Questioning Islam should not be policed

It was revealed last week that a Christian former police community support officer was forced out of his role and barred from policing for asking questions about Islam during mandatory diversity training. 

Luke Salmons, supported by Christian Concern, brought legal action against the Chief Constable of North Yorkshire Police, alleging that the force discriminated against him because of his Christian beliefs. The matter has now been settled on confidential terms, and Salmons has been vindicated by a statement from the Chief Constable.

Punished for asking questions

Salmons’s experience is shocking and very remarkable in what it exposes about police culture and training. Those doing the training were specifically told that it was a “safe space” and that they could ask any question they wanted. The Muslim police officer doing the training invited questions from the trainees. Salmons took this at face value and asked relevant questions of the training officer about Islam.

From Salmons’s perspective, this was an engaging and interesting discussion. The trainer was asking more questions than Salmons himself was asking. It was Salmons who suggested they pause the conversation during the training session and continue over lunch. The respectful conversation then continued privately over lunch between the two of them. 

Imagine Salmons’s surprise when the next day he found himself dragged into the side office and told by an inspector “I don’t like your beliefs.” Shortly afterwards he was suspended. 

What exactly did Salmons do wrong? He was inquisitive in a training course. That ought to be a positive sign of engagement with the training. Trainees were, after all, encouraged to ask questions. But this was training about Islam. Asking questions about Islam raised concerns with officials which resulted in him being disciplined and even barred from serving with the police. 

Chanting “Islam is a religion of peace”

Perhaps the most concerning aspect of this case is that the external trainers at one point allegedly walked up and down the room chanting, “Islam is a religion of peace.” As Salmons points out, “At that point, it stopped being training and became indoctrination.”

Chanting is not training, neither is it rational discussion or argumentation. It smacks of desperation. The trainers desperately wanted the trainees to believe that Islam is a religion of peace, so they resorted to chanting. It is an insult to the intelligence of police officers to believe that they would be persuaded merely by a chant.

I wonder whether they resorted to chanting because they knew that they could not support this assertion by reasoned argument. If they were so confident about it they should have made the case. Explained why. But no, they apparently chanted.

Is Islam a religion of peace?

I wrote some years ago on the question as to whether Islam is in fact a religion of peace. The assertion that “Islam is a religion of peace” is widely touted by the media and politicians. Indeed, it is almost as if it is treated like a mantra. But is it true?

While it is indeed the case that the majority of Muslims are peaceful, law abiding people, the question is not about Muslims, it is about Islam. Islam can only be judged by its texts and by the example of its founder, Muhammad.

Do read my original article on this topic. In it I cite multiple verses from the Qur’an which advocate violence, and show how some verses which are used to argue for a peaceful interpretation of Islam are clearly misquoted or taken out of context. I also look at the example of Muhammad and find that participated in dozens of battles and personally fought to expand the influence of Islam. All four Sunni schools of Islamic law agree that Jihad means warfare. Historically, Islam has not spread peacefully, but through violent conquests.

Islam, then, did not have a peaceful founder. The sacred texts of Islam do not advocate peaceful living. The history of Islam has not been free from violence. The statement that ‘Islam is a religion of peace’ is therefore false when judging Islam by its texts, its founder and its history. How else is one supposed to judge Islam?

Islam inspired terrorism

The fact that Islamic texts teach violence is why groups like Al Qaeda, Islamic State, and even Hamas, are able to justify their violence in Islamic terms. They point to Islamic texts to justify their actions, as have many other ‘lone wolf’ Islamic terrorists. 

This is very important to understand. It is not only a matter of truth, it is a matter of national security. The latest CONTEST report from 2023 noted that: 

In the UK, the primary domestic terrorist threat comes from Islamist terrorism which accounts from approximately 67% of attacks since 2018, about three quarters of MI5 caseload and 64% of those in custody for terrorism-connected offences.

The UK National Threat Level was raised to SEVERE on 1 May 2026, meaning that an attack is highly likely. 

The police urgently need to understand how Islam is motivating terrorist attacks and indeed antisemitic attacks. Chanting “Islam is a religion of peace” is the last thing they need.

Answering Jihad

In his discussion with the training officer, Salmons mentioned that he had read the book Answering Jihad by New York Times bestselling author Nabeel Qureshi. Qureshi converted from Islam to Christianity and wrote several books about his experience and about what Islam teaches. This book has chapters answering questions about Islam and jihad, including a chapter titled “Is Islam a religion of peace?” Other chapter titles include: “What is Islam?”, “What is Jihad?”, “What is Sharia?”, “Was Islam Spread by the Sword?”, etc. In fact there are eighteen questions addressed in different chapters. It is an excellent short summary of the issues involved.

Salmons then brought a copy of this book to work and put it in his locker in case someone requested a copy. Without his permission, someone accessed his locker, removed the book, photographed it, and circulated it to senior officers. This formed part of the basis of the complaint against Salmons.

Rather than objecting to a book they had never actually read, those police officers would be well served to read the book for themselves. 

Police culture needs to change

While we face a national security threat from Islamist terrorism, the police are being forced to attend training where “Islam is a religion of peace” is reportedly chanted. Our police deserve better than this.

The many stories emerging in recent weeks about the police demonstrate that a wholesale change of police culture is urgently needed. We need to put an end to political correctness and DEI training and get back to policing without fear or favour, treating everyone equally before the law. Police training urgently needs a complete overhaul. I hope Luke Salmons’s case is a catalyst for this.