The Prophet and the State

Can the government win the hearts and minds of extremists?

BBC Radio 4's Analysis: The Prophet and the State, was broadcast on Thursday, 23 March, 2006 at 20:30 GMT.

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How is the government attempting to win the battle for Muslim minds?

The July 7 bombings confirmed what a confidential Home Office report had advised a year earlier - that radicalism and extremism amongst a minority of Britain's Muslim population had become a threat to security and community cohesion. So how is the government attempting to defuse this hostility towards Britain felt by some? Andrew Brown looks at the overt and covert strategies being deployed to win the battle for Muslim minds.

The publicly visible strategy was to set up a task force of Muslim leaders charged with coming up with plans for tackling extremism. Those who served on the task force felt the exercise was too limited - they were steered away from mentioning what many thought was an important factor, namely the war in Iraq, and they met only twice. Some questioned the whole idea of dealing with Muslims in Britain through faith group leaders who they regard as having a vested interest in re-enforcing community boundaries.

There has also been tough talk from the Prime Minister and Home Secretary about clamping down on extremist preachers and groups which glorify terrorism.

But behind there scenes a more discreet strategy is in play: a post 7/7 road show of moderate imams was presented as something organised by a network of Muslim organisations but was in fact funded on the quiet by the Foreign Office. More controversially, Analysis has learnt that the police are working with radical groups and former jihadis who stop short of supporting attacks on British soil. The police hope that potential bombers who might not listen to the moderates might at least be persuaded by those at the less extreme end of radicalism.

Interviewees include:
Prof Gilles Kepel, Sciences-Po, Paris and author of The War for Muslim Minds: Islam and the West
Fareena Alam, Editor, Q News
Imran Khan, documentary maker
John Battle, Member of Parliament for Leeds West and adviser on faith issues to the Prime Minister
Yahya Birt, Research Fellow at the Islamic Foundation, Markfield, Leicestershire
Assistant Chief Constable Robert Beckley, lead on faith issues for the Association of Chief Police Officers
Inayat Bunglawala, spokesperson for the Muslim Council of Britain
Baroness Falkner, Liberal Democrat spokesperson on Home Affairs

Presenter: Andrew Brown
Producer: Innes Bowen
Editor: Nicola Meyrick