It would be fair to say that when I started working in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office unit dealing with engagement with the Islamic world at the beginning of 2005, I did not have a great deal of knowledge about British Muslim politics. I had no particular reason to question the office’s process of engagement with Muslim groups.
Doubts began to creep in when I began to help organise a Festival of Muslim Cultures to be held the following year. It was an impressive project, designed to demonstrate the full diversity of Islam around the world and enthuse young British Muslims, who had often been fed a very narrow version of their religion. But within the FCO certain individuals were sceptical about the festival’s value and worried that it was not “Islamic” enough. It was felt that certain key organisations, such as the Muslim Council of Britain, would have to be squared off before we gave the go-ahead. I thought this was odd.
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