| Feature Item |
| Being Muslim and British – Hosted by the Guardian Fri 03 Dec 2004 |
| We need to think of new ways to ensure that young Muslims and non-Muslims can interact on a purely human level |
I attended the Guardian event, 'Being Muslim and British' on 22 November, which formed the basis for the subsequent newspaper feature. Over 100 Muslims who are active within the community were invited to University College London to discuss some of the major issues facing them today.
For me attending the event was in some senses a step back in time. I graduated from University College London in the early 90s and it was the place where I first became aware of being Muslim rather than just Asian. It was where I cut my teeth in Muslim community affairs by getting involved in the university's Islamic Society. I remember, for example, praying at lunchtime under the dome in the Main Quad as an act of protest because the university authorities refused to provide Muslim students with a prayer room. To see signs all over the place saying, 'Being Muslim and British' to direct people raised a certain wry smile.
Walking up the steps to the Old Refectory, now renamed the Jeremy Bentham Room, I was greeted by members of Guardian staff, and Muslims in every shape and form milling around before the event started. The attendees were split onto 8 tables, each dealing with a different aspect of 'Being Muslim and British', and observed by a Guardian journalist. I sat on the table discussing 'What are the most pressing issues facing British Muslims?' The participants on my table included doctors, students, journalists, and community activists. Other tables discussed subjects as varied as 'Identity', 'Integration', the 'War on Terror', 'Leadership', 'Women and Islam' and 'The Long-term Perspective'.
The ensuing 3 hours involved intense debate, much of which has already been rehearsed over and over again in living rooms and meetings up and down the country by Muslims, but for the first time was exposed to the wider public via The Guardian.
A panel, including Trevor Phillips, Chair of the CRE, Home Office Minister Fiona McTaggart, Humera Khan, Dr Tariq Ramadan and Dr Tim Winter, responded to what they had heard from the floor, answered questions and also gave their own perspective on the issues. Not surprisingly, Fiona McTaggart's comments regarding the Iraq war and the effect of anti-terrorism legislation on Muslims were met with snorts of derision and booing, but the overall tenor of the evening was `very British' as one of the panellists commented, and involved polite but passionate discourse. Trevor Phillips comments about what the Muslim community has to offer society, including morality and a clear line on the evils of alcohol, was interesting and welcome. He also raised the issue of the lack of social interaction between Muslims and non-Muslims, but again maybe that goes back to issues of morality and alcohol? We need to think of new ways to ensure that young Muslims and non-Muslims can interact on a purely human level.
Tariq Ramadan challenged the defensiveness of Muslims and called upon the community to look at itself as citizens with a legitimate right to criticise. Tim Winter made some interesting points about the discomfort many Muslims feel within the current party political parameters given our left-wing international sympathies and right-wing domestic sympathies. To me this raised the interesting possibility of a coalition of faith groups and other like-minded people forming a mainstream political party which Muslims could be comfortable with.
Two things which stuck in my mind after the event were the numbers of committed and talented people in the Muslim community, only a tiny proportion of which were present that evening, and also how much more we all have to do to widen and deepen the debate to make real progress.
Shabana Khan
Vice Chair, Research and Documentation Committee, MCB. |
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