WOULD you if possible live in an Islamic state if the opportunity arose?

For instance, if it was decided that a part of the UK was to become a small Islamic state with Islamic Sharia rules enforced, would you move there?

The question was posed to me recently and I have to say the answer was ‘no’.

By answering ‘no’ did that make me a bad Muslim?

Some Muslims have an idea how an Islamic state would run.

Disregard the systems of Saudi Arabia and the brutality of IS but this Islamic state would have rules and regulations run purely from an Islamic perspective.

Everything, from halal food to how children were educated, this would be an Islamic ideal in the heart of Europe.

So, what is holding me back and many other Muslims?

The answer is quite simple.

An Islamic state simply would not be somewhere we British Muslims can live.

If we wanted to we would have already packed up and moved elsewhere.

I know of many Muslims who move to the Middle East and will live comfortably in places like UAE and Bahrain. But they return. They always return.

Now, sometimes when I speak to some people they are quick to point out the reason they don’t move is that they work here and they are settled here.

But what if all that was organised?

You had your job but it would mean you would be living in a small Islamic state in Europe.

The reason many of us are quite hesitant is because we don’t actually know how we would cope.

Many British Muslims already have all the amenities their fathers and grandfathers could only dream of.

You really have the best of both worlds and in complete honesty many British Muslims don’t want to have rules enforced upon them.

The problem we have is that it is all good talking about specifics but when it came down to it would I really hand over my passport would I do it?

We actually like the relative freedoms to be able to watch and behave as we wish.

We like the inconsistencies and we like the idea of being able to say and do what we want and where we want.

I am not saying that it would not be attractive to some Muslims but if you actually came down to a final decision would you do it?