Muslims of Britain

[purpletigron]

Was King Offa of Mercia the first powerful Muslim in England? - "his coins have the inscription of the declaration of faith of Islam (There is no god but Allah) in Arabic." UK Islam Awareness Week 2006 will be Mon 20 - Sun 26 Nov.

History: "The sacking of the Muslim city of Lisbon in 1147 during which perhaps 150,000 Muslims were massacred, was largely the work of soldiers from Norfolk and Suffolk."

Future: "IAW aims to create an awareness of Islam in our society by involving everyone throughout Britain, irrespective of their school of thought or group affiliation. Everyone is invited to come forward and join hands in practical efforts to rid Britain of Islamophobia."

Thank you to fjm for the link.

Comments

[swisstone.livejournal.com]

I doubt very much that Offa was a convert to Islam (and the promoters of Islam Awareness Week don't say that he was). Only one known gold coin of Offa's carries the declaration of faith, and it is not on his more numerous silver coinage. A public conversion would surely have left some stronger trace in the historical record. One can, of course, argue (as this article does), that later Christians have deliberately expunged all reference to Offa's Islam, but I don't buy that sort of conspiracy theory. I think it is far more likely that the coins were done in imitation of Muslim coinage for circulation in the Muslim world, created by coin makers who didn't actually know what the inscription meant.

[purpletigron.livejournal.com]

Yes. ... but it's an intriguing thought :-)