay people would think you have lost your mind. Whereas now if you criticise gays, people think you have lost your mind. The way Britain's earlier generations reacted against homosexuality is the same way this generation reacts against incest and bestiality. Which makes you wonder, it's only a matter of time before the next generations become accepting of incest and bestiality the way our current one has accepted homosexuality.

There are no limits to "British values", which are nothing but limitless liberal values. In a society which is ruled by Shaitan, haram becomes the order of the day, anything halal becomes a threat. And as time goes on, you begin to realise Islam and the west are at a head on collision. You don't have to be part of Taliban or ISIS to be on the receiving end of this assault on Islam. You can just look Muslim and thats enough for these shayateen to attack.

Shaykh Abdullah Azzam said

"When will they accept you? Either you abandon your faith or they abandon their sin and this won't happen. If they abandon their sin, this means they become Muslims and the conflict cools down. And if you abandon your Islam, you have committed shirk. So, the conflict continues: {"...Do you criticize us for no other reason than that we believe in Allah and in what has been sent down to us and to those before us and that most of you are rebellious sinners?"} [al-Maida; 59] So, their sin and our faith is the reason.

So, if you see America or Russia or Britain or the criminals and tyrants in the Islamic world - if you see them pleased with someone, you should doubt this person's Islam and his faith. Understood? This is because Allah has set down a rule that does not change and this rule says: {"And the Jews and Christians will never be pleased with you until you follow their way..."} [al-Baqara; 120]
[Shaykh Abdullah Azzam, 'Fi Dhilal Surat al-Taubah'; p. 22]

At the end of the day, this life is a test, we are living in the ultimate time of history, leading towards final few generations. And you cannot have the ultimate prize without the ultimate test. Victory has been promised to us by Allah, but you will suffer in the process from afflictions and fitnahh?, you will have to step to the plate if there is anything good in you, the suffering you go through will be an expiation for your sins. Insha Allah.