Fourteenth International Conference on Religion & Spirituality in Society

Abstract

This research examines British Muslims’ perspectives on military service based on the young British Muslims in the UK. The change from compulsory military service to voluntary military service became a popular trend among nations, and as Segal stated (1986), this especially applies to industrialised democratic western countries. The military is a representative part of society as it draws from a wider social group, therefore, rationalization in society, culture and institutions might be observed in this organization (Segal & Segal 1983). As in every country that implemented an All Volunteer Force, recruitment has also become a severe problem in the UK, especially in incorporating potential soldiers from ethnic minorities (Rahbek-Clemmensen et al., 2012, p. 672). Being one of the most crowded minority groups within British society, the representation of Muslims in the United Kingdom armed forces is deficient compared to the general population. (Mustafa, 2018, p.4). Although policies have been carried out by the government, beginning from the 2000s (Dandeker & Mason, 2001, 2003, 2009), there has been no noticeable increase in the case of representation of ethnic minorities in the military. According to National Statistics (2021), Muslims in the army fluctuated between 0.3% and 0.4% for the last ten years in the regular army. On the other hand, the latest official UK census in 2011 demonstrates that with 4.8 percent of the population, Muslims were the second-largest religious group. Therefore, this project analyses the perception of the Young British Muslims regarding the British Army.