Islam and Muslims in Scotland

The Herald Scotland Sunday edition carried a three-page feature article yesterday looking at the various facets of the presence of Islam and Muslims in Scotland. The article follows a demonstration organised by the Muslim Council of Scotland in protest of the Youtube video ‘Innocence of Muslims’. The article touched upon the Scottish Defence League and the anti-Islam far-right; the Scottish Muslim community’s reaction to the Youtube video, and anti-Muslim hate crimes.

On the far right

Of a march by the Scottish Defence League over the weekend, the article states, “They had been banned from marching through Scotland’s capital amid concerns that football casuals were being encouraged to join the protest. So, yesterday an estimated 70 to 80 members of the far-right extremist group the Scottish Defence League (SDL) instead held a “static” protest – for which permission is not needed – outside the Scottish Parliament.

“But organisers of a counter-protest, which was given permission to march from the City Chambers on the Royal Mile to the Parliament, said they had been joined by more than 300 people.”

‘I believe that religions should be respected’: Scotland’s Love the Prophet rally

On the rally organised by the Muslim Council of Scotland, the paper notes: “The voice of the Imam echoed round Glasgow city centre and more than 1000 Muslim voices replied together. Packed into George Square, they had gathered for a protest, organised by the Muslim Council of Scotland, against the anti-Islam video “Innocence of Muslims”.

“Speakers from all faiths, as well as politicians, backed the campaign calling for the video to be removed from the internet and for laws to be passed preventing the insult or vilification of religion.”

Scottish Labour Party politician, Gordon Matheson told the paper that: “Glasgow City Council was the first council in the UK to condemn the war in Iraq. Glasgow City Council was the first council to ban the march by the Scottish Defence League and I can announce that Glasgow City Council will be the first council in the UK at our next council meeting to bring forward a motion condemning the creation of the video which was clearly created to incite division.”

On anti-Muslim hate crimes in Scotland

The article also explored recent hate crimes in Scotland with a spokesperson for Glasgow Central Mosque telling the paper that Muslims “have lived in the shadow of racism for decades,” and the mosque itself was targeted with “Abusive phone calls and regular threatening behaviour.”

The article sheds light on a recent disturbance involving a man who “appeared in court last week following an alleged racial breach of the peace at the Mosque last Sunday during a children’s Koran competition.

“The 27-year-old man, who has been charged with racially aggravated threatening or abusive behaviour and carrying a knife, was remanded in custody following his appearance at Glasgow Sheriff Court.”

General secretary and media liaison officer at Glasgow Central Mosque, Asid Khan tells the paper, “We have a lot incidents, but in the past month somebody broke into mosque, climbed over the railings and vandalised our elderly daycare minibus.”

The article continues that “One of the most high-profile incidents happened in 2009, when a man threatened to blow up the mosque and “execute” a Muslim a day until all of the mosques in Scotland were closed.

“The biggest single group of those were people from Pakistan or of Pakistani origin and the next single largest group of victims were “white British”.

Islamic Community Centre planning refusals

The report also features the experiences of the Muslim community of “Glasgow’s richest and most racially and religiously diverse suburb”, Newton Mearns, whose attempt to get planning permission for an Islamic community centre has been targeted by a leaflet campaign which urges objections to the plans. The article states that “All previous applications for mosques or Islamic centres in the area have failed, for one reason or another, after hundreds of locals objected.”

Rizy Mohammed, an interfaith activist comments on the proposals and its objections, “We are not talking about a Mosque – although they would do prayers – but somewhere where families can do activities, or there could be yoga or cooking classes.

“East Renfrewshire is very diverse and we have churches of all denominations, synagogues and other things. One wonders, given the demographic, why we don’t have a place for Muslims?”

The article continues, “The yellow leaflets complain about the “unacceptable parking practices” of Muslims, who have already been meeting at the site.

According to the 2001 census, there are almost 42,600 Muslims living in Scotland, constituting 0.84% of the total population of Scotland. A report published in 2010 by the British Council on ‘Muslim integration in Scotland’ suggests that Scottish Muslims are viewed more favourable by the Scottish population than British Muslims are viewed by the general population. They are, however, the least favourably viewed of all faith groups.

The statistics on race hate crimes – that of over 5,900 victims, the largest single group of victims are those of Pakistani origin, are particularly alarming given that anti-Muslim hate crimes are notoriously under-reported. In addition, statistics from the Crown Office and the Procurator Fiscal Service in Scotland show that the number of those charged with religiously aggravated offences have also increased. Such revelations make initiatives which aim to challenge negative stereotypes of Islam and Muslims, such as the ‘I Speak for Myself’ campaign, launched recently by a Glasgow-based Muslim women’s centre, even more necessary and commendable.

You can read the full feature article here.