Boris Johnson has been strongly criticised for arguing Islam has caused the Muslim world to be “literally centuries behind” the west, in an essay unearthed by the Guardian.

Writing about the rise of the religion in an appendix added to a later edition of The Dream of Rome, his 2006 book about the Roman empire, Johnson said there was something about Islam that hindered development in parts of the globe and, as a result, “Muslim grievance” was a factor in virtually every conflict.

Johnson’s argument was described as disconcerting and problematic by Tell Mama, which monitors anti-Muslim hate and said he had demonstrated a lack of understanding of the religion. The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) said many people would like to know if the favourite to become the next prime minister still believed “Islam inherently inhibits the path to progress and freedom”.

Last year, Johnson was accused of dog-whistle politics after he used a Telegraph column to liken women wearing the burqa to “letter boxes” and “bank robbers”.

Quick Guide About this series Show The real Boris Johnson Over the course of the week, the Guardian is publishing a series of news reports, features and multimedia components on the man widely expected to be the next Conservative leader – and therefore prime minister. In coverage that ranges from his early days as a journalist to his last senior job as foreign secretary, we will seek to shed light on the exploits, ambitions and values of one of the most consequential – and most divisive – politicians of the age.



In an essay titled And Then Came the Muslims, added to the 2007 edition of his book, Johnson wrote: “There must be something about Islam that indeed helps to explain why there was no rise of the bourgeoisie, no liberal capitalism and therefore no spread of democracy in the Muslim world.

“It is extraordinary to think that under the Roman/Byzantine empire, the city of Constantinople kept the candle of learning alight for a thousand years, and that under Ottoman rule, the first printing press was not seen in Istanbul until the middle of the nineteenth century. Something caused them to be literally centuries behind.”

The Conservative leadership frontrunner wrote that the inhibitor of progress was “a fatal religious conservatism” and the further the Muslim world had “fallen behind, the more bitterness and confusion there has been, to the point where virtually every global flashpoint you can think of – from Bosnia to Palestine to Iraq to Kashmir – involves some sense of Muslim grievance”.

The MCB said: “We of course are of the view that Islam has a role to play in progress and prosperity, be that in the Muslim world or here at our home in the west.”

Mohammed Amin

Mohammed Amin, a former chairman of the Conservative Muslim Forum, said Johnson’s analysis risked “actively promoting hatred of Muslims”. Amin was expelled by the forum in June after criticising the party leadership’s response to reports of Islamophobia and comparing Johnson’s popularity to that of Adolf Hitler in the 1930s.

In the book, published after the airing of a TV series with the same name, Johnson likened the Roman empire to the EU, marvelling at the former’s ability to create unity across continents.

The essay was written as negotiations for Turkey to join the EU were under way and Johnson argued Ankara should be allowed to become a member, creating “once again a Roman economic community” and “reuniting the two halves of the Roman empire around the shores of the Mediterranean”.

He said the country’s “far from perfect” record on human rights was “one of the most important reasons for keeping the Turks on the tram tracks to EU membership, surely, that we thereby help the progressive forces in Turkey and stop the country drifting backwards”.

The MCB said: “Many of us would be interested to find out whether Mr Johnson still believes that Islam inherently inhibits the path to progress and freedom, and whether he still thinks Turkey should be admitted to the European Union, especially after the extraordinary and false claims made about Turkish and Muslim immigration during the Brexit campaign.”

During the EU referendum campaign, Johnson argued a leave vote would allow the UK to “end uncontrolled immigration”. He was a figurehead for the Vote Leave campaign, which issued a controversial poster claiming Turkey was joining the EU, despite talks to this end having long since stalled.

A poster issued by Vote Leave during the EU referendum claimed Turkey was about to join the bloc. Photograph: Goodman/LNP/Rex/Shutterstock

In the essay, Johnson acknowledged Christianity had a history of “disgusting cruelty”, writing: “It wasn’t so long ago that we were burning books and heretics ourselves.”

He added: “These Muslims are not some alien species.” Johnson criticised newspaper editors who thought an “Islamo-panicky headline [was] good for sales” and “politicians hungry for votes” who made the same calculation.

He said his great-grandfather Ali Kemal, a Turkish politician, had been a Muslim, and so he hoped he would not be accused of Islamophobia for quoting Winston Churchill’s claim that there was “no stronger retrograde force” in the world than Islam.

“It is time to get deep down and dirty and examine the central charge made by everyone from Winston Churchill to the Pope, namely that the real problem with the Islamic world is Islam,” Johnson wrote. “We must be honest and accept that there is more than a grain of truth in Churchill’s analysis of the economic and social consequences of the religion.”

After describing the beauty of the Sistine Chapel, Johnson wrote: “There is nothing like it in Muslim art of that or any age, not just because it is beyond the technical accomplishment of Islamic art, but because it is so theologically offensive to Islam.”

Tell Mama said the essay portrayed Muslims as “a wave or horde … who had little time for the intricacies and legacies of civilisations like that of Rome”.

Johnson’s words gave the impression Muslims were somehow “mentally constrained by Islam”, they said. “That shows a lack of understanding of Islam, and there are many Muslims whom Islam has inspired to produce some of the most beautiful art forms in their love for life and beauty. We hope Johnson works to support all communities in the future, and we are here to assist and support that.”

Johnson’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.