Muslim Youth in Britain — Education and Workplace
Speech at AAIIL (UK) Convention, 12 July 2009
by Bushra Ahmed
The Light (UK), October 2009 Issue (pp. 4–6)
In Britain there are approximately 1.8 million Muslims, of whom 60% are youths. In some of the adolescent Muslims, there is unrest caused by certain government policies towards Muslims. It is causing a degree of frustration in the Muslim communities.
To explain this, let us look at the differences in history of the East compared with the West. In brief, while the West was in the dark ages, Islamic civilization thrived. Then when the Renaissance or the Revival of the West came, Islamic civilization, for the most part, began ebbing away.
Here, history, therefore, presents a situation of one man’s meat is another man’s poison. Due to this scenario, here and there, there is a clash of culture between East and West. For economic reasons, colonization was embarked on by the West and as a result, East and West slowly grew apart and became adversaries. It became difficult to live together in harmony, in terms of the majority. It became a case of survival of the fittest and the struggle of superiority and domination of one particular kind or another.
However, coming to the current situation of Britain and in general the West, during my childhood I remember, there were sporadic placements of Indian restaurants and hardly any “halal” meat noticeable. But as time passed, Britain slowly became used to the taste for curry and spices and it has now developed and in many other respects it is heading towards a more tolerant and cosmopolitan society. On a larger scale we have witnessed demonstration of cultural cohesion in USA — the sole superpower of the day — where the first ever black head of state has been elected.
From an Islamic perspective, Allah has created different races for identification, so that we cooperate with and learn from each other.
The Quran says:
یٰۤاَیُّہَا النَّاسُ اِنَّا خَلَقۡنٰکُمۡ مِّنۡ ذَکَرٍ وَّ اُنۡثٰی وَ جَعَلۡنٰکُمۡ شُعُوۡبًا وَّ قَبَآئِلَ لِتَعَارَفُوۡا ؕ اِنَّ اَکۡرَمَکُمۡ عِنۡدَ اللّٰہِ اَتۡقٰکُمۡ ؕ
“O mankind, surely We have created you from a male and a female, and made you tribes and families that you may know each other. Surely the noblest of you with Allah is the most dutiful of you” (The Holy Quran, 49:13).
The concept of becoming clannish is harmful and leads to prejudiced attitudes as one group tends to harm another group, due to fight for supremacy. Whereas, in fact, one particular race is not the best. It is a team effort. In all walks of life, in sports, for example, we need varying abilities of people to make a good team.
In the context of UK specifically, Asians have a lot to offer. They are very hard working. They are good listeners and always ready to help. So integration means advancement of society as a whole.
Notwithstanding such hard realities the West does not accept us with open arms. Promotion is not easy for Asians and when the economy falls short and a company opts for redundancies Asians become the first to be considered.
Be that as it may, I realised the value of our culture and religion later on. During University, I attended many Islamic lectures. The principles taught made sense to me. I learnt of Islam’s point of view and it had a tremendous impact and it was positive. I witnessed Islam being practised to the letter by my university lecturer who took two minutes out from his lecture to offer Zuhr mandatory prayers in a spare room and this is imprinted in my memory and impressed me a great deal. Impressed also I was by one of my sisters during her working career. After arriving home from a hard day she would first say all missed prayers of the day before coming down for dinner.
All these examples intrigued me and I have tried my best to discipline myself in all five pillars of Islam.
In a political context, one thing that has great impact on our lives was 9/11. Nowhere can an essay go without the mention of 9/11 in USA, and also July 7 in UK. Initially people who were angry vent their hostility by a number of racist attacks. Yet, soon though, the world witnessed a metamorphosis and the number of converts to Islam increased. Curiosity of the situation saw many questions being asked. And of course we know that all our answers lie in the Quran. Once that is exposed, satisfaction comes guaranteed. The two infamous events initiated vindictive attacks on Islam and its Holy Founder [Muhammad (pbuh)]. And it proved to be a God-given opportunity to take across the true message of Islam to inquisitive people in the Western world.
Inside the UK specifically, the failing of banks in recent past has added frustration to matters and the rise in unemployment has created more crime including racism. But I believe we should carry on striving in this jihad to carry the flag of Islam and ultimately it will benefit all.
