Ummah of Muhammad: putting the mental in fundamental

Ummah of Muhammad (UoM) are a Wales-based Islamic organisation who claim to 'protect the symbols of Islam'. They called a demo on the 10th of July outside Cardiff City Hall, where under forty people demonstrated to 'protect the symbols of Islam'. After half an hour, the man leading the demonstration ran out of script and the crowd proceeded to shout various chants such as “UK, watch your back, Islam is coming back!' and 'Shariah law in the UK!' amongst others.

In recent months Islam itself has been a hotly debated topic, along with its various symbols of identity. Switzerland banned the minaret after a xenophobic campaign in which there were more minarets (which were shaped as missiles) on the poster than there would be in the whole of Switzerland. The French parliament are debating banning the burqa, President Nicholas Sarkozy even said the burqa 'was not welcome'. In Marseille, a new seven-thousand capacity Mosque is causing controversy as its minaret will be taller than the cathedral. Unlike the "British Asian", a corresponding "French African" identity does not exist: you're either French or not, leading to widespread xenophobia, alienation, the rise of the far right and inner city riots.