Aims of the Citizens Commission on Islam, Participation & Public Life

Launched on the 10th of September 2015, the Citizens Commission on Islam, Participation & Public Life brings together 20 Commissioners to investigate the extent to which Britain has incorporated its Muslim citizens. The duties and obligations placed upon all citizens, private and public institutions and the instruments of the state must be based on these fundamental principles of a democratic society; equal participation and self-determination.

Preamble to the Commission

Citizens UK holds that the two enduring and fundamental principles of a humane, just and democratic society are equal participation and self-determination. By equal participation, we mean that every citizen should, if he/she chooses, be able to participate fully in the wider society and engage in the governance of the state regardless of background. By self-determination, we mean that every citizen should, if he/she chooses, be able to participate fully in the cultural and religious enterprises of the particular community to which they belong.

Equal participation demands that we create a political and legal framework in which equality of opportunity and freedom from discrimination is guaranteed. Self-determination requires us to create a society in which there is a recognition and respect for difference. We have a right to be equal and a right to be different. We recognise that these rights might pull in opposite directions.

But we all, citizens and state alike, have a duty to attempt to reconcile the two. To achieve this, we must engage with everyone to look for solutions that have both moral and political depth. We need to have a unity, a sense of common purpose, across the whole of society, while being enriched by the diversity of its component parts.

Aims of the Commission:

1.1 To consider the extent to which the state, civil society, business and related institutions and key sectors have allowed Muslim communities to fully participate in the life of British society;

1.2 to consider the extent to which any failings are currently being addressed by all parties including the Muslim communities and their institutions;

1.3 to advise on the additional steps which it is necessary for the Sectors and Muslim Communities to take in order to encourage Muslim communities to participate fully in the social and economic life of British society;

1.4 to recommend any further action needed to address any institutional failures by the Sectors and the Muslim communities on the basis of the findings and lessons learnt from this Commission and

1.5 to publish a Report with recommendations and a delivery plan and to consider proposing a Compact between Muslim Communities and the Sectors.