In this important study, Damon L. Perry provides an insight-laden and up-todate account of the Islamist movement that operates today in Britain. At a time when the British Government is thinking hard about how to deal with non-violent extremism, this book is valuable reading for policymakers and academics alike.
Dr. Martyn Frampton, Reader of Modern History at Queen Mary University of London and the author of The Muslim Brotherhood and the West: A History of Enmity and Engagement (Harvard University Press)
This book provides a most comprehensive and nuanced analysis of participationist Islamism in Britain associated with the Muslim Brotherhood and Jamaat-i-Islami. It is sharply observed, grounded in scholarship and will be of great use to anyone studying Islamism or working in counter-extremism, counterterrorism, or social policy.
Professor John Bew, Professor in History and Foreign Policy at the War Studies Department, Kings College London, and former co-Director of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence
The Global Muslim Brotherhood in Britain
Since 2011, with the British Governments counter-radicalisation strategy, Prevent, non-violent Islamist groups have been considered a security risk for spreading a divisive ideology that can lead to radicalisation and violence. More recently, the government has expressed concerns about their impact on social cohesion, entryism and womens rights. The key protagonists of nonviolent Islamist extremism allegedly include groups and individuals associated with the Muslim Brotherhood and Jamaat-i-Islami. They have been described as part of the global Muslim Brotherhood, but do they constitute a singular phenomenon, a social movement?
This book shows that such groups and individuals do indeed comprise a movement in Britain, one dedicated to an Islamic revival. It shows how they are networked organisationally, bonded through ideological and cultural kinship, and united in a conflict of values with the British society and state. Using original interviews with prominent revivalist leaders, as well as primary sources, the book also shows how the movement is not so much Islamist in its ambitions for an Islamic state, but concerned with institutionalising an Islamic worldview and moral framework throughout society. The conflict between the government and the global Muslim Brotherhood is apparent in a number of different fields, including education, governance, law and counterterrorism. But this does not simply concern the direction of government policy or the control of state institutions. It most fundamentally concerns the symbolic authority to legitimise a way of seeing, thinking and living.
By assessing this multifaceted conflict, the book presents an exhaustive and up-to-date analysis of the political and cultural fault lines between Islamic revivalists and the British authorities. It will be useful for anyone studying Islam in the West, government counter-terrorism and counter-extremism policy, multiculturalism and social cohesion.
Damon L. Perry, PhD, is an independent policy and security analyst specialising in violent and non-violent Islamist extremism.
Routledge Studies in Political Islam
This series provides a forum for the latest research on all aspects of political Islam. It includes a range of approaches and studies on individuals, movements, theory and practice.
For a full list of titles in the series: https://www.routledge.com/middleeaststudies/series/SE0520
6. The Muslim Brotherhood
Hasan al-Hudaybi and Ideology
Barbara Zollner
7. Islamic Revivalism in Syria
The Rise and Fall of Bathist Secularism
Line Khatib
8. The Essence of Islamist Extremism
Recognition through Violence, Freedom through Death
Irm Haleem
9. Religious Authority and Political Thought in Twelver Shiism
From Ali to Post-Khomeini
Hamid Mavani
10. Islamism and the West
From Cultural Attack to Missionary Migrant
Uriya Shavit
11. Islamists of the Maghreb
Jeffry R. Halverson and Nathaniel Greenberg
12. The Global Muslim Brotherhood in Britain
Non-Violent Islamist Extremism and the Battle of Ideas
Damon L. Perry
The Global Muslim Brotherhood in Britain
Non-Violent Islamist Extremism and the Battle of Ideas
Damon L. Perry
First published 2019
by Routledge
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2019 Damon L. Perry
The right of Damon L. Perry to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Perry, Damon L., author.
Title: The global Muslim Brotherhood in Britain : non-violent islamist extremism and the battle of ideas / Damon L. Perry.
Description: New York, NY: Routledge, [2018] | Series: Routledge studies in political Islam ; V. 12 | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018009061| ISBN 9781138564015 (hbk) | ISBN 9781315122144 (ebk)
Subjects: LCSH: Ikhwan al-Muslimun Great Britain. | Islamic fundamentalismGreat Britain. | MuslimsGreat Britain.
Classification: LCC BP65.G7 P47 2018 | DDC 320.55/70941dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018009061
ISBN: 978-1-138-56401-5 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-12214-4 (ebk)
This book began as a doctoral thesis in the Department of War Studies at Kings College London, but has been restructured, revised and updated for publication with Routledge. It is fitting, then, that I first express my gratitude to John Bew, my former supervisor at Kings, whose valuable and constructive advice throughout the process of research and writing helped me to plot a clear course to completion and gave me the confidence to bring my doctorate to fruition.
I would like to thank a number of other inspiring and generous people who encouraged me during my work on this project. I am particularly grateful to Lorenzo Vidino, who saw the potential value of an in-depth study of the global Muslim Brotherhood in Britain and provided valuable feedback on an early thesis plan. I am also grateful to Patrick Sookhdeo for first encouraging me to embark on a doctorate and for opening the doors of the Barnabus Fund library in the beautiful village of Pewsey. Id also like to thank Stephen Vertigans, who read the entire thesis, provided me with constructive feedback, and encouraged me to publish it as a book.
