London, June 10: Fifty eight per cent of the British public associate Islam with extremism but a new campaign is promoting the religion on London transport
The purple, pink and green sign on the yellow London taxi reads: “The rights of women are sacred.”
This is not some spiritual feminist mantra born of the New Age, but comes out of one of the most traditional religions in the world.
The advertisement marks the launch of a campaign to promote a positive image of Islam, a religion not widely known for its promotion of the rights of women.
The negative view of a faith followed by nearly 1.6 billion people, or one fifth of the world’s population, is the main reason for the launch of the Inspired by Muhammad campaign.
Besides London taxis, the advertisements are to appear on Underground trains and bus stops.
After a new poll showed that 58 per cent of people associate Islam with extremism and 50 per cent with terrorism, the campaign is intended to promote a positive Islamic message about the environment and social justice as well as women.
The campaign was launched by the Exploring Islam Foundation, a new and privately funded group run by young British Muslim professionals.
The YouGov poll of 2,152 adults found that just 13 per cent of those questions believed Islam to be a religion of peace and even fewer, six per cent, associated it with justice.
More than four in 10 disagreed that Muslims have a positive impact on British society, nearly seven in ten said Islam encourages the repression of women and fewer than two in ten said Islam promotes fairness and equality.
The campaign was launched at Tower Bridge, an image of London used on postcards throughout the world.
Quilliam, the counter-extremism think tank, welcomed the campaign as “a valuable and timely step to help improve relations and foster deeper understanding between British citizens.”
The last census in 2001 found 1.6 million Muslims living in Britain, or 2.8 percent of the population, making it the second most common religion after Christianity. London had the highest proportion of Muslims in Britain, at 8.5 percent.
Sarah Joseph, editor of the Muslim lifestyle magazine Emel and an ambassador for the foundation, said the campaign made an impact on social network media as soon as it was launched. “The essential viral feedback is that it is positive. People are supportive of the idea of something which is positive and celebratory. I posted it to my Facebook page and immediately 30 people said they liked it and made comments such as fantastic idea.”
But she added: “The YouGov survey is quite worrying. It seems to show increased levels of ignorance and hostility. It is increasingly worrying that we cannot seem to turn it around in terms of the public’s opinion about the faith or about ordinary Muslims. There is a very skewed level of engagement with Islam.”
Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra, assistant general secretary of the Muslim Council of Britain, said: “Any exercise that helps to create a better understanding and better knowledge of Islam and Muslims is to be welcomed. Many of the difficulties we face stem from people not knowing what mainstream Muslims really believe. This is a step in the right direction. We need more of this.”
Remona Aly, the foundation’s campaigns director, said: “We do not receive any donations from the government. We did not want to be seen to be associated with anyone in particular. We were not going to be tainted by any one organisation.”
She also described the poll results as troubling. “It is a cause of deep concern. It indicates that there is a real need for a campaign of this nature. We wanted to promote the universal values that Muslims hold. We are very proud of being British and being Muslim. There is no conflict of identity there and this is the message we want to give to people.”
–Agencies