Confronting Social Malaise
February 21, 2010 -  1 Comment

By Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari Confronting Social Malaise in the Muslim Community Considerable material progress in recent decades has brought about some serious social challenges and issues of social malaise in developed societies. Commercialisation of life, sexualisation of our young people and individualism that often expresses itself through self-gratification are now haunting post-modern Britain. The Guardian reported on 23 June 2009 that Ofsted inspectors investigating an increase in exclusions...

Understanding Radicalisation in Britain
February 20, 2010 -  16 Comments

By Dr Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed The problem of violent extremism, which tends to dominate the headlines, is very real. But unfortunately, the headlines can often obscure the complex social factors from which the threat of terrorism emerges as a final result. Currently, the government’s approach to preventing violent extremism or countering terrorism is in danger of dealing overwhelmingly with symptoms, rather than root structural causes. There is a tendency toward ‘widening the net’ in the effort...

Faith In Drug Treatment
February 19, 2010 -  8 Comments

By Syed Tohel Ahmed Addiction does not discriminate based on colour or creed; it strips victims of their background and is a great equaliser. The United Kingdom has the highest level of dependent drug use in Europe. The British Crime Survey 08-09 estimates that in England and Wales alone a staggering 11.9 million people aged 16 to 59 have used illicit drugs at some point in their lives, with around 1.9 million having used in the last month. 558

Education and Understanding: The Tools for Tomorrow
February 18, 2010 -  3 Comments

By Jonathan Githens-Mazer and Robert Lambert [Co-Directors, European Muslim Research Centre, University of Exeter] Our aim for 2020: a reduction of anti-Muslim hate crimes in Europe In the thirteen years since the Runnymede Trust published Islamophobia: A Challenge For Us All, the problem of anti-Muslim hate crimes in Europe has become worse, not better. Muslims are the victims of hate crimes every day, often being spat at, verbally abused and on occasions suffering serious physical violence...

Reforming Our Understanding of Violence
February 17, 2010 -  1 Comment

By Toufic Machnouk Structural violence is the effect of a systematic imbalance in society that prefers the interests of some over others. Its dynamics are less visible than that of direct violence, where the causes are generally easier to identify. In terms of global relations, the use of direct violence is mostly a state affair manifested in armed conflict. The participation of the general population is predominantly one of inaction. Structural violence, however, tends to involve the participation...

Fighting Crime for the Future of All
February 17, 2010 -  2 Comments

By Anisa Abouelhassan How I'd like things to be in 10 years time In the future I don’t want people to have an opportunity to blame our faith for crime carried out by individual Muslims. I also do not want the security and peace of all people to be threatened by a minority few. Currently, there are 10,000 Muslims amongst the prison population, which is high compared to other groups. In ten years time, I would like to see this number dramatically reduced and more Muslims aspiring to greater...

Victims to Villains: De-radicalising the Anti-Terror Stance
February 16, 2010 -  3 Comments

By Rizwaan Sabir Muslims Must Work to Change the Anti-Terror Laws Since the events of 9/11 and 7/7, the British government has launched a series of programmes and initiatives under its counter-terrorism strategy (Contest) to counter the threat posed by individuals intent on adopting a violent methodology for change. Out of the four areas that comprise Contest (Pursue, Prevent, Protect, Prepare), the Prevent strand, or Preventing Violent Extremism as it’s officially known, has been given the most...

Law Matters and Terror Acts
February 16, 2010 -  1 Comment

By Alia Suruliz As a student of law, I was surprised by the extent to which English law has developed to protect a suspect from injustice and arbitrary state action: from undue detention until charged; from undue punishment until convicted; from being treated as innocent until found to be guilty. Yet the enactment of the Terrorism Acts 2000 and 2006 and similar anti-terror measures make a mockery of the traditional criminal legal system and the principle of habeas corpus. 505

One Society Many Cultures
February 15, 2010 -  No comment

By Sabby Dhalu News during the Christmas and new-year period was dominated by the failed terrorist attack by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab on 25 December 2009. Many media reports have used the fact that the perpetrator was a student in London, active in a student Islamic Society, to imply this appalling act was incited by the perfectly normal activities of Islamic Societies in London colleges. Abdulmutallab was President of the Islamic Society at University College London (UCL) from 2006-2007. Malcolm...