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Baden-Powell was inspired to found the Scouts after being impressed with the initiative shown by boys during the siege of the South African town of Mafeking in 1899-1900 during the Boer war. His first experimental camp was held on Brownsea Island off Poole in Dorset in 1907.

“There is a vast reserve of loyal patriotism and Christian spirit lying dormant in our nation today,” he wrote in his handbook, Scouting for Boys, published in 1908.

“Here in this joyous brotherhood there is vast opportunity open to all in a happy work that shows results under your hands and a work that is worthwhile because it gives every man his chance of service for his fellow men and for God.”

Since then, however, scouting has developed into a worldwide movement covering most major religions. Out of 28m Scouts worldwide, a third are Muslim. There are also 2m Buddhist Scouts, 1m Hindus and 350,000 Sikhs.

In Britain, 1% of the 400,000 Scouts are Muslim and in the past year 10 new troops have opened where most of the members are Muslim. These are in Cardiff, Luton and Manchester. The British Scout Association also has Jewish, Sikh, Buddhist and Rastafarian members.

“It’s great that the meaning of the Scout promise is acceptable to all faiths involved with scouting. As a Muslim, I can take my promise side-by-side with Christians, Sikhs and others,” said Amir Cheema, leader of the predominantly Muslim 1st Bristol Scout Group.

“The Scout Association’s activities fit perfectly to the community and family-orientated aspects of Islam. I particularly enjoy the interaction between Muslim and non-Muslim Scouts.”

Narinder Singh Birdi, joint group Scout leader at 13th Southall (Sikh) Group in London, added: “I love scouting because it is so diverse and welcoming to all. It is flexible to fit everybody’s needs and I find it sits hand in hand with Sikhism.

“The most important part of my faith is the Sikh uniform, scouting works in the same way. I wear my turban and my Scout scarf with pride. This shows the world that I live my life as a Sikh and as a Scout.”

Abandoning the traditional pledge is the latest in a long line of changes instituted by the association to modernise its image and appeal to a generation of children distracted by pop music, computer games and the internet.

While the movement — whose former members include Sir David Attenborough, David Beckham and Tony Benn — is booming globally, the number of members in the UK has fallen from more than 650,000 in the 1980s.

A spokesman for the Scout Association said: “Young people of Scout age are trying to establish their own sense of personal identity and this includes developing their own beliefs and attitudes and a new and personal relationship with their God.

“The whole point is that the young people understand and believe what they are saying and, so long as there is a strong element of morality and duty and they agree to live their life in a good, progressive way, then the wording itself is open to discussion.”

Pound, however, said: “Scouting is the biggest international youth organisation and what we are now doing is removing one of the central tenets of internationalism, uniformity and common ethos that we all had.

“The point about the promise is that you do your duty to God and the Queen. The minute you start to change that, you create divisions within scouting because there is no single, all-encompassing ethos.”

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