INTERVIEW: Imam Muhammed Islam: Those people who commit these types of (terror) acts, have a lack of knowledge about their religion, and I can say they are misguided

Following the aftermath of two terrorist attacks in London Bridge, reporter MICHELLE DELREY went to speak to Imam Muhammed Islam from the nearby Baitul Aziz Islamic Cultural Centre mosque where he has been for the past 17 years.

In his tenure at the mosque, he has witnessed the aftermath of two terrorist attacks carried out by radicals, less than 20 minutes away from his place of worship.

The assaults, one in June 2017 and the other on November 29 this year, ended in the deaths of 14 people, and left many more injured.

Muhammed, his wife, and thousands of worshippers were breaking fast in the mosque during the holy month of Ramadan when three extremists descended onto London Bridge in a van over three years ago. When a similar tragedy happened last month they were overcome with grief.

“We are sorry for the victims and their families,” said the Imam.

“Everyone felt so sorry. Whoever does this type of thing, we always say this is wrong and we condemn it always.”

The Islamic way of life teaches that killing is forbidden and that speaking badly against your fellow man is ‘haram’ or unlawful, says the religious figurehead.

“In the Quran, Surah 5:32 says, ‘whoever kills a soul unless for a soul or for corruption [done] in the land — it is as if he had slain mankind entirely. And whoever saves one — it is as if he had saved mankind entirely.’”

In all their years of experience, The Imam and his wife, have never known anyone to have radical Islamic affiliations or radical thoughts in their mosque.

On the Friday after November’s attack, instead of throwing jabs at each other as party leaders Jeremy Corbyn and Boris Johnson did only days prior, local leaders Dean of Southwark Cathedral Andrew Nunn, CEO Martyn Craddock of United St. Saviour’s, and MP Neil Coyle for Bermondsey and Old Southwark, came around for lunchtime prayer in a show of solidarity.

“If anyone comes to the mosque they will see that Islam is a peaceful religion. Not all Muslims are like him.”

The Imam said referring to Usman Khan, 28, who launched the attack at Fishmongers’ Hall that resulted in the deaths of Cambridge graduates Jack Merritt, 25, and Saskia Jones, 23. Members of Islam’s congregation were nervous about attending Friday’s prayer after the assaults near London Bridge took place due to the lack of police presence surrounding the building, which can fit roughly 2,500 people comfortably.

The Met said in a response to the couple’s concern: “The Met’s resources are flexible and can be moved at short notice to areas or venues as required.”

Mosque officials sent out a warning to let parents know to stay home if they didn’t feel safe coming to worship. The Imam’s wife said the lack of presence felt as if no one was left to protect the congregation from a possible attack.

In all of this, what frustrates her, is how she and her children have suffered at the hands of Islamophobia. On the day of the attack, her eight-year-old daughter was worried about her dad travelling to work in the area.

Her 17-year-old son finds it difficult to walk down the street without getting stared at because of his grown out beard and dark complexion.

“Whenever things like this happen, kids are afraid to say they are Muslim. The Muslim community is affected more than anyone else.”

The Imam’s wife, born and raised in East London, has had to confront her own challenges head-on. She fought for nine months alongside Citizens UK—a community organising group that has helped her learn how to tackle the injustices she has faced in her own community—to repeal a policy at the school her son attends that barred her from entering because she wears a niqab, a veil that covers the face apart from the eyes.

No exceptions were made. When she arrived for a parent-teacher conference she was taken to a nearby room but not allowed inside the building due to the guideline.

The institution has not responded to multiple requests for comment.

Her campaigning revealed the school to be the only one in the area with such a policy in place.

It is her opinion that the measure was issued due to the rising threat of radicalisation. Nowadays the couple is confident that education is the solution to the problem that has been reflected onto their community. Baitul Aziz Islamic Cultural Centre has weekend classes for the younger girls and boys. They say this will give the children, and the adults who teach them, a chance to learn the context behind passages in the Quran, instead of leaving them to create their own interpretations of the Islamic text. Adults are able to attend Quran classes during the week.

Imam Islam thinks this is where the story went wrong for the individuals who went on to become radical Islamic terrorists.

He said: “Those people who commit these types of acts, have a lack of knowledge about their religion, and I can say they are misguided.”

Every Friday teaching at the Cultural Centre includes an anti-radical message. The Imam is beyond doubt that anyone willing to attend a sermon will leave understanding the truth about Islam.

Other topics may discuss what someone might imagine at a local place of worship  how to be a good neighbour, family member, and member of society.

It is noticeable though that the Imam’s wife, his rock in this campaign, can’t help but feel the impenetrable weight on her shoulders to dispel society’s assumptions about the Islamic faith. Standing as a force for good in a community branded with a bad reputation, the activist—when she isn’t rushing off to pick up her children from school—finds the time to cook and fundraise for GrowTH, a Christian homeless project in Tower Hamlets, East London, and discover new ways to make the mosque more accessible to women.

Most recently, she has encouraged other women to come along to meetings in Whitechapel, East London to learn how to sponsor a Syrian refugee family.

“While we work together, we get to learn about each other and strengthen our relationship,” the Imam’s wife said.

“We probably need to integrate more with other faiths, to stand together with everyone and to say, ‘look we are living in the same community and not for these people to divide us’. At the end of the day the word terrorist doesn’t describe what we are.”