Fifteen minutes of Muslim fame

A 'power list' of British Muslims has nothing to do with real power

Congratulations to Abid Mufti, Amin Tejani and Arif Patel. These three businessmen are among the most powerful Muslims in Britain. I am sure you have never heard of them. The truth is that neither have I, but according to the "Power 100" list of Britain's top Muslims published last month, these chaps have made "significant contributions to the social, cultural and economic well-being" of Britain.

The list, sponsored by the Islamic Bank of Britain, does not actually tell us anything about the nature of these contributions. So I am not quite sure what power all the folk on the list actually command. What I can say is that some people on it have about as much power as a snail trying to cross a motorway on a hot day. I am also pleased to note that it follows a time-honoured Muslim tradition. The panel that selected the power list - whose members included the former general secretary of the Muslim Council of Britain Sir Iqbal Sacranie, who is now persona non grata with the government, and the leader of the non-existent Muslim Parliament, Dr Ghayasuddin Siddiqui - chose themselves as the most luminous of the Power 100 luminaries.

Power lists are part of our cultural condition. They reflect our shrewd, nagging suspicion that hierarchy continues to exist despite all the hype about our classless, democratic and meritocratic society. And in a world dominated by consumer choice, popular lists, however uninformed, serve to distract us with the red herring that they can confer real power.

Celebrity power is not to be sniffed at, however. It is the convertible currency of our celebrity culture. Power is what attention bequeaths, no matter how shallow or vacuous the vessel. The catch - and this is where the Muslim power list shows its naivety - is that you cannot self-declare your celebrity if no one is interested, nor interest people by mere self-declaration if you cannot demonstrate the ability to influence.

A careful reading of the Muslim power list shows a parade of the usual suspects. Some of them may be millionaires, but they are totally without influence. Some of them may be community leaders, but they have never bothered to gather a real following, or build substantial institutions that engage with and minister to the needs of the mass of British Muslims. Many are self-selected and surrounded by their contacts, their friends and others with whom they organise meetings and conferences in desperate attempts to show that not all Muslims want to turn Britain into an Islamic state.

Thus, the Muslim Power 100 list has nothing to do with real power. It is a cruel joke. Yet it does show just how gullible British Muslims have become. It tells the British establishment, which has now spurned them, that they have been talking to the right people, despite the self-evident reality that talking to the usual suspects has got them nowhere. It tells British Muslims that they remain unrepresented, marginal and largely irrelevant to decisions about their welfare, made supposedly in their interest and allegedly with their connivance.

But power - unorganised, fragmented, dispirited and chaotic - exists in all the places this list fails to reach. It exists with all the unsung, unproclaimed individuals, groups and small organisations trying desperately to make a difference, yet who remain invisible not just to British society but to the Muslim community itself. It exists with groups such as the City Circle, which brings together young Muslims of all backgrounds and opinions to debate issues of Islamic reform. It exists on websites such as www.muslimyouth.net, which promotes self-help and is open to tackling such contentious issues as child and domestic abuse among Muslims in Britain.

There are many kinds of power in this world. Some power is self-evident, some is constructed by manipulating the market forces of our media-drenched society and some sorts of power are as transient as 15 minutes of fame. Frankly, this list doesn't achieve lift-off on any power scale. Thank God I'm not included!

The full Muslim Power 100 list is at http://www.assetsworld.com