The Young Muslims UK

The Young Muslims UK (YMUK) was set up as a youth organisation by two British Pakistani organisations, The Islamic Foundation and the UK Islamic Mission (UKIM), both linked to Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan.{{efn|The organisations deny that they are linked to Jamaat-e-Islami, but there are clear links according to scholars.{{sfnp|Lewis, Being Muslim and Being British|1994|p=74}}{{sfnp|Vidino, Aims and Methods of Europe's Muslim Brotherhood|2021|loc=pp. 138, 139: "The level of coordination between the Mission and Jamaate-Islami is very high, though Mission officers in Leicester have publicly denied that the two organizations are formally linked."}}}} The first director of The Islamic Foundation, Khurram Murad, had the vision to realise that British-born Muslims would need their own organisation and started YMUK.{{sfnp|Bowen, Inside British Islam|2014|p=86}}{{sfnp|Lewis, Being Muslim and Being British|1994|p=74}} Under his guidance, 27 young Muslims representing various local youth groups met in Leeds in 1984, and decided to form an organisation.{{sfnp|Geaves, Sectarian influences within Islam in Britain|1996|p=206}} The headquarters of the organisation was in the Islamic Foundation in Leicester and its branches

initially operated out of the mosques run by UKIM.{{sfnp|Geaves, Sectarian influences within Islam in Britain|1996|p=206}}{{sfnp|Bowen, Inside British Islam|2014|p=86}} The general secretary of UKIM, Zahid Parvez, served on its first governing council. Many of the initial members were youth brought up in families subscribing to the Jamaat-e-Islami ideology and were associated with UKIM.{{sfnp|Bowen, Inside British Islam|2014|p=86}}{{sfnp|Geaves, Sectarian influences within Islam in Britain|1996|pp=206–207}}

Even though the YMUK was established by the Islamic Foundation in association with UKIM, it was intended to become autonomous, catering to the English-speaking Muslim youth. Its activities are run in English with a mix of religious teaching and social events such as football matches. It runs an annual summer camp. In the 1980s, it had printed t-shirts with the slogan, "putting the fun back into fundamentalism". As the organisation grew and newcomers joined, they were less deferential to the UKIM, and sought English-speaking preachers such as the African-American convert Siraj Wahaj and classically trained American Islamic scholar Sheikh Hamza Yusuf. Arab Muslim Brotherhood exiles living in the UK and Islamist politicians from Malaysia were also strong influences.{{sfnp|Bowen, Inside British Islam|2014|p=86}}

The activities of the new generation of YMUK activists in the 1980s were regarded as "cutting edge". They promoted modern types of Islamic music, set up Muslim community radio stations, and published a current affairs magazine called Trends. The magazine covered Islamic politics rather than spirituality, with such topics as foreign mujahideen during the war in Bosnia, visits to Afghan training camps by British Muslims, interview of a Hamas spokesperson, interview of the Tunisian Islamist leader Rached Ghannouchi etc. In an article entitled "Jihad: Offensive or Defensive?", the liberation of lands such as Eritrea, Philippines, Tashkent, Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and parts of China from non-Muslim rule was described as an obligation of the worldwide Muslim community. The organisation conducted foreign expeditions, such as a seventy-five member delegation to meet Muslim Brotherhood activists in Egypt, a summer vacation trip to Sudan, and a trip to Pakistan.{{sfnp|Bowen, Inside British Islam|2014|pp=86–87}} At regional meetings and annual camps, speakers discuss worldwide Islamic struggles such as in Afghanistan and Kashmir. The Islamic mission of dawah (proselytisation) is presented as an all-encompassing alternative to western materialism.{{sfnp|Lewis, Being Muslim and Being British|1994|p=75}}

In 1988, the Young Muslims UK, along with its two parent organisations, played a critical role in driving the campaign against Salman Rushdie for the book Satanic Verses.

{{citation |author1=Trevor Phillips |author2=John Jenkins |author3=Martyn Frampton |title=On Islamophobia |publisher=Policy Exchange |year=2019 |isbn=978-1-910812-70-9 |page=18 |url=https://policyexchange.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/On-Islamophobia.pdf }}

Protests swept the entire South Asian Muslim community in Britain and enhanced the stature of the organisations.{{sfnp|Vidino, Aims and Methods of Europe's Muslim Brotherhood|2021|pp=141–142}}

The older members that outgrew YMUK established a new organisation in 1990 called Islamic Society of Britain (ISB). It has been run by the former members of YMUK since then. In 1994, ISB became the parent organisation of YMUK. The two organisations include women in their leadership, contrary to the ideology of the original parent organisations, and attract members beyond the British Pakistani community.{{sfnp|Bowen, Inside British Islam|2014|p=87}}

The Young Muslims UK is an affiliate body of the Muslim Council of Britain.[http://www.mcb.org.uk/affiliates.php Muslim Council of Britain] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080628043059/http://www.mcb.org.uk/affiliates.php |date=June 28, 2008 }}. Last accessed April 15, 2008.

