New Delhi, April 09: A group of young and prominent British Muslims hailing from India, who last week visited the country, are worried over the violence perpetrated by terrorists in the name of Islam, and also decry the western media relating such violence to their religion.
They admit that there was a Islamic revivalism but caution against tracing the causes of terrorism to this phenomenon.
They feel that no religion whether Islam, Hinduism or Christianity teaches hatred and violence against innocent people.
”I feel that those who killed Muslims in Gujarat were not really Hindus. Hinduism teaches values of religious tolerance and respect for humanity. Followers of this religion cannot be the men who executed the pogrom in 2002,” said Ibrahim Mogra, who hails from Gujarat and is an Imam in Leicester and chairman of the high profile Masjid and Community Affairs Committee of the Muslim Council of Britain.
Mogra along with Faizal Patel, Remona Aly and Sajda Mughal was part of the Prominent British Muslims delegation which came here under the auspices of the British High Commission.
”Sometimes, we think that our religions has been hijacked. We have to reclaim that,” said Patel, who is a dedicated community volunteer for the last 17 years and has won various national awards in Britain for community service.
He says he frequently and frankly shares his views with his British friends who appreciate his point of view. Patel, is however, pained by what he calls the ”distorted image of Islam” painted by sections of the British media.
In response to a question, Mogra said it was a fact that there was religious revival among Muslims, but this revival does not in anyway encourage terrorism.
”Muslims have woken up in Europe. There is certainly a revival of the feeling that we have also a Muslim identity along with other identities, but such Muslims have nothing to do with the so-called jehadis,” he said.
The deeds of the terrorist who kill others and justify it in the name of jihad have no sanction in Islam, he said .
”Behaviour of these Muslims is criminal, which gives a bad name to all the followers of Islam. Time and again we have to clarify, we have to plead that we are not responsible for their action, ”he said.
He strongly objected to the media labelling such criminals as Islamist, and said there were people from other religions who had committed heinous crimes against innocent people in different parts of the world but their acts were never identified with their religion.
Mr Mogra appreciated the work done by the British Government to increase dialogue with the community, especially with the young Muslims.
The Imam, who is in the forefront of reinterpreting Islam for today’s needs while also trying for greater and more effective integration of Muslims into the British society, said people like him were vulnerable to all kinds of allegations from the community like being British agents, but they were trying to do their job with all honesty.
Replying to a question, he said the western policies in Palestine and Iraq were to a great extent responsible for the rise of violent radicalism in the Muslims.
Remona Aly, who is Campus director at Exploring Islam Foundation and a freelance writer and consultant, also feels that the new desire for maintaining their Islamic identity should not be viewed as retrograde. So does Sajda Mughal, who has worked with leading media organisation in London and engaged in promoting inter-faith dialogue, endorses Remona’s view.
Asked whether this religious revivalism among the British Muslims had constrained the freedom of Muslims women, both of them replied in the negative.
They said they were very proud of hailing from India and also very proud of being British Muslims Remona said the 9/11 was horrendous. It was a wakeup call to Muslims to promote a true version of their religion.
-Agencies