LONDON,
November 21, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - The 12th
"Islam Awareness Week" was launched in London City Hall
Monday, November 21, in a bid to spread a better understanding of
Islam and combat Islamophobia across the country.
Called
"Past and present: 1,000 years of Islam in Great Britain",
the week includes different events in about 20 British towns, such as
conferences, debates, exhibitions, food-tasting events and films,
according to IAW Web site.
The
event seeks to remind people that Islam is not an alien culture and
Muslims have been living in and trading with Britain for centuries,
especially after the 7/7 attacks in London, the BBC reported.
"Islam
Awareness Week is about putting as much focus as possible into
dispelling myths and building bridges with the community," Julie
Siddiqui, deputy co-ordinator of IAW, told the British broadcaster.
"We
don't always give that as much focus throughout the year, so IAW is a
perfect opportunity. And it's more important now than it ever has
been. Since 7/7, in terms of people's perception of Islam, we've moved
back about hundred steps."
He
said the notion of history is important because the British people,
including Muslims, believed that Islam arrived in the 1960s, with the
textile community.
"It
didn't. As I was looking at some of the resources for this week, I was
amazed by some of the links that Britain had with Islam. I saw photos
of families who were, to all intents and purposes, typical white
English families, but they were actually Muslims. There have been
whole communities of white Muslims for over a hundred years."
‘Whitewashed’
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A photo of last year’s IAW showing a Muslim girl decorating the hand of a visitor with the Henna.
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Paul
Rippingale, organizer of the IAW
national cinema listings, says the history of Islam in Britain has
been completely "whitewashed," which has led to a sense of
alieness.
"People
think Muslims have been invading since the 1960s, but Islam has
influenced Britain since the 11th Century and been present in the
country since the 16th century," he told the BBC.
"If
people recognized that Islam has shaped and formed Britain's past,
then they can't look at Muslims and think it is something that is
alien and different from themselves."
Sughar
Ahmad, a spokesman for organizers the Islamic Society of Britain
(ISB), said relations between the Muslim community and the rest of
Britain need to improve.
"The
purpose behind it ("Islam Awareness Week") is purely and
simply to create a better understanding of different aspects of Islam
within Britain," he told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"I
think there is a need for learning about each other's cultures and
faiths. It's a responsibility upon each and everyone of us."