This exposure of Islam has also become intriguing to workplaces and in particular work colleagues, here. My mother informs me that her employers have recently built a special room for prayer called the faith room where employees from different religions do their own participation of prayer. Also while still in her workplace, once the question arose about religion. My mother laid down the argument whereby saying that all religions are all entering the same destination via different routes. This pricked up many earlobes and was appreciated by all. So our ideas should be flexible and negotiable. This is the first step to dawah [sharing the message of Islam with others].
Coming back to our generation, concerning my sister and her workplace, she informed us that a well-known bank of England has introduced new Islamic uniforms for their Muslim employees.
Sticking to workplace themes, the time for the biggest dawah of all is during the holy month of Ramadan, whereupon work colleagues are interested to know about Ramadan. This is why basic Islamic knowledge is important. Ramadan holds the biggest opportunity to demonstrate effect of Islam on our daily life and commitment to the teachings of Islam, especially once they see us still alive after the end of Ramadan!
It may be pertinent to mention now my personal experience as a British youth. Well I did not have a great start: I went to a Catholic school because in those days their schooling was good and adhered to very strict rules. During this period I studied and worked hard and managed to help weaker students. This helped minimize any racism. My friends supported me most of the time. So it is not only colour that creates racism but also our bad examples. To use techniques and tact to handle racism is always positive. It may see us through the cruelest of situations.
To the next stage, after school I was appointed as a school leaver librarian. Therein my colleagues could not figure out why I would not wear summery dresses and why I was all covered instead? In my struggle, I did not give in and was adamant.
Now I hop on to the generation after us. As we have found our footing, now it is up to us to correct our mistakes and teach the future generation the values of our culture and religion.
In Muslim youth magazines and books, youngsters are taught to study Islam properly and the interesting parts should be discussed, to give them the full flavour of our religion.
It is the right kind of exposure which leads to greater knowledge and thus to being a good Muslim. The right guidance is needed. Our younger folks should be given the unique opportunity to stick with their faiths which can lead to life changing experiences later on. It will lead to a better society wherever you are. The responsibility is on our shoulders as is stated in Surah Taghabun, Chapter 64, verse 15:
اِنَّمَاۤ اَمۡوَالُکُمۡ وَ اَوۡلَادُکُمۡ فِتۡنَۃٌ ؕ وَ اللّٰہُ عِنۡدَہٗۤ اَجۡرٌ عَظِیۡمٌ ﴿۱۵﴾
“Your riches and your children are only a trial, but in the presence of Allah is the highest reward.” [The Holy Quran, 64:15]
This should instil in us the sense of responsibility of every parent towards our future generation.
We must steer clear of bad influences for us and the third generation. We must put every effort to see the global dawn of Islam everywhere. Kill the incorrect myths and arm the children with knowledge and be firm and logical. It is toughness of the mind that is required here.
We teach our children physics and mathematics but forget to educate them into Islamic studies. This must never happen. From Ibn-e-Sina (known as Avicenna in the West) to Ibn-e-Taimiyya, Islamic scholars of the past have been famous scientists and had simultaneously mastered the Islamic teachings, knowledge and practices. We must train our children to be God-fearing and not follow the examples of Western scholars who pride themselves in being atheists. This will not help a society in the long run and will cause all round disaster.
Islam truly is a blessing and we are in more ways than one lucky to be guided. The Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, had predicted that one day Islam will rise from the West. My dream is to see East and West merge. Together we can work towards one common cause under the banner of Islam and praise our Creator together. We should all stand side by side in a united front in the name of Allah. And, I believe, one day Islam will prevail upon the world to realise the truth of Islam as the religion of peace and togetherness.
I would like to end my talk with a beautiful verse of the Quran which invites all believers in revealed religions to come to each other in a friendly atmosphere and to initiate dialogue and create peace and amicability among the various nations of the world. The Quran says:
قُلۡ یٰۤاَہۡلَ الۡکِتٰبِ تَعَالَوۡا اِلٰی کَلِمَۃٍ سَوَآءٍۢ بَیۡنَنَا وَ بَیۡنَکُمۡ اَلَّا نَعۡبُدَ اِلَّا اللّٰہَ وَ لَا نُشۡرِکَ بِہٖ شَیۡئًا
“Say: O People of the Book, come to an equitable word between us and you, that we shall serve none but Allah and that we shall not associate anything with him.” (The Holy Quran, 3:64)