Manchester Muslims: The developing role of mosques, imams and committees with particular reference to Barelwi Sunnis and UKIM.

Abstract

Using ethnographic data from the Pakistani Muslim community in Manchester, I argue that the role of mosques, Imams and mosque committees has taken place in an environment of conflict in which Pakistani Muslims have struggled to construct a Muslim identity. In part, the British Pakistani Muslim community has established and maintained a religious identity through the negotiation of faith practice in schools, halal meals and the construction of purpose built mosques. These phenomena reflect the growing confidence of a British Muslim identity which must be understood in the context of debates surrounding „multiculturalism‟, „integration‟, „exclusion‟ and „recognition‟ of identity. In addition to understanding the development of religious identity in Manchester, I also examine the radicalisation of a certain section of the Muslim youth and government responses to this perceived threat. I examine the ways in which Manchester Muslims, especially those connected to mosques engage with state political institutions and how they perceive „secularism‟. I offer a typology of the political behaviour of Muslims in relation to participation in the political process. Finally, I argue that a lack of conflict resolution training and an implicit belief in Manichean dichotomies of conflict has fragmented relationships among mosques and Imams in Manchester which has exacerbated the position of British Pakistanis in particular and British Muslims in general.