ABSTRACT
The experience of homegrown terrorism has brought two major challenges to Britain. The allegiance of Muslims to the Umma, a transnational entity, is often cited as evidence of weakened loyalty to the nation-state. This allegiance becomes especially problematic after terror attacks. What is often overlooked is that British Muslims, like any other group, are not a homogenized community. Their lives are not uniformly guided by the same principles, whether derived from the Quran or not. Both the right wing in Britain and Muslim extremist organizations use fixed identities for majority and minority groups. This combines with criticism of multiculturalism, which is accused of freezing identities and limiting possibilities for change or interaction between these groups. Following terror attacks, there has been increased critique of multiculturalism, a negative perception of Islam and Muslims, and a shift from integration toward community cohesion models. Additionally, racism's basis has shifted from race to religion. Loopholes in anti-racist laws and flaws in the community cohesion agenda have facilitated this transition.
