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The "Inspired by Muhammad" campaign
was launched a few weeks ago to highlight British Muslims who are
contributing to UK society. The campaign, sponsored by the UK-based
Exploring Islam Foundation - which publishes creative resources and
materials on Islam, aims to break down misconceptions by showing
Muslims as campaigners for social justice, gender equality and the
environment.
The movement consists of posters and a website (www.inspiredbymuhammad.com)
that feature positive images and stories which provide alternatives
to the corrosive narratives about Islam and Muslims spewed out on an
almost daily basis by certain national newspapers in the United
Kingdom.
As I sit in the ancient Jewish quarter of Seville, the poignancy of
this campaign hits me, especially having just visited the Alcázar, a
royal palace in Spain that was formerly a fort built by the Moors in
1360. The Alcázar, along with other sites of this great city that
were often used by different religious groups during different
periods, gives substance and meaning to the term "co-existence"
between the three Abrahamic faiths.
As a Londoner who has lived most of his life in a diverse city, I
was taken aback by the results of the recent UK-based research
organisation's poll of over 2,000 people. YouGov found that
one-third of respondents perceive Islam as a religion of violence.
Less than one in five believe that Islam has a positive impact on
the country, while 68 per cent of respondents believe that it is a
repressive religion. Sadly, the person most commonly associated with
Islam after the Prophet Muhammad is Osama Bin Laden.
Such results highlight the gulf of misconceptions and stereotypes
growing between Muslims and non-Muslims.
This gulf did not start post-9/11 but after Ayatollah Ruhollah
Khomeini declared that Salman Rushdie's 1988 book The Satanic Verses
was "blasphemous", after the 1986 political and military
confrontation between the United States and Libya's leader Muammar
Qaddafi, the First Gulf War in 1990 and many other crises, all of
which have shown Muslims in the worst possible light.
Yet, if we are honest, most of these international incidents had
little, if anything, to do with the vast majority of Muslims - or
Islam.
The figures from the YouGov poll are disconcerting because they show
that a concerted effort is needed to ensure that there is a balanced
perception of Islam and Muslims in the United Kingdom. In addition
to the "Inspired by Muhammad" campaign, which shows human faces and
perspectives of Muslims supporting much needed social work in the
country, programmes that deconstruct the perceived attachment
between Islam and violence also need to be developed.
The "Inspired by Muhammad" campaign is particularly interesting
since it attempts to place Muslims into the context of local
communities and humanise their stories.
For example, the campaign portrays Muslims who campaign for the
environment, uphold English law and create positive social change
through social work. Though these images feature Muslims engaged in
what appears to be normal activities, they have an impact when so
many media portrayals of Muslims show them as as inherently violent.
The very core of Islam stands contrary to violence, which is only
sanctioned in specific circumstances to stop murder or genocide, or
to defend oneself. So associating violence with Islam is not only
inaccurate, it assumes that the Osama Bin Ladens of this world are
exemplars of Muslims and Islam when, in truth, their cynical
manipulation of the religion is clearly contrary to what Islam and
its scholars say.
In addition to the portrayal of hundreds of thousands of Muslim
doctors, dentists, hospital porters, social workers, engineers,
military personnel, project managers, investment bankers, nurses,
pharmacists, civil servants and other socially significant actors
highlighted by such campaigns, there is also a need to share the
stories of those Muslims engaged in the protection of the United
Kingdom.
Here lies the answer to countering the prejudices and ignorance that
feed social division and misunderstanding. If those interviewed by
the YouGov poll fear Islam or Muslims, then show them that we are
actively working to protect the safety of all people in the United
Kingdom, a country dear to all of us who live here.
Fiyaz Mughal is
the Founder and Director of Faith Matters (www.faith-matters.org),
an organisation that works to resolve conflict and create community
cohesion through collaboration between faith communities in the
United Kingdom and the Middle East. This article was written for the
Common Ground News Service (CGNews)
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