Muslims and the Left: An English case study

In fighting alongside those whom society has oppressed, Socialists have often found themselves shoulder to shoulder with Muslims, but British Left groups have recruited relatively few Muslim members. Then, with the formation of the Respect Coalition, Leftists and Muslims appeared to have tied the knot. This article examines the nature and limitations of this coalition through an exploration of wider ideological relationships between Islam and the Left. It argues that the coalition was based on a fundamental misconception that it would be possible to combine two different ways of understanding the world, with the result that Respect was ideologically stillborn. It could never have built up a genuine political base, leaving it to rely on opportunism.