Hate Preachers
Not a single Imam preaches religious fascism and racial hatred. Extremism has not been created by the fanatical clerics. Muslim clerics never played any role for the radicalization of Muslim youths. There is no culture of hate, spite and distrust in the Masajid or in Muslim schools. The so- called hate preachers are just religious scholars to satisfy the social, spiritual and emotional needs and demands of the British Muslims in their own languages. The Western media and politicians have an assumption that Islam threatens its liberal sensibilities and it is right to have a go at Islam. It is now open season for attacks on Muslims by politicians, media, institutions and individuals of different faiths or no faith.

The writer Oriana Fallaci recently asserted that there is no difference between Muslim extremist and Islam. She still had no trouble winning an audience with the Pope Benedict.
David Cameron, the rising Tory star, campared Islamic extremist to the Nazis threat in the 1930s. Nazism is a European invention, practiced by so-called civilized Europeans. Nazi ideology is exclusively based on the supremacy of one race, while Islam is the exact opposite, all races being equal. Bush and Blair have repeatedly pointed to their cultures’ compassionate values, and condemned the barbarity of Muslim militants. The speech by the Pope, which aroused a world wide storm, went well with Bush’s Crusade. The head of OFSTED said that the rise of Muslim schools is a threat to Britain’s sense of national identity and fail to teach tolerance. America’s religious Right regards Islam is an evil ideology that inspires young angry Muslim males in western society. Tony Blair considers veil as a mark of separation and he fully supported the LEA who suspended and sacked the poor teacher. Masajid, Imams, Muslim schools with bilingual Muslim teachers, veil, Halal foods and Arabic and Urdu languages are not a mark of separation but marks of identity. Universities and colleges across Britain are to spy on Muslim students for their suspected involvement in Islamic extremism and supporting terrorist violence. Racist incidents in London schools have increased 26% since the 7/7 bombing and the debate about the wearing of the veil has prompted further incidents. An EU report said that Europe’s Muslims face broad discrimination. Islamophobia included” discriminatatory and aggressive treatment by police”, a factor cited in youth unrest. A German teacher described the defeat of Ottoman forces at the edge of Vienna, as something to be celebrated, otherwise, boys would have been circumcised and the girls would have to cover from head to toe. The real hate preachers are Western politicians, teachers and media and not Muslim clerics and Muslim teachers.

The long-term solution to terrorism lies not in Guantanamo Bay or British prisons, but in education – education about other religions, tolerance, free speeches, the history and the respect for human life. It is not the Muslim schools or Muslim majority state schools; it is those schools where native Brits are in majority, needs serious attention in terms of anxiety, bullying of Muslim pupils and threats to Muslim teachers. The role of schools to be highlighted in challenging Islamophobia, schools need to ensure that all children must learn about Islam. Muslim majority state schools should be designated as Muslim community schools with bilingual Muslim teachers as role models. Those are the real issues tackling extremism and alienation of the Muslim youths.
Iftikhar Ahmad
www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk