I guess there's a serious problem with criticising Islam in the UK (or even in the whole Europe). It's hard not to be called a racist, an intolerant and prejudiced islamophobe, etc. You can bash Christianity and every other religion you want, but never Islam. This all makes it hard to discuss things, as I don't want to be labelled as above. I guess it's good to show certain Muslims that their practices are criticised not only from the external perspective, but also from the internal one. I always invite my Muslim friends to participate in women's rights/human rights initiatives and they sometimes agree, although I'm not sure what they *really* think.
That is a problem and one that everyone should work to overcome. 'Islamophobia' has been used as a stick to beat anyone who confronts Islamist ideology and some of the more backward practises of Islam - and I really believe one of the reasons we are in the situation we are in now regarding extremism in the UK is because we did not confront this ideology earlier, for fear of being beaten with the Islamophobia stick. It is also used as a knife with which to stab dissenting Muslims and ex-Muslims alongside the charge of being 'Uncle Tom Apostate' and 'Neo-Con sell out' and so on.
However, I really do believe this is changing, and a space is opening up for these discussions to be had without that lumpen charge being made. In truth, those who throw the word and accusation around so easily have lost their credibility. When the reality is that there is much that is wrong with Islam and its various ideologies as being practised in Britain, and you persist in slandering anyone who takes issue with these ideologies and practises, you just end up looking stupid. Put it this way, before 7/7, organisations like the MCB would claim that warnings about the dangers of Islamic extremism were scaremongering rooted in Islamophobia - after the London suicide bombings, it was they who ended up on the wrong side of the debate, by a million miles.
So, I really do believe that things have changed, and are continuing to change in that regard.
Topic: Is it getting better with women's rights?