Islamophobia Causes & Cures Presentation at Regents Park Mosque
Categories: Past Event Articles
Tuesday January 02 2018
Mosques across the UK are not only just places of worship and spirituality but are also a hub for social interaction for Muslims from all walks of life. For this reason mosques are incredibly important institutions in conveying the vision of MEND, which is to encourage British Muslims to be actively involved in British media and politics whilst also focusing on tackling Islamophobia. One such initiative in this endeavour is MEND’s frequently delivered presentation titled, ‘Islamophobia Causes & Cures’. This presentation examines the reality of Islamophobia in British society, whilst crucially underlining the importance of media and political engagement in helping to resolve this problem.
On 28th of January 2017, Regents Park Mosque also known as The Islamic Cultural Centre, hosted MEND in delivering its flagship presentation. Located near Regents Park in London, its prominent golden dome accompanied with its tall minaret have become a recognisable symbol for the Muslim community and British Islam in London. Attending the presentation were a long list of Imams and community leaders from Mosques across the capital. The presentation was delivered by the founder of MEND, Sufyan Ismail, and was tailored towards the roles community leaders and Imams have in helping combat the issue of Islamophobia.
The stark reality and scale in the recent rise in hate crimes, faced by Muslims and particularly visibly identifiable Muslims such as women, struck a chord with the audience. After introducing what Islamophobia is, the presentation explored some of the statistical research done on the rise of Islamophobic hate crimes. It should be pointed out that despite the alarming statistics associated with such social attitudes, the presentation by no means sells its core message by presenting Muslims as powerless victims unable to fundamentally change the current climate they unfortunately have to face. On the contrary, the presentation provided a pragmatic approach to rising up to this challenge by illustrating how bigotry and hate can be championed by community cohesion, political participation and media engagement. The dark cloud of pessimism which can often overshadow and stain the tone of such important discussions was most certainly swept aside by the strong emphasis of the success stories by community activism, either on social media or on main stream media, all of which was pioneered by MEND’s crystal clear vision of galvanising British Muslims to positively engage in both politics and media.
The event as a whole was not only a success for the mosque but also demonstrated the success the work MEND has done so far as its message was seen as something relevant and pressing for the Muslim community.