Muslims will be much happier in a Britain that is confident about its Christian heritage, Britain's former faith minister has said.
Baroness Sayeeda Warsi warned that people in government still see religious belief as little more than belief in "fairies, goblins and imaginary friends".
She called on Prime Minister Theresa May to reinstate the position of faith minister.
She was speaking at a "Very English Islam" garden party organised by the think tank British Future, which addresses issues of identity, integration and migration.
"I've always described Islam as like a river, which takes its colour from the bed over which it flows – and my Islam flows over Yorkshire and over England," said Warsi, talking to former Labour cabinet minister John Denham and BBC head of religion and ethics Aaqil Ahmed.
"Therefore it's quite right that over time, as Islam takes the colour of the space in which it finds itself, it will start to reflect a very clear Englishness."
For that to happen, the majority needs to have a clear sense of its own identity, she said.
"The river bed must know what it represents. If the bed is a slightly murky grey and doesn't really know what it stands for, then my Islam is going to be just as confused and murky grey. For minority faiths to feel truly comfortable about who they are, the majority has got to be sure about who it is."
She added: "A Europe that is sure about its Christian heritage is a much easier place to be a Muslim."
Dr Timothy Winter, Shaykh Zayed lecturer of Islamic Studies at Cambridge University, said Englishness and Islam could reach accommodation.
He said: "A local British Islam, or a range of British Islams, is religiously authentic and even mandatory.
"The classical sharia manuals tell us that local custom and precedent may be incorporated into Muslim life, unless they evidently flaunt a scriptural truth. Only fundamentalism of the Wahhabi type discounts this Muslim normativity."
British Future described the garden party as in "a quintessentially English setting" with the band and choir of the local Woking High School entertaining guests who included representatives of the local council and Woking Mosque, the oldest purpose-built mosque in the country.
