Young British Muslims Identity, Culture, Politics, and the Media By Nahid Afrose Kabir (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2010. 220 pages.)

Abstract

Most popular and academic interest in the subject of British Muslim communities

in recent years can be located within the context public debates around

the visible presence of western Muslims and fears of radicalization and religious

extremism. The 7/7 London bombings of 2005, which increased the attention

of journalists, researchers, and government policymakers on Muslim

young people, has resulted in numerous books, reports, and journal articles

purporting to explain why some young British Muslims seem attracted to terrorism.

The title under review joins a handful of similar publications that provide

more nunanced observations in this field, notably, Philip Lewis’ Young,

British, and Muslim(2007), Anshuman Mondal’s Young British Muslim Voices

(2008), and Sughra Ahmed’s Seen and Not Heard: Voices of Young British

Muslims (2009), all of which explore the lives, experiences, and views of

young Muslims in Britain.

This important subject area warrants deep research and rigorous analysis.

Nahid Afrose Kabir’s extensive ethnographic fieldwork draws upon 216 interviews

with young people aged between fifteen and thirty from five of

Britain’s main cities with substantial Muslim communities. Structured around

the themes of identity, religion, and culture, it also includes responses to questions

of citizenship and loyalty, media bias, recent controversies around the

niqab (face veil), and reactions to the Archbishop of Canterbury’s comments

on implementing aspects of the Shari‘ah in the country. Overall, it makes a

contribution to the nascent field of Muslim youth studies by offering windows

into the hopes and aspirations of young British Muslims as well as presenting ...