Storbritannias 1.400 moskeer ledes av lukkede miljøer. Imamene er ofest utlendinger, noe kan ikke en gang lese. Mange forstår ikke prekenene på arabisk og kvinner og barn holdes utenfor.

Slik beskriver en av de sju arbeidsgruppene som skal regjeringen råd om bekjemping av ekstremisme, situasjonen. Den foreslår at det opprettes et nasjonalt råd for alle muslimske retninger, som skal ta seg av utdanning av imamer og publisering av moderate tekster på engelsk.

Lord Ahmed, representant for Labour i Overhuset:

Lord Ahmed, who unveiled the proposal as part of the government’s programme of tackling extremism and engaging disaffected Muslim youth in Britain, said there were 2,000 imams, of whom only 300 were «homegrown». Too often sermons were delivered only in Arabic and women and young people were excluded from the mosque committees which employed imams. In some cases those running Britain’s mosques were illiterate or even had criminal records, he said. The council would be independent of the government and led by the community to establish a common platform for every Islamic tradition in Britain.
«This is a historic move. As British Muslims we need to be prepared to modernise the way we operate, encouraging integration and helping our children to feel proud to be British,» said Lord Ahmed.

«We are no longer Pakistani Muslims or north African Muslims but British Muslims. We need to attract young suitable candidates who will be homegrown imams rather than asking for imams from outside. The prayer is in Arabic but the translation must be done in English so that we can reach the 50% of under-24s who do not understand Arabic,» he said.

Innenriksminister Charles Clarke lovet £ 5 millioner over en 18 måneders periode. Tariq Ramadan skal dra på roadshow rundt i landet.

Men det finnes konfliktområder. Muslimene vil ha en offentlig gransking av London-bombene 7/7 og 21/7, noe Clarke sa kommer.

Mer problematisk er utenrikspolitikken, hvor muslimene ønsker å forandre regjeringens politikk, både overfor Irak og Israel.

Last night John Denham, the Labour chairman of the Commons home affairs select committee, said Britain needed to be prepared to change «the emphasis of our foreign policy» if it was to win the consent of the Muslim community in the domestic fight against terrorism. «It is no exaggeration to say that Israeli policy in the occupied territories is not simply a matter of foreign policy – it is a matter for British domestic security policy too,» he said in an interview with the Spectator. He also warned that some of the anti-terrorism measures proposed by Mr Clarke could prove counterproductive. He criticised measures to ban extremist Islamist groups and the proposed offence of incitement to terrorism.

British imams to tackle radicals in mosques