ABSTRACT
This chapter follows on from chapter 5 in detailing how the revivalists in Britain are actively engaged in a conflict of values. It focuses on the fields of education and arbitration, where Muslim communities are particularly concerned. The chapter shows how in the classrooms of some Muslim schools and court rooms of shari’a councils, a worldview and associated set of values are put into practice that conflict with liberal democracy and human rights legislation. It takes a detailed look at the ‘Trojan Horse plot’ in Birmingham as an example of ‘extremist entryism’ in education, noting its position within an historical lineage of ‘the Islamisation of Knowledge’ programme. The chapter shows how a key stake in this conflict is the authority to legitimise competing visions of an ideal society and the values associated with it, both in the minds and institutions of British Muslims. The chapter puts this conflict in the context of the British government’s recently expressed concerns regarding these two domains as problematic in the fight against ‘extremism’. Such concerns are reflected in the recent establishment of the Extremism Analysis Unit and the launch of its counter-extremism strategy.
