Why We Fail

This article is a wake up call. Unfortunately, it also takes a more blunt tone than usual. In my last article, I briefly mentioned my past in the Conservative Party. My time there was short but I did gain a fair amount of experience: I stood in an election, became the chairman of a youth branch, interned with my local MP, interviewed a handful of MPs, and witnessed how the political system works. For all of my personal bitterness and disdain for the British political system, I cannot deny that it is well ran for the most part: the British know how to run organise themselves . I can’t say the same for us Muslims.

Despite our huge numbers, we are often ineffectual. Four million of us in the UK, yet have we pressured our politicians into taking any real substantial action for our Palestinian brothers and sisters or against the Israeli death cult? Did we manage to deter even one bit any of the invasions of Muslim lands over the last few decades? When the establishment fear a group, they dare not criticise them. When was the last time you heard a Prime Minister call out the Jewish community for something they do? When was the last time you heard criticism towards the white working class for any of their shortcomings? Seldom to never is the answer. Why? Because they have political leverage as groups. The Jewish community can influence policy decisions, while the working class due to their numbers can expel people from office with ease. Yet, even with four million of us, we do not command the same respect from the establishment.

Stereotypes are not offensive because they lack truth. They acknowledge truths while omitting fundamental realities which is what cause them to be offensive. The black community do commit more crime statistically. But to state this plainly omits socio-economic factors that contribute to it. Likewise, the Jewish community do have enormous political influence. And bluntly, to be accused of “running the world” is not the worst stereotype to have. I’d take that over being called a suicide bomber any day. Nevertheless, we need to ask ourselves why the Jewish community have so much influence. It’s simple. They understand that the community is more sacred than themselves as individuals.

Us Muslims are the total opposite, unfortunately. In the last general election, regardless of how much it was warned against, a small yet dangerously stubborn number of Muslims refused to renounce their support for the Labour party costing multiple pro-Palestine candidates win's by wafer thin margins: Leanne Mohamad by 528 votes, Jody McIntyre by 693, and Adnan Hussein only won by 132 but could have easily lost considering for some reason two other Muslim candidates standing on the exact same platform also contested the seat. I have previously questioned whether having a seat in parliament is of any benefit but that is not what I am analysing here, rather I am pointing out the lack of unity.

Politics in its most fundamental sense merely refers to the interaction between multiple people regarding decision making. This is why we have phrases like 'family politics', 'work place politics' and 'friend group politics'. Even in this sense of the word, Muslims are very bad at politics. We are stuck in a loop of infighting: which moon sighting marks the end of Ramadan, which Asr time is the 'correct' Asr time, how many rakah's should be prayed for Tarawih, which madhab is the 'correct' madhab. And do not get me started on the gender wars that occur on Muslim Twitter. The most depressing thing about these examples is that they are dominated by lay-Muslims and the goldmine of scholarly knowledge on these debates is sidelined. How can we expect to have influence, let alone be respected, if we are so internally bitter towards one another? This disunity isn’t just embarrassing, it’s dangerous. It makes us vulnerable to smear campaigns, incapable of mounting unified responses to crises like Prevent, media bias, or local planning decisions for mosques and schools. While others build institutions, we build rival WhatsApp groups.

But imagine if we got our act together. We'd be living in a UK where our satisfaction with the state is not only accounted for come election day, but it would inform every major policy decision governments make. We'd be protected by the political establishment so well that our father's don't go to work fearing a racist attack, our mother's and sister would not fear wearing hijab/niqab in public, and our children would not have vile woke ideology injected in their brains at school.

Rightstance is not here to only moan and whine about issues: it exists to offer clarity, direction, and solutions on the political inhibitions that we face. We must commit to only voting for Muslim candidates who are principled, independent, and unapologetic about standing up for Muslim interests. Supporting those who stay silent in the face of oppression or prioritise party loyalty over moral courage is no longer acceptable and is shameful. At the same time, we must leave religious debates and rulings to qualified scholars grounded in Islamic knowledge, not Twitter personalities seeking clout through shallow takes and divisive rhetoric. Most importantly, we must begin to articulate our key political demands as a unified bloc. Whether it’s foreign policy, civil rights, or domestic representation, our strength will come from consensus, not chaos.