In the 1990s, YMUK and ISB developed links with the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt and their breakaway group among the Sudanese. The Sudanese Islamist Hassan al-Turabi, said to be the ideological power behind president Omar al-Bashir, met YMUK members on his visits to London and hosted a delegation of theirs in Sudan.{{sfnp|Bowen, Inside British Islam|2014|page=107}} The Muslim Brotherhood exiles living in Britain provided further nurturing to YMUK and ISB, running study circles for them and providing a syllabus inspired by Hasan al-Banna, the original founder of Muslim Brotherhood. Some YMUK members spent time at a Muslim Brotherhood-run college in France.{{sfnp|Bowen, Inside British Islam|2014|page=107}}

In 1995, the organisation participated in the Euro-Islam conference in Stockholm, Sweden, organised on a directive from the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. The youth section of this conference was dominated by participants with connections to the Muslim Brotherhood and similar forms of ideology, for instance the Jamat-i Islami, according to French islamologist Gilles Kepel.{{Cite book|url=https://www.msb.se/Upload/Kunskapsbank/Studier/Islamisk%20aktivism%20i%20en%20m%c3%a5ngkulturell%20kontext.pdf|title=Islamisk aktivism i en mångkulturell kontext – ideologisk kontinuitet eller förändring? / MSB1188|last=Carlbom|first=Aje|publisher=Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency & Malmö University|date=March 2018|isbn=9789173838108|pages=25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180331050853/https://www.msb.se/Upload/Kunskapsbank/Studier/Islamisk%20aktivism%20i%20en%20m%c3%a5ngkulturell%20kontext.pdf|archive-date=31 March 2018}} This conference resulted in the founding of the Forum of European Youth and Student Organisations (FEMYSO).

YMUK has been praised for its forward thinking and ability to make Islam relevant to British society: "The establishment of organisations such as Young Muslims UK is a step in the right direction, offering as they do resources for Muslims seeking to make Islam relevant to their own hybrid condition."{{Cite book |last=Mandaville |first=Peter G. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HGWxjEQqbzIC&dq=the+young+muslims+uk&pg=PA124 |title=Transnational Muslim Politics: Reimagining the Umma |date=2002 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-203-45315-5 |pages=124 |language=}}{{Cite book |last1=Mandaville |first1=Peter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HMymzO0fKFsC&dq=the+young+muslims+uk&pg=PA133 |title=Meaning and International Relations |last2=Williams |first2=Andrew |date=2004 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-203-16755-7 |pages=133 |language=}}

A key feature that distinguishes YMUK from other Islamic organisations is its lack of discrimination to different Islamic schools of thought: "Some organisations, such as Young Muslims UK, have decided that one's choice of Madh'hab or school of jurisprudence should be a personal choice. Where the organisation needs to take a public position on some issue, however, this is decided by a process of Shura (consultation) in which the views of various madhahhib are considered."{{Cite book |last1=Allievi |first1=Stefano |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gh7Q-EsH_EwC&dq=the+young+muslims+uk&pg=PA137 |title=Muslim Networks and Transnational Communities in and Across Europe |last2=Nielsen |first2=Jørgen S. |date=2003 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-12858-3 |language=en}}

These individuals were part of the organisation at some point in its history:

• Ajmal Masroor, television presenter and a candidate for the Liberal Democrats.[http://www.ajmal4london.co.uk/profile.asp Ajmal4London]
• Inayat Bunglawala, Assistant Secretary-General of the Muslim Council of Britain. He Joined the YMUK in 1987.[http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/inayat_bunglawala/profile.html Comment is Free Profile]
• Sarah Joseph, editor of Emel magazine.

• Heroes 2007 [http://www.heroestoday.co.uk]
• YM London Treasure Hunt
• The Young Muslims Talent Search [http://www.ymuk.net/talent]
• The Muslim Teenager Tour [http://www.muslimteenager.co.uk]
• YM360

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{{reflist}}

• {{citation |first=Innes |last=Bowen |title=Medina in Birmingham, Najaf in Brent: Inside British Islam |publisher=Hurst |date=2014 |isbn=978-1-84904-529-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9FonDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA85 |ref={{sfnref|Bowen, Inside British Islam|2014}}}}
• {{citation |last=Geaves |first=R. |title=Sectarian influences within Islam in Britain with special reference to the concepts of "ummah" and "community" |publisher=Department of Theology and Religious Studies, University of Leeds |year=1996 |url=https://crp.leeds.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/52/2015/09/geaves1996.pdf |ref={{sfnref|Geaves, Sectarian influences within Islam in Britain|1996}}}}
• {{citation |last=Lewis |first=Phillip |chapter=Being Muslim and Being British: The Dynamics of Islamic Reconstruction in Bradford |pages=58–87 |editor1=Roger Ballard |editor2=Marcus Banks |title=Desh Pardesh: The South Asian Presence in Britain |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=74ZVFb37zuIC&pg=PA58 |year=1994 |publisher=C. Hurst & Co. Publishers |isbn=978-1-85065-091-1 |ref={{sfnref|Lewis, Being Muslim and Being British|1994}}}}
• {{citation |first=Lorenzo |last=Vidino |chapter=Aims and Methods of Europe's Muslim Brotherhood |title=The Devils Rebirth: The Terror Triangle of Ikhwan, IRGC and Hezbollah |editor=Noor Dahri |publisher=Vij Books India Pvt Ltd |year=2021 |isbn=9789390439652 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bXHOEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT138 |ref={{sfnref|Vidino, Aims and Methods of Europe's Muslim Brotherhood|2021}}}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20140201150427/http://www.ymuk.net/ The Young Muslims UK]

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Category:Islamic organisations based in the United Kingdom

Category:Youth organisations based in the United Kingdom

Category:1984 establishments in the United Kingdom

Category:Islamic organizations established in 1984