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A group of British students visiting London Mosque
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CAIRO,
November 30 (IslamOnline.net) - British Muslims want time off at places
of work for prayers and to resolve their social problems as divorce,
child custody and inheritance in accordance with Shari`ah (Muslim law),
but are equally committed to greater participation in British life,
according to a poll released Tuesday, November 30.
Gauging
the mood of Britain's younger Muslim generation, the Guardian/ICM survey
showed that 61 percent of the community want to see their social life
guided by Shari`ah “so long as the penalties did not contravene
British law,” British daily The Guardian reported.
It
further revealed that around 88% of the polled want to see schools and
working places in the European country accommodating Muslim prayer times
as part of the normal working day.
A
June study debated by the House of Commons showed that the state
education system had failed
to accommodate the needs of Muslim students.
The
poll additionally found a high level of religious observance with just
over half saying they pray five times a day, every day - although women
are shown to be more devout than men.
Canada
was the first country in the west to allow the Muslim community in the
country to file their civil legal disputes in courts according to
Shari`ah.
More
Integrated
The
poll further showed that many Muslims want to play a greater role in the
British life, with a total of 40 per cent saying they needed to do more
to integrate into mainstream British culture.
Some
62% of the polled said they number “a lot or quite a few” non-Muslim
people among their closest friends and 35% said they would consider
marrying someone who was not a Muslim.
The
survey was conducted over the phone with a random sample of 500 British
Muslims on November 15-21.
It
further confirmed that political support for Labour has halved
since the 2001 general election due to the occupation of Iraq and the
Liberal Democrats have emerged as their favorite.
British
lawmaker and anti-war advocate George Galloway said the defeat of the
ruling Labour in the EU parliamentary elections was a
victory for anti-war parties and his promising Respect,
which did not make it to the pan-Europe legislature.
