issues, challenges and action - Insted

1 Islamophobiaissues, challenges and actionA report by the Commission on BritishMuslims and Islamophobia Chaired by Dr Richard StoneResearch by Hugh Muir and Laura SmithEditor: Robin RichardsonAdviser: Imam Dr Abduljalil SajidTrentham BooksStoke on Trent, UK and Sterling, USAin association with the Uniting Britain Trust, LondonTrentham Books LimitedWestview House22883 Quicksilver Drive734 London RoadSterlingOakhillVA 20166-2012 Stoke on TrentUSAS taffordshireEngland ST4 5NP 2004 Uniting Britain TrustAll rights reserved. No part of this publication maybe reproduced or transmitted in any form or by anymeans, electronic or mechanical includingphotocopying, recording or any information storageor retrieval system, without prior permission inwriting from the published 2004 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication DataA catalogue record for this book is available fromthe British Library1 85856 317 8 Designed and typeset by Trentham Print DesignLtd.

2 , Chester and printed in Great Britain byCromwell Press Ltd, issues, challenges and action iiiCONTENTSB ackground and acknowledgements vForeword viiPART ONE: ISSUES AND CHALLENGES1. TAKING STOCK progress , unfinished business, new challenges 12. ATTITUDES AND INSTITUTIONS the nature of Islamophobia 73. THE INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT the impact of 9/11 and war 154. CLOSED AND OPEN approaches to disagreement 21 PART TWO: action 5. COUNTING recognition and statistics 276. CRIMINAL JUSTICE hate crime, policing, courts, prisons 317. EMPLOYMENT AND SERVICES ensuring equality, recognising diversity 418. IDENTITY AND EDUCATION foundations for the future 479. STREET AND NEIGHBOURHOOD aspects of community cohesion 5710. DEALING WITH THE MEDIA complaints and codes 6511. GETTING THERE? notes on progress , 1997 2004 73 Notes and sourcesChapter notes 83 Bibliography 87 Addresses and websites 91 Chapter 1 Taking stock1.

3 British, Muslim and proud 12. Recognising progress 23. Very little progress 34. Racism with a spin 55. The day will come 5 Chapter 2 Attitudes and institutions6. You don t belong here 107. We have reasons to be suspicious 118. A very evil, wicked religion 129. Institutional Islamophobia 14 Chapter 3 The international context10. Don t blame the Muslims 1611. The world s nightmare 1812. Great conversation 20 Chapter 4 Closed and open13. The art of generosity 2414. Solidarity at this time 25 Chapter 6 Criminal justice15. Any right thinking member of society 3316. The only good religion 3517. Where is your God now? 37 Chapter 7 Employment and services18. What is reasonable? 4319. Special sessions 4420. More sensitive ways 45 Chapter 8 Identity and education21. Proud 4822. We need to come out 4923. Everything we don t want our kids to be 5024. Questions for research 5125.

4 Schools with Muslims and Muslim schools 5226. What have Muslims ever done for us? 5327. Colour, background, culture or religion 2728. We killed hundreds of your lot yesterday 5529. Listening to what they were saying 56 Chapter 9 street and neighbourhood30. The violence of the violated 5831. The meaning of community 6032. Look first at industrial history 61 Chapter 10 Dealing with the media33. The world I inhabit 6534. Twice as funny as white males 6635. Essentially foreign 6736. Representing Muslims and Arabs 6937. What can be done? 71 Chapter 11 Changing race relations38. Changing race relations 81 Tables1. Religious affiliations in the United Kingdom 282. Religions in England and Wales other thanChristianity 293. Religion and ethnicity in England and Wales 294. Local authorities in England with the highestproportions of Muslims 30iv Islamophobia issues, challenges and actionLIST OF BOXES AND TABLESI slamophobia issues, challenges and action vBACKGROUND ANDACKNOWLEDGEMENTSC onsultations underlying this reportAcknowledgement is due to the many hundreds of peoplewho took part in the projects and activities of theCommission on British Muslims and Islamophobia in theperiod 1999-2004.

5 There were widespread consultations,conferences and meetings, including events in Birmingham,Bradford, London and Manchester; substantial contacts,meetings and correspondence with interested individualsand organisations; several submissions to governmentdepartments; briefing papers for parliamentarians; and thepublication, dissemination and discussion of a range ofdocuments. The secretary of the Commission in 1999-2002was Kaushika published by the Commission included aninterim report, Addressing the Challenge of Islamophobia; alist of resources relating to the events of 11 September 2001,widely circulated in the ensuing weeks; a model policystatement for schools, published on the internet; a bookletabout the Race Relations (Amendment) Act, ChangingRace Relations, published in summer 2002; and a leaflet forteachers and youth workers about the war in Iraq, publishedin spring the period 1999-2004 the Commissionbenefited from the advice, support and publications ofseveral Muslim organisations, in particular the MuslimCouncil of Commission was set up by the Runnymede Trust in1996.

6 Its first report, Islamophobia: a challenge for us all,was published in 1997 and was launched at the House ofCommons by the Home Secretary, Jack Straw and editingMuch of the material in this report was researched andassembled by Hugh Muir and Laura Smith. Hugh Muirworks for The Guardian and was previously at the EveningStandard. Laura Smith worked until recently as a journalistat the Evening Standard and is now working freelance andstudying towards a masters degree at the London School ofEconomics. Substantial assistance was provided by a range of Muslimorganisations. They included the Muslim Council of Britainand the An-Nisa Society. A co-director of the latter, KhalidaKhan, is a member of the report was edited by Robin Richardson. He is adirector of the Insted consultancy and a member of adviser for the report was Imam Dr Abduljalil is chair of the Muslim Council for Religious and RacialHarmony UK and for several years was chair of the socialpolicy, welfare and regeneration committee of the MuslimCouncil of Britain, and chair or vice-chair of the JointCouncil for the Welfare of Immigrants.

