Ziauddin Sardar is glad that the next census will formally recognise Muslim identity

The Muslim community is in celebratory mood. At last, we are going to be formally recognised as a legitimate minority with our own needs and requirements. The 2001 census will include a question on religion, which means our religious identity, the only identity that matters to us, will be officially acknowledged.

Britain prides itself on being a "multicultural society". Yet the state recognises and accommodates only certain identities. Some do not register at all on the barometer of inclusion. So, one is either Black Caribbean, Black African, Black Other, Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Chinese, Other Asian or White - the categories that currently appear on the census form. But if you describe your-self as a Muslim, you do not really exist as a legal entity, even though it's possible to find Muslims in each and every one of those categories.

The denial of religious identity to Muslims has led to state- sanctioned discrimination against them. For example, Muslim community projects, such as the Muslim Women's Helpline, are not recognised as legitimate "ethnic" organisations and therefore cannot get council or government funding. The Muslim News does not qualify as an "ethnic paper" and is thus denied adver- tising from local authorities, government agencies and the Commission for Racial Equality, which sustains newspapers such as Asian Times, Caribbean Times and the Voice.

Muslim women are discriminated against for wearing hijab, the religiously sanctioned headscarf, in workplaces, schools and other institutions. While blacks and Asians have legal redress under the Race Relations Act 1976, Muslims have no recourse to the law.

To be Muslim is not to be or want to be a breed apart. The values and ethos of Islam are all about inclusion and community involvement. But Muslims do have a strong dislike for "ethnic" labels.

As a term, "ethnicity" has its provenance in North America where, apart from White Anglo-Saxon Protestants (Wasps), all other communities - Greek, Irish, Catholic, German, Jewish, Hispanic - have traditionally been considered as "ethnics". Only Wasps escape this definition: they are the true insiders, the bedrock of American mainstream culture. So, by definition, ethnicity locates all minorities as "outsiders". Muslims are specially inclined towards eradicating this dichotomy.

What concerns Muslims is not the colour, race or ethnicity of individuals and communities, but what humanises them and inspires them to be good citizens. This inspiration comes not from pigmentation or national origin, but from a culture underpinned by religion, ethics and morality.

This is why British Muslims initiated and played a leading part in the movement for the recognition of religious identities. Five years ago, under the auspices of the multi-faith Religious Affiliation Group, a campaign was launched to include a question on religious affiliation in the 2001 census. This bitterly fought campaign, totally ignored by the mainstream media, culminated in Tony Blair's admission last year that discrimination against Muslims will continue unless they are recognised as a legitimate minority.

"One way of assuring that the Muslim voice is heard is our decision to include a question on religion in the 2001 census," he said. "This will give us the information we need to take fully into account the needs of Muslim communities."

Finally, after several postponements, the Census Amendment Bill has just been given its second reading and the inclusion of the religious question now seems guaranteed.

We can breathe half a sigh of relief - for all the good it is supposed to do, the question when it appears on the census will probably be voluntary, not obligatory like the ethnic questions already included. Nevertheless, we should be cheered. For this small victory enables me to define myself as a whole person. My identity should be about how I see myself, not as others choose to see me.

Real identity politics is not about "race relations", colour- coding or idiotic ethnic labels: it is an undertaking to try to understand British citizens as they know themselves.

It took more than 460 years to unpick the Act of Union of England and Wales and acknowledge Welsh identity. Muslim identity is not a question of devolution, but of the inclusion that comes from recognition.

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