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Is London's Future Islamic?
Arwa Walid – AlJazeeraTalk - Leeds
 Looking at the front cover of the London-based Timeout Magazine with the question "Is London's future Islamic?" written in bold and occupying most of the page, I thought to myself: "Oh God, please don't let it be another one of those articles that accuse Muslims of being terrorists and occupying London to turn it into Londonstan!".
Indeed, the beginning of the article envisages a "hysterical, right-wing nightmare of a future Muslim London" where "a cruel alien creed is forced on a liberal city" after the "Islamic revolution of 2021". The vision is certainly humorous, because he pictures a scene in London where a sinner is about to be executed in Mohammad Siddique Khan Square in front of the National Gallery which has been turned into the new Institute of Islamic Jurisprudence by the order of "Sultan Charles, Prince of Islam and protector of the faithful in England". Thousands of Muslims are gathered in the square, chanting "Allahu Akbar" and waiting for the sinner to be executed.
To the readers' surprise, this is merely an extreme "right-wing nightmare", because Michael Hodges argues that an Islamic London would be a better place! He further argues that Islam is not an alien religion to London, because at the end of World War I the city sat at the heart of an Empire that had 160 million Muslim subjects, 80 million in India alone! War and poverty in South Asia lead to mass immigration to the mother country and London became an Islamic capital in another sense! According to the 2001 census there are 607,083 Muslims living in London and there are plans afoot to build the UK's biggest mosque – capable of welcoming 40,000 worshippers – near the 2012 Olympic site, a move which has prompted predictable outrage from some quarters.
 I have never thought that an Englishman would ever appreciate the fact that Islam prohibits alcohol, but Hodges acknowledges the benefits of prohibiting it! Indeed, the most interesting aspect which he explores that would improve the lives of Londoners is related to public health. He asserts that " turning all the city’s pubs into juice bars would have a massive positive effect on public health. Forbid alcohol throughout the country, and you’d avoid many of the 22,000 alcohol-related deaths and the £7.3 billion national bill for alcohol-related crime and disorder each year. The health benefits also include the Muslim act of prayer which is designed to keep worshippers fit, their joints supple and, at five times a day, their stomachs trim. The regular washing of the feet and hands required before prayers promotes public hygiene and would reduce the transmission of superbugs in London’s hospitals. In addition, application of halal dietary laws across London would free Londoners at a stroke from their addiction to junk food while the annual fasting in the month of Ramadan instills self-discipline, courtesy and social cohesion.
Interfaith relations would not be at risk in an Islamic London, because he argues that Christians and Jews – with their allegiance to the Bible and the Talmud – would be protected as ‘peoples of the book’. Hindus and Sikhs manage to live alongside a large Muslim population in India, so why not in London? Also, according to Hodges, London would become a little less cruel, because Each Muslim is obliged to pay zakat, a welfare tax of 2.5 per cent of annual income, that is distributed to the poor and the needy. If the working population of London, 5.2 million, was predominantly Muslim this would produce approximately £3.2bn each year, which would improve social justice amongst Londoners.
To be honest, I was elated when the writer concluded his article with race relations from the Islamic point of view. Under Islam all races are equal, because once you have submitted to Allah, you're a Muslim! Maybe if that rule were truly applied to Britain's foreign policy all the atrocities committed in Iraq and Palestine would not have happened! But after all, these visions of an Islamic London are all fantasies, or could these fantasies ever become true?
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