ABSTRACT
In criminological research studies, individuals have traditionally been classified in terms of gender, age, class and/or race, with the issue of religious identity often being almost completely ignored. It seems that the modern roots of criminological discourse, in which ‘rationality’ and ‘scientific analysis’ have occupied a privileged position (Morrison, 1995), have contributed to the omission of any consideration of the spiritual underpinnings to people’s lives. Nonetheless, recent events, such as the Bradford disturbances that took place in 1995 and then in 2001, and the terrorist attacks in the USA on 11 September 2001 (and the subsequent backlash against Muslim communities), together with the most recent terrorist atrocities in Bali, have brought into sharp focus the significance of faith in people’s experiences of crime and victimisation. The following chapter seeks to focus upon the Islamic faith in terms of highlighting and addressing those aspects of criminal justice and victimisation that need to be considered when exploring British Muslims’ lives.
