ABSTRACT
The Muslim Association of Britain sought to remind Muslims that this was ‘an opportunity to show the world who Muhammad is and what his character and practices were’ (Fernandes 2012). In comparison, the Muslim Public Affairs Committee (MPACUK 2012) and iEngage (2012) took the opportunity to question
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Muslim organizations issued low-key press releases that not only condemned the video but also the violent protests that took place outside the UK. The ‘Innocence of Muslims’ affair, similar to previous controversies pitting Muslim
‘feeling’ against notions of free speech, saw those Muslim actors who had acquired positions of engagement and representation grappling with that delicate balance between being advocates for their communities on the one hand while maintaining active partnerships with government on the other – voicing concern or dissent while not upsetting government in the process. This article begins by exploring the various responses of British Muslims who were actively engaged in Muslim-governmental relations during that autumn of 2012, and then proceeds to analyse them in two ways. First, it seeks to examine the varied, sometimes emotional responses to the video, which then had to be translated into political action and engagement. Second, the article analyses the dilemmas of that Muslim response, thereby allowing us to explore the political factors – of culture, representation and the geopolitical – that currently shapes the decision-making of Britain’s Muslim representatives. To conclude, a reflection on the controversy highlights the changing political and cultural dynamic between British Muslims, their organizations and the British government after two decades of formal Muslim-governmental relations.
