Muslims in Scotland

Nationalism and identity have been an important component of British society for over a century, some might argue for longer than that. Following the 9/11 act of terrorism in the United States over sixteen years ago, the presence of Muslims inside Western lands has raised all sorts of questions and elicited wildly differing responses. Stefano Bonino seeks to examine the role and position of Scottish Muslims in the current era. The first chapter covers the history of Muslims-Scots ties and connections, starting with Scottish pilgrims to the Middle East and passing mentions of Scotland by Arab geographers such as al-Mas[udi and al-Idrisi. The dominant Scots historical metanarrative revolves around Celtic roots and Presbyterian morals, but many societal barriers and prejudices have been undermined by the mass immigration of Irish Catholics into the main conurbations of Scotland in the nineteenth century. Their integration – plus that of other minorities such as the Jews, the Italians and the Lithuanians – eroded traditional bias and provided Muslims with a comparatively positive welcome compared to other United Kingdom territories....