The Islamic nations of the Middle East for hundreds of years were the centre of commerce and science in the Old World . They were liberal and tolerant and welcomed people and ideas no matter their provenance . They helped to forge our system of mathematics and they named the very stars themselves . Then the fundamentalists came . As an atheist I may not understand why people follow a religion , but I can absolutely take a view as to which interpretation people that choose Islam should follow . I want them to follow the liberal tolerant Islam that gave us science and technology whilst the rest of Europe were still hitting each other over the head with sticks . I want them to follow the Islam that gave us art and music and poetry and accepted that it was the expression of the art that gave glory to God and not its content . I want them to follow the Islam that understands that through service is Grace made manifest and that service coerced is Grace denied . So , when I argue for the liberalisation of British Muslims , I ' m not trying to get them to abandon their faith I ' m trying to get them to return to it . I want them to bring to our culture the rich and vibrant faith that Islam used to be . Not the haram shadow it became . I make no apology for that .