Saudi Money BUYS It's Way Into The Biggest Christian Festival in the UK Which Will Now Showcase Islam

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Saudi Money BUYS its way into the Biggest Christian festival in the UK who will now showcase Islam https://t.co/Lbty0QaJ2W pic.twitter.com/K0d1wQsENw

— Amy Mek (@AmyMek) August 20, 2017

LONDON (RNS) — Greenbelt, the biggest Christian festival in the United Kingdom, will feature Muslim worship for the first time this year. 

The decision by organizers of the annual festival — which began more than 40 years ago as a gathering that drew about 1,500 young people — has stirred some controversy, according to organizers. 

Now Greenbelt draws a much larger crowd of about 20,000 over the August Bank Holiday weekend, Aug. 25-28, and offers not only music but also theological discussion and opportunities to work on social justice issues. 

While it sprung from evangelical Christians, in recent years Greenbelt has expanded to include a much wider range of participants, including an occasional Muslim speaker. 

But this is the first year it is has made a concerted effort to feature Islamic culture and spirituality as a significant part of the festival, which will include instruction on Sufi chants — described on the Greenbelt website as “a unique form of mystical worship.” 

The chanting will be taught under an oversized tent at Greenbelt devoted to Islamic art, culture and spirituality. Including Muslim worship at a Christian festival surprised and upset some people, said Greenbelt’s creative director Paul Northup. 

“There has been some negative and quizzical reaction from die-hard supporters of the festival,” he said. But there was also healthy curiosity about the new Muslim component of this primarily Christian gathering, which takes place on land surrounding the stately Boughton House in Northamptonshire, in the English midlands. 

Programming related to Islam this year is funded by Amal — an organization that promotes Islamic culture and arts. 

The events at Greenbelt will be curated by Chicago-based producer Asad Ali Jafri. Amal is in turn backed by the Said Foundation, founded by businessman and philanthropist Wafic Saïd. 

 Asad Ali Jafri

Saïd made his fortune as a banker, and first came to prominence in the U.K. after helping facilitate the Al-Yamamah arms deal between Britain and Saudi Arabia — the biggest export deal in British history. 

“The Amal funding was a game-changer,” said Northup. “Since 9/11, the Greenbelt trustees have wanted the festival to engage with Islam more deeply,” he said. 

“We wanted to play our part in dismantling, as far as we could, the extremist stereotyping and narrative the Muslim faith and community labored under and to introduce Greenbelters to Muslim thinkers, artists, activists and spirituality.”