CHARLES: King of England? Or King of a Multicultural Muslim cesspit?

IQTV In a series of statements dating back several decades, King Charles III has rebuttedthe “clash of civilisations” thesis which argues that Islam is at war with the West. On the contrary, he argues that Islam, Judaism and Christianity are three great monotheistic religions which have far more in common than is generally appreciated.

Since 1993, the new king has been a patron of the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies. In that year he delivered its inaugural address, entitled “Islam and the West”. It wasn’t the sort of speech on religion that most people expect from politicians and royals; they tend to utter little more than empty platitudes.

Then Prince of Wales, he launched into a sophisticated musing on Islamic civilisation and its relationship with Europe. The prince said that Islam is “part of our past and our present, in all fields of human endeavour. It has helped to create modern Europe. It is part of our own inheritance, not a thing apart.”

He urged people in the West to see past contemporary distortions of Islam: “The guiding principle and spirit of Islamic law, taken straight from the Quran, should be those of equity and compassion.”

He noted that women were granted the right to property and inheritance in Islam 1,400 years ago, paid tribute to the “remarkable tolerance” of medieval Islam, and lamented western “ignorance about the debt our own culture and civilisation owe to the Islamic world”.

The then-prince described Britain’s Muslim communities as an “asset to Britain” who “add to the cultural richness of our nation”.

Unlike those who demand that Muslims discard their identities in order to assimilate, Charles called for a process of two-way integration: Muslims must “balance their vital liberty to be themselves with an appreciation of the importance of integration in our society”, while non-Muslims should adopt a “respect for the daily practice of the Islamic faith and a decent care to avoid actions which are likely to cause deep offence.”

It was an electrifying speech: here was the heir to the throne telling Britain’s Muslims, most of them migrants from the former colonies, that their presence in the country was not just welcome but valued. It’s hard to conceive of a greater contrast with recent interventions by Britain’s most senior politicians. 

In more recent years Charles’s attitudes towards Islam and the Muslim world have often caused controversy.

A 2018 book by royal correspondent Robert Jobson, written with the cooperation of Charles’s office, revealed that he opposed the 2003 invasion of Iraq, privately voicing his objections to Prime Minister Tony Blair. According to Jobson, Charles believed that “marching in carrying a banner for western-style democracy was both foolhardy and futile”. Charles has also told ministers that he no longer wishes to have his connections with Gulf leaders used for British arms companies to sell weapons.

Then there’s his sympathy towards the Palestinians, which may be why it was his son Prince William, and not Charles himself, who carried out the first royal visit to Israel in June 2018. It was only in 2020 that Charles made his first visit to Israel. He took care to visit the Occupied Palestinian Territories, where he declared it his “dearest wish that the future will bring freedom, justice and equality to all Palestinians”.

Charles has come under fire for his charity work. Last June, the then-prince was in the headlines after the Sunday Times revealed that he accepted a suitcase containing a million euros in cash from Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, the former Qatari prime minister.  In 2013, there was  a million-pound donation  to his charitable fund from the family of Osama Bin Laden.

Charles believes that the modern West “has become increasingly acquisitive and exploitative”, suggesting that we can re-learn the “trusteeship of the vital sacramental and spiritual character of the world” from Islam.

It remains to be seen whether, on the throne, he will continue to speak about the Islamic religion as openly as he did when he was Prince of Wales. He needs to bear in mind the lesson of his mother, who astutely steered clear of public controversies. It is nevertheless profoundly significant that we have a king who openly admires Islam.