How Radical is Birmingham’s Salafi Mosque?

Abstract

ABSTRACT The Salafi Mosque in Birmingham, England, is a hub of European salafiyya. It is the center of a vibrant network of online and print publications, and hundreds of Muslims attend its prayers. Based on a field study at the mosque that included a written survey with a sample of male attendees and twenty-three interviews with attendees and local leaders, the article challenges the common perception of salafiyya as an approach that inherently involves provocative and costly personal choices and demonstrates the nuanced and ambivalent aspects of its radicalism. It suggests that affiliation with the Salafi Mosque allows a sense of moral superiority while requiring little intellectual effort and few social and financial commitments and that the mosque provides space for the articulation of strong anti-liberal views while avoiding the perils of political activism that directly challenges the mainstream of society. The article also shows how several of the qualities that make the mosque appealing to some Muslims result in its marginalization.