By IRNA,
London : British Universities are not hotbeds of Islamic radicalism as alleged by the government, according to a new study published Wednesday.
The study carried out by Cambridge University found little evidence of any threat. Most Muslim students expressed more concerned about human rights, particularly in Islamic countries.
Young Muslims were described as being better integrated into British society than their parents, with a stronger sense of national identity. They were said to be more like to join Amnesty International than al-Qaeda.
The findings come after the British government issued new controversial guidelines to universities earlier this year to monitor Muslim students and Islamic organisations on campuses.
But the study suggested that fears of campuses being used as breeding grounds for extremism were exaggerated. Instead restriction on the expression of religious identity was seen as an abuse of human rights.
“The findings show that the young Muslims best-equipped to lead radical opposition to western society are also among the least inclined to do so,” said June Edmunds, from the University of Cambridge’s Centre for Development Studies.
“Although a minority have extreme political views, most are concerned about human rights and social democracy,” Edmunds said.
“The UK in particular now hosts a new generation of Muslims who are more confident of their national identity and more politically- engaged than their parents,” she said.
Although Muslim students in the West are often regarded as prime targets for extremists seeking young, impressionable and educated recruits, many were found to have “a stronger sense of civic responsibility and British identity than their elders.”
Most were members of student Islamic organisations, but these tended to be without international links. Their most commonly-listed favourite websites were BBC News and the online editions of The Guardian and The Independent, rather than religious sites.
Few of the participants in the study were members of political parties, but the vast majority voted and many had attended anti-war rallies.
When asked in interviews to prioritise a list of issues, human rights was consistently placed at the top.
“My Muslim identity is what gives me these human concerns,” one respondent was quoted saying.
The report suggests that many young Muslims feel alienated by western governments’ efforts to support anti-democratic regimes which oppose Political Islam, and by their own governments’ apparent breaches of human rights.
Interviewees also cited the wearing of the hijab as a human rights issue and that attempts to ban it were perceived as “incompatible with western and in particular British commitment to freedom of speech and multicultural practices, and a European commitment to values of freedom, choice and individuality.”
“If there is a conflict here, it is between the UK government’s promotion of multiculturalism at home and its acquiescence with authoritarian opponents of political Islam abroad,” Edmunds said.
The study, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), and is the first part of a major project about young Muslims in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.