Does Islamophobia exist in 2016 Britain? On 20 October, I stopped by my local bank where I was part of a conversation with a bank advisor who happened to be a British Asian man whose parents believed in the Hindu faith. Now you must be thinking, how does this have any relation to Islamophobia? What I have failed to mention is that the adviser is an atheist whose beard is a little longer than mine.
My conversation with this bank adviser left me feeling unhappy at the state of society today. His story unfolded at a pub where he was approached by a guy who began verbally abusing him using islamophobic statements too horrifying to repeat. The reason: he has a beard and is of Asian descent, which reflects the appearance of a large proportion of male Muslims globally.
Personally, as a British Muslim I am used to the odd look when I go about my day-to-day business or use public transport. A poignant memory upon starting a new job a few years ago was a new colleague saying to me: ‘Amin, you are actually a really nice guy! I thought you were one of them!’ My first thought was ‘Phew!’ but this was swiftly replaced with ‘But why?’ Why do people instinctively have negative thoughts about people who look like me? The sad thing is that I can understand why people may form these misconceptions. The world currently consists of fanatics who have hijacked my religion, and whose primary aim is to publicise Islam as a faith to be feared. But as a British Muslim, there is a message I want to get across about these fanatics. They have not only caused misery and corruption to the victims and their families, but also made it difficult for every ordinary, practicing, peace-loving Muslim who wants to live a life of normality and love.
It is for this reason that I am so glad Sadiq Khan became London’s mayor. Khan is showing everyone in Britain and the world that #LondonIsOpen. Despite the racist campaign led by Zac Goldsmith, Khan held his head high and won the election by a landslide. He is is proud to show the world that Muslims are major, positive contributors to society. Sadiq shows the world that Islamophobia does not need to exist, and collectively people of all faiths or none can work together to stabilise the country and the world.
I am a British Muslim born to Bangladeshi parents in the beautiful city of London. My father uprooted himself from everything he knew to build a new home here in England. He wanted a better life for himself and his future family, something he knew England would give him. He worked tirelessly to achieve this aim, all the while content with practicing his religion, culture and being a part of the multi-cultural society we live in today. This is what he calls home, and what my family and I know to be home in every way. Now in his retirement years, he has ensured that he bought up his kids aware of their contribution to society, be it through education, work or politics. For me as his child, I could not be more grateful for my father’s life choices as I do not think I would have been given these opportunities if I was raised elsewhere. My story coincides with many British Muslims in the United Kingdom.
It is 2016 but sometimes I feel we are taking ten steps backwards before we take one step forward. With the rise of technology and social media, we have more platforms than ever before for people to promote Islamophobia, antisemitism, homophobia and racism, among other forms of prejudice. The question is: How do we combat this? The simple answer is work together to educate people. Individuals, be they within politics, faiths, schools … anyone with a public platform. We must work together to create a stronger and stable society.
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Aminur Rahman is vice-chair of Battersea CLP. He tweets at @Aminurahman
November is Islamaphobia Awareness Month.
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