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December 21, 2008
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Sunday
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Zilhaj 22, 1429
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‘UK varsities no hotbeds of Muslim extremists’
By M. Ziauddin
LONDON, Dec 20: British universities are not hotbeds of so-called “Islamic radicalism” as alleged by the government, a new study has found.
The study carried out by the Cambridge University produced no evidence of any threat. Most Muslim students instead expressed more concerns about human rights, particularly in Muslim countries.
According to a report in the latest issue of the Muslim News, a monthly magazine, the findings were welcomed by the Federation of Student Islamic Societies (Fosis) as disproving the myths originally put out by Professor Anthony Glees of Brunel University some three years ago; claiming that up to 48 campuses had been “infiltrated by fundamentalists”.
“It is time that the likes of Glees and others stop scaremongering and accept the valuable participation of Muslim students,” Fosis President Faisal Hanjra told The Muslim News.
The Cambridge report described young Muslims as being even better integrated into British society than their parents and having a stronger sense of national identity. They were said to be more likely to join Amnesty International than Al Qaeda.
The findings came after the British government issued new controversial guidelines to universities 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, restrictions on the expression of religious identity were 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 has 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.
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