'The members of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) count a fifth of the world's population; more than a quarter of the UN's membership; and are home to 70% of the world's reserves of energy. Britain's Muslim population is over two million. The Muslim communities in Britain make a vital and vibrant contribution to every aspect of life – from sports and the arts to business and politics… So in both arenas – international and domestic – it is vitally important that Muslims and non-Muslims work together on the basis of trust and understanding.'

On this page, you can read about the work of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on engaging with Islam. This work cuts across several of the FCO's strategic priorities, including work on sustainable development, underpinned by democracy, good government and human rights, and against terrorism.

EIWG's work has two main aims:

• To increase understanding of and engagement with Muslim countries and communities and to work with them to promote peaceful, political, economic and social reform.
• To counter the ideological, and theological underpinnings of the terrorist narrative, in order to prevent radicalisation, particularly among the young, in the UK and overseas

We encourage a policy of constructive engagement with a wide range of groups and opinion. The Muslim scholars and thinkers we are working with are amongst those most able to influence individuals who may be vulnerable to radicalisation.

Our work to help understand and contribute to the prevention of processes of radicalisation also forms part of the Government's counter-terrorism strategy - see the Home Office counter-terrorism website. You can read about wider aspects of the FCO's work on counter-terrorism on our Terrorism & Security pages.

Home Office counter-terrorism

Please click on the links on the left panel to read more about our activities.

Read the latest News items and Speeches on engaging with Islam.

See also:

Global Opportunities Fund: Engaging with the Islamic World

FCO Arabic language website

We welcome your feedback. Please contact us at: EngagingIslamEnquiries@fco.gov.uk