Britain is not Islamophobic. This is one of the best countries in the world to be a Muslim
Qari Asim
Chief Imam at Leeds' Makkah mosque
19 June 2017 • 7:41pm
Many of my fellow Muslims will be fearful after Monday's sickening terror attack on peaceful Londoners leaving their mosque in Finsbury Park after late night prayers. That's understandable.
It comes against a backdrop of rising reports of anti-Muslim hatred since the appalling atrocities carried out by Isil-inspired terrorists in Manchester and London. People who are visibly of my faith have been subject to verbal and physical abuse by an intolerant minority who hold all three million of Britain's Muslim citizens responsible for the actions of a group of fanatics.
Now, a new attack has seen innocents killed and maimed on Britain's streets. This time it wasn't children attending a pop concert or friends enjoying a drink, but people at their place of worship.
But we Muslims must also take strength. Once again Britons of all faiths and none have shown tremendous unity, coming together to condemn the attack and to show solidarity with those affected and in fear. And just as after Manchester and London it was important to make clear that these twisted individuals do not represent British Muslims, it is equally important now to remember that the suspect in the Finsbury Park attack does not represent our non-Muslim neighbours.
Finsbury Park Mosque attack
Britain is not an Islamophobic country. My own experience is that this is one of the best places in the world to be a Muslim. It is a country where you can be a Muslim and be elected as Mayor of London or as an MP in our most diverse parliament to date; where you can wear a headscarf and become the Queen of Great British Bake-Off. I myself can lead daily prayers at the mosque while working as a senior lawyer at a global law firm.
Britain is a country of intellectual and religious freedom; one where Muslims can build beautiful mosques in which to proudly and publicly observe our faith under the law. Yes, we have challenges too, but we live in a tolerant nation, where people of different faiths and backgrounds exist peacefully side-by-side. We are all understandably shocked and sickened when hate-fuelled violence blights our streets because it remains so unusual in this country.
This is a country where a Muslim woman in a headscarf can win Bake Off Credit: John Stillwell/PA
In no sense has this cowardly act been downplayed by anyone in authority. Condemnations have come from the Church of England, from Jewish leaders and from the heads of other faiths in the UK; from London's Mayor and the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government; and from the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition. The Government convened its COBRA emergency meeting in response, as it did with previous terror attacks. The Home Secretary has made clear that central funding is available to protect places of worship.
Britain has not equivocated and has shown that it will not stand for this terrorist attack on its citizens.
This is not a call for complacency. We should remain calm and vigilant but also determined to robustly challenge all forms of extremism. We must root out those who seek to inspire hateful violence, to challenge and condemn their actions, if necessary through the courts. There can be no tolerance of religious hatred in our country and I hope that anyone who has information about this attack will come forward to the police.
We may also need more protection around mosques, and it is welcome that the Government is willing to provide funding to keep its citizens safe.
Finsbury Park mosque tragedy in pictures
But most of all, when terrorists seek to divide us, we will defeat them by remaining united. For Muslims that means resisting the urge to retreat from society in fear, or treat the actions of one man as representative of the wider British public. We are strongest when we all stand together.
Fascists of the far right and Isil extremists hate our society and its values. After Manchester and London Bridge, extreme voices were claiming that Muslims and non-Muslims cannot live together in peace. Now we see Isil using precisely the same language. Both the Isil sympathisers and far right fascists cannot stand the fact that our society celebrates people of different faiths and beliefs living together, because it undermines their ideology of segregation, distrust and hatred. So through terrorist acts they try to tear it apart.
It was particularly sickening that this attack came at the end of a weekend of such positivity across the nation. Millions of people came together all over Britain, with their friends, neighbours and with complete strangers, to share all that we have in common at the Great Get Together. I was at events in Leeds, Wakefield, Sheffield and Batley, meeting scores of new people, from the Women's Institute to Syrian refugees.
That showed Britain at its best – a peaceful, tolerant, welcoming society and a wonderful place to live whether you are Muslim, Christian, Jewish, all faiths and none. This is the Britain that I, and millions of others, are proud to call home. We must stand firm and defend it together.
Qari Muhammad Asim, MBE, is chief Imam at Leeds' Makkah mosque
Great British Bake Off,
Extremism,
Church of England,
Finsbury Park attack,
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