THE Islam on Campus report and the way it was promoted by the Centre for Social Cohesion (CSC) has been criticised by universities, students and academics (Muslim students back Islamic killings , News, last week). The 120-page report concludes that “British Muslim students hold a diverse and broad range of opinions. The majority of Muslim students have tolerant ideas towards other minorities, reject violence in the name of their faith and support Britain’s secular and democratic society as well as its system of governance”.

The University and College Union (UCU), like the majority of people, takes the threat of terrorism seriously. We welcome the recent emphasis the government has put on community cohesion in regards to tackling violent extremism, but we reject the headline-grabbing tactics of groups such as CSC.

Sally Hunt, UCU general secretary

Intellectual diversity: I am a lecturer in history at Queen Mary University of London, born, raised and educated in Israel. I teach the history of medieval Islam (society, culture and politics) to Muslim and non-Muslim students alike. The students contribute to debate about Islam from their diverse backgrounds and perspectives. The article published last week bears no similarity to my own experience at Queen Mary; it disparages the intellectual integrity of the young men and women who study with me and can only make open discussion more difficult.

Yossi Rapoport, Department of History, Queen Mary University

A clampdown would hit the peaceful majority: Having noted that recent research indicates that a worryingly high number of young, well-educated, British Muslims hold extremist views, Minette Marrin comes to the conclusion that religion should not take any part in public life (To beat extremism we must dissolve religious groups , Comment, last week). Given that, according to the 2001 census, just 2.7% of the British population is Muslim, this ignores the millions of peaceful, democratically minded citizens (whether Christian, Jewish, Muslim or otherwise) for whom their religion is an important part of their lives. Marrin, like the current government, should tackle problems directly, rather than suggesting sweeping policies to deal with a very small number of people.

Jonathan Dickson, Edgware, Middlesex

Inclusivity leads to real integration: One of the findings of the Citizenship in Britain study in 2004 was that those individuals who regarded themselves as belonging to a particular religious group recorded comparatively high levels of interpersonal trust, of trust in the police, of respect for the law and of a citizen’s duty to vote. The best way of drawing out the extremism that can accompany religious thinking is not to dissolve such groups but to include them in debate, requiring them to justify their convictions in publicly accessible terms.

Paul Woolley, Director, Theos – the public theology think tank, London, SW1

The public value of faith: To deny faith any public space at all is to miss the value it brings to society, and the importance of some umbrella bodies in creating and maintaining good community relations. Groups such as ours serve to challenge those elements of religion which oppose interaction and engagement. They also provide a constructive forum for public debates on important public issues.

Anil Bhanot, General Secretary, Hindu Council UK

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