16.09.2022 11:44
Split
In a quiet setting, about ten Muslims of all ages wait to sign a book of condolences for Queen Elizabeth II during a multireligious ceremony at the grand Baitul Futuh Mosque in south London.
Some children run around among the adults, but the atmosphere is respectful.
“I am a firstgeneration Muslim in this country” and “here we can practice our faith under the protection of our” monarch, said 19yearold Danial Saeed.
In Britain, the king is not only the head of the Anglican Church, but also a “defender of the faith”.
That title originally referred to Christianity, but Charles III, who was proclaimed king on Saturday, had already said that by ascending the throne he would defend all religions in the UK, which had become much more multicultural during his mother’s reign.
“Our loyalty to the king” will be “as strong as that which we show to the queen,” says Rafiq Hayat, president of Britain’s Muslim community Ahamdiyya, in fact, which includes a prayer.
“We live in a country where freedom of religion is real. (…) Both the monarch and the government perpetuate this freedom of expression and belief,” he later told AFP.
During the 70year reign of Elizabeth II, “we have seen our society become multicultural and multidenominational,” said Charles III. in his first speech as king on September 9, the day after his mother’s death.
Reception in Buckingham
This Friday, the monarch would receive representatives of the main religions in the United Kingdom at Buckingham Palace.
The British monarchy has its roots in Christianity. This religious character is strongly represented in the coronation ceremony to be determined, at which the king will be anointed with oil by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
However, Ian Bradley, a professor of theology at St Andrews University, told AFP that “the monarch’s role is to hold the nation together in every possible way, particularly in terms of faith”.
Rami Ranger, President of the British Sikh Association, believes that as monarch, Queen Elizabeth has given everyone “an enormous sense of security”, regardless of the political parties, religions or backgrounds of their subjects.
The British monarch plays a role as the nation’s “spiritual heart” and this “somewhat unconscious” spiritual bond, according to Bradley, manifested itself in “religious terms often chosen by many to express their feelings towards the Queen”.
The UK may have “become a very secular postChristian nation, but many people still appreciate that the sovereign has a religious aura,” he adds.
Orthodox, Jews, Sikhs, Hindus
“Some of the strongest supporters of the monarchy are members of religious minorities such as Jews, Sikhs, Hindus,” stresses Bradley. And remember that Charles III. is a practicing Christian who “goes to church every Sunday” but is also “interested in Islam and spirituality in general”.
Just as his concern for the environment accompanies the concerns of younger people, this interest in religion could have inspired Charles III. connect to the UK today.
Among Christians he showed a special fondness for the orthodox religion and undertook several retreats in monasteries on Mount Athos in Greece. He moved the British Jewish community by visiting Israel which his mother never did even if it was not an official visit.
He also “had a wonderful relationship with the Muslim world as a prince, praising the teachings of Islam and often referencing verses from the Koran,” says Hayat.
“We believe that he will be a very good leader for Muslims and that he will bring together the different denominations”, also because, given his importance, “when he speaks, people listen” and “that will have a lot of weight in the relationships between them.” have the Muslim world, the Christian world and the Jewish world,” he concludes.