Mosques and the Public Space: Conflict and Cooperation in Bradford

Abstract

While there is still some evidence of conflict over the planning and building of mosques in Britain, in this article I demonstrate that this is not currently the case in Bradford. Having first considered issues relating to the status and significance of mosques in Britain, and then the institutionalisation of Islam in Bradford, I suggest that this absence of mosque conflicts has much to do with the social and political implications of a densely populated 'Muslim' inner city. However, the absence of conflict over mosques in Bradford does not mean that the pervasive Islamisation of the inner city is not an issue; quite the reverse. After riots involving youth of Pakistani-Muslim heritage, a dominant discourse has emerged focusing on ethnic and religious 'selfsegregation' and the need for 'community cohesion'. Moreover, commentators have identified mosques, and the religious leadership and education they provide, as a part of the problem. My article examines why this might be so and the extent to which Bradford Council for Mosques, and one particular mosque in Bradford, have been able to engage Muslims in cooperative relationships with the public space.

Islam and the rural landscape: discourses of absence in west Wales

“…These include the establishment of mosques (Dunn 2001(Dunn , 2004Gale 2007;Naylor and Ryan 2002) and adapting the building and religious practices such as the azan-the call to prayer-to local sensitivities and regulations (Gale 2005;McLoughlin 2005). This literature typifies what Kong (2001), drawing on Chidester and Linenthal (1995), terms the 'politics of the sacred', concerned with the situational meaning given to an essentially empty category by power relations and contestation.…”

Governing religious and value diversity in European urban spaces

“…In the UK, Birmingham City Council established a joint working committee with religious organisations to agree school-related issues such as prayer facilities, Muslim dress and diet and curricular changes (ALEXANDER 2004, p. 66). These kinds of arrangements are not uncommon in other UK cities with significant Muslim populations (MCLOUGHLIN 2005(MCLOUGHLIN , pp. 1025(MCLOUGHLIN -1044.…”

Landscapes of diasporic religious belonging in the edge-city: the Jain temple at Potters Bar, outer London

“…The Temple in the Green Belt: diaspora religion and the planning process Geographers and other scholars have traced some of the challenges of negotiating the planning processes in establishing new religious buildings for diaspora faith communities (Nye 1996, Naylor and Ryan 2002, Gale 2004, Dunn 2005, McLoughlin 2005). For the Oshwal Community particular challenges were faced because of their location in the Green Belt which severely restricted development.…”