UK Set to Adopt 'Blasphemy Law' to Protect Muslims

Controversial definition of 'Islamophobia' equates criticism of Islam with racial hatred

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Britain's far-left government, under prime minister Keir Starmer, is preparing to introduce a blasphemy law that will criminalize criticism of Islam, following civil unrest sparked by uncontrolled illegal immigration and the Islamization of the United Kingdom.

The National Secular Society (NSS) warned Tuesday that "adopting an 'Islamophobia' definition will inflame, rather than dispel, community tensions and division" and "undermine the right of those oppressed by fundamentalist religion to speak out, including women, LGBT people, and those who hold different religion and beliefs."

The NSS letter to Angela Rayner, deputy prime minister and Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, also warned that adopting the definition will "increase pressure" on the government to adopt other "religion-phobia" definitions.

DEFINING ISLAMOPHOBIA

Secularists are raising the alarm about the likelihood of a blasphemy law to protect Islam after a spokesman from the prime minister's office confirmed that the government was looking "closely" at the issue of creating a "specific definition" of Islamophobia and "is engaging with stakeholders" on the issue.  

The spokesman noted that the current government's election manifesto had given a commitment to engage with stakeholders, and "strengthen protections by closely monitoring Islamophobic hate."

"You cannot insult the faith of others. You cannot make fun of the faith of others."

"There is work ongoing on that and we will provide an update in due course," he added, while refusing to confirm or deny whether the government was working on legislation to criminalize criticism of Islam. 

Free speech campaigners fear that Starmer's government will adopt the definition framed by Britain's all-party parliamentary group 2019 (APPG), defining Islamophobia as "rooted in racism" and "a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness."

LOSING BRITAIN TO ISLAM

"I have consistently highlighted the risk that a Labour government will legislate to ban 'Islamophobia,'" Dr. Tim Dieppe, Islamic scholar and head of public policy at Christian Concern, told Souls and Liberty.  

"The Labour Party has formally adopted the notorious APPG definition of 'Islamophobia' in its code of conduct, which means that no Labour politician dares to say anything that could possibly be perceived to be Islamophobic for fear of being suspended or expelled from the party," Dieppe lamented. 

"The definition is so vague that adopting it in law will in effect introduce an Islamic blasphemy code," he warned. "This must be resisted by all means possible. If people are no longer free to criticize Islamic beliefs and practices then we will have lost the country to Islam."

In a detailed briefing to the Free Speech Union in March, titled Banning Islamophobia: Blasphemy Law by the Backdoor, Dieppe argued that "criticism of Islam is not the same as criticism of Muslims."

ISLAM IS NOT A RACE

"Striking a believer, for example, is a crime; debating her beliefs is a right," Dieppe explained. "The definition of 'Islamophobia' immediately conflates the religion of Islam with Muslim people and makes this into an issue of 'Muslimness.'"

"It may have been more useful for the report to discuss the term 'Muslimophobia,' which would at least make clear that it did not seek to prohibit criticism of a religion, but rather irrational discrimination," he urged.

"Striking a believer, for example, is a crime; debating her beliefs is a right."

Dieppe also criticized the "wrongheaded" attempt at equating Islamophobia with racism, writing: "Islam is not a race. It is a religion. People from all kinds of ethnic backgrounds are Muslims. Muslims do not see themselves as anything like a separate race."

"Even if Islam was a 'racial' religion, restricted to a particular ethnic group, criticism of the beliefs and practices of this religion should still be allowed in a free and open society," he insisted. "Defining 'Islamophobia' as a 'type of racism' is clearly an attempt to stigmatize any criticism of Islamic beliefs or practices as racist."

CATHOLIC LEADERS ON THE 'ISLAMOPHOBIA' BANDWAGON

While atheists and secularists like Peter Tatchell, Richard Dawkins, Pragna Patel and Maryam Namazie are strongly opposing the introduction of a blasphemy law, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales (CBCEW) have equated Islamophobia and racism in their public statements.

In 2020, Bp. Paul McAleenan, the CBCEW's lead bishop for migrants and refugees, issued a statement calling Catholics in Britain to "oppose racism in all its manifestations." McAleenan defined "Islamophobia" as one of the "different forms" of racism. 

Pakistani Christians protest oppressive blasphemy laws.

Earlier, Bp. John Arnold of the Diocese of Salford said that Catholic schools would seek to combat "Islamophobia" as a way to help Muslims to integrate into British society. 

In a paper titled "A Catholic Approach to Islamophobia," Xavierian missionary Fr. Carl Chudy describes Islamophobia as one of the "western epistemic racisms." 

"Within a long history of Europe's colonization in the world and post-colonization that clung to western hegemonic thinking, epistemic racism leads to the orientalization of Islam," Chudy writes.

POPE FRANCIS ATTACKS CRITICISM OF ISLAM

Responding to the 2015 massacre of 17 people by three jihadis in Paris following French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo's publication of cartoons of Muhammad, the founder of Islam, Pope Francis appeared to endorse a blasphemy law protecting Islam from criticism.

Referring to Alberto Gasparri, who organizes the pontiff's trips and was standing by his side on board the papal plane, Francis said: "If my good friend Dr. Gasparri says a curse word against my mother, he can expect a punch." 

"It's normal. You cannot provoke. You cannot insult the faith of others. You cannot make fun of the faith of others," the pope added. 

"Cartoons insulting our great prophet, which are promoted by some newspapers, magazines and even some policies, are absurd."

In October 2020, Pope Francis' Muslim dialogue partner, Grand Imam Ahmed al-Tayyeb, demanded an international law banning criticizing or insulting Islam, a day before three Catholics were slaughtered in Nice's Notre-Dame Basilica. 

Al-Tayyeb, who signed the Abu Dhabi Human Fraternity pact with Pope Francis, said the re-publication of Charlie Hebdo's cartoons of Muhammad were "an explicit act of hostility" against Islam and its prophet.

"Cartoons insulting our great prophet, which are promoted by some newspapers, magazines and even some policies, are absurd. They are a break from all moral restrictions, international customs, and general law," the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar announced at a ceremony in Egypt to celebrate Muhammad's birthday.

Islam prescribes the death penalty for those who insult or mock the religion's founder following Ibn Taymiyya's landmark legal treatise Kitāb al-ṣārim al-maslūl ʿalā shātim al-Rasūl, which stipulates that anyone "who curses (sabba) the Prophet Muhammad must be killed without further recourse."

Editor's note: To learn how Catholicism prevented Islam from taking over Europe,

check out our book selection by clicking here.

Dr. Jules Gomes, (BA, BD, MTh, PhD), has a doctorate in biblical studies from the University of Cambridge. Currently a Vatican-accredited journalist based in Rome, he is the author of five books and several academic articles. Gomes lectured at Catholic and Protestant seminaries and universities and was canon theologian and artistic director at Liverpool Cathedral.

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