7 He has been amember of the Commission on British Muslims andIslamophobia since 1996. FundingThroughout the period 1999-2004, up to and including theproduction of this report, the Commission's work wasgenerously funded by the Stone Ashdown 1999 the Commission has been chaired by DrRichard Stone. He was an adviser to the Stephen LawrenceInquiry, 1997-1999, and is chair of the Uniting Britain Trustand of the Jewish Council for Racial Equality. He is vice-chair of the Runnymede Ahmed, adviser to the Government's Community HousingTask Force Yousif Al-Khoei, the director of the Al-Khoie FoundationDr Kate Gavron, vice-chair of the Runnymede Trust Professor Ian Hargreaves, professor of media studies at theUniversity of CardiffKhalida Khan, director of the An-Nisa Society, LondonDr Philip Lewis, lecturer in peace studies at the University ofBradfordRobin Richardson, co-director of the Insted consultancyImam Dr Abduljalil Sajid, chair of the Muslim Council forReligious and Racial Harmony UKAnil Singh, director of the Manningham Housing Association,BradfordSelina Ullah, senior manager Bradford Community Health TrustRevd John Webber, adviser on inter-faith issues to the Bishop ofStepneyTalha Wadee, formerly director of the Lancashire Council ofMosques.

8 Pranlal Sheth, a trustee of the Uniting Britain Trust and of theRunnymede Trust, was a member of the Commission until hisdeath in summer 2003. vi Islamophobia issues, challenges and action BACKGROUND AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSI nterviews and assistanceIn preparing material for this book Hugh Muir and LauraSmith interviewed Syed Nawazish Bokhari, president of theMuslim Teachers' Association; Basma Elshayyal, head ofreligious education and citizenship co-ordinator, IslamiaSchool, Queen's Park, London; Golshad Ghiaci,psychotherapist; Humera Khan and Khalida Khan, directorsof the an-Nisa Society; Imran Khan, disk jockey andbroadcaster; Sadiq Khan , senior lawyer; Shazia Mirza,comedian; Bushra Nasir, headteacher, Plashet School,London, and students at the school; Murad Qureshi,Westminster City Council; Abdullah Trevathan,headteacher, Brondesbury College for Boys, London, andstudents at the college; the Association of Muslim Schools;Baroness Uddin, House of Lords; Mohammed Umar,publisher; Ahmed Versi, editor of The Muslim News.

9 AndRashid Yaqoob, on the report's final draft were received fromTahir Alam (Muslim Council of Britain); MohammedAbdul Aziz (British Muslim Research Centre); Yahya Birt(Islamic Foundation); Adrian Brockett (York St JohnCollege); Inayat Bunglawala (Muslim Council of Britain);Tufyal Chaudhury (University of Durham); Kate Gavron(Runnymede Trust); Elinor Kelly (University of Glasgow),Khalida Khan and Humera Khan (An-Nisa Society);Michelynn Lafleche and colleagues (Runnymede Trust);Philip Lewis (University of Bradford); Maleiha Malik(King's College, London); Tariq Modood (University ofBristol), Iqbal Sacranie (Muslim Council of Britain); andTalha Wadee (formerly Lancashire Council of Mosques).Views expressed or implied in the text of the report, andany errors, are the responsibility of the Commission onBritish Muslims and Islamophobia. They are not to beunderstood as necessarily representing the views orunderstandings of any other person or organisation Commission's first phaseIn its first phase, leading to the publication of its report in1997, the Commission was chaired by Professor GordonConway, vice-chancellor of the University of Sussex.

10 Itsmembers were:Maqsood Ahmad, then director of Kirklees Racial EqualityCouncilProfessor Akbar Ahmed, then fellow of Selwyn College,CambridgeDr Zaki Badawi, principal of the Muslim College, LondonRt Rev Richard Chartres, Bishop of LondonIan Hargreaves, then editor of the New Statesman and laterprofessor of media studies at the University of CardiffDr Philip Lewis, at that time adviser on inter-faith issues to theBishop of Bradford and lecturer in religious studies at theUniversity of Leeds and now lecturer in peace studies at theUniversity of BradfordZahida Manzoor, chair of the Bradford Health AuthorityRabbi Julia Neuberger, later chief executive of the King's FundTrevor Phillips, chair of the Runnymede Trust and later vice-chairof the Greater London Authority and chair of the Commission forRacial EqualityDr Sebastian Poulter, reader in law at the University ofSouthamptonUsha Prashar, civil service commissionerHamid Qureshi, at that time director of the Lancashire Council ofMosquesNasreen Rehman, trustee of the Runnymede TrustSaba Risaluddin, director of the Calamus FoundationImam Dr Abduljalil Sajid, chair of the Muslim Council forReligious and Racial Harmony UKDr Richard Stone, chair of the Jewish Council for RacialEqualityRevd John Webber, adviser on inter faith issues to the Bishop the early 1990s the Runnymede Trust established acommission on antisemitism.