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Salma El-Gazzar
Euro-Muslims Desk
Name
Saged
-
Profession
doctor
Question
1- As-salamu alikum bro Qassim,
How long does it take from the Centre for Social Cohesion to work on this report, and to what extent does this report represent the Muslim youth?
Answer
According to the report itself, it suggests that this data was obtained over the academic year 2007-2008.
With regards to it's representation of Muslim youth, then I think we need to analyse the method by which the report's findings were obtained. There are many inconsistencies with the report and the report is methodologically flawed. Only 70 active Islamic Society members were questioned and to suggest that these 70 Muslim students represent the 90,000 Muslim students in Higher or Further Education is naive.
The report also only covered 12 Islamic Societies out of over 100, and as mentioned in the report itself, each Islamic Society is different, so to then say that this is representative of the Muslim student population as a whole is completely unfounded.
Name
Jasser m. Jonas
-
Profession
Question
How do you think that these accusing reports would affect the Muslim presence and existence in UK, as I mean what would be the harm of this report
Answer
This report, as many others in the past, attempts to undermine the positive work and the invaluable services that FOSIS and Islamic Societies provide for all students on campus, whether this is in the form of offering spiritual and academic training for students, or providing a platform for intellectual debate and discussion.
I feel this report is irresponsible in its attempt to scaremonger and vilify the Islamic Societies and simply contributes to the perpetuation of a climate of Islamophobia, which, unfortunately, is increasing at an alarming rate on campus. As such the report becomes yet one more way in which Muslim students are alienated and seen as the problem rather than empowered to be agents for positive change.
However, this report has been widely discredited, not only by Muslim organisations, but also by non-Muslim organisations including the NUS (National Union of Students), NAAR (National Assembly Against Racism) and many others. Many academics who have also analysed the methodology adopted by the report in order to obtain the data have found there are many weaknesses and as such, the data cannot be considered meaningful.
I feel as a result of this, the damage of this report will be little, however the constant publication of such reports will only create further alienation of the Muslim student population and will do little in terms of social cohesion.
Name
issa
- Rwanda
Profession
student
Question
iwant to know what is realy qadari(in arabic)
Answer
sorry Mr. Issa this question is not in our live dialogue's scope, you could contact us later to tell you about the proper section you should contact.
Name
Farhan Omar
- United Kingdom
Profession
Director
Question
Assalamualikum Wa Rahmatullah,
Do you agree with the findings of the CSC report? What is FOSIS doing to combat extremism on campus?
Answer
As mentioned previously, it is difficult to discuss the findings with such a report when there are serious questions regarding the validity of the report itself.
Nevertheless, we have to accept that within all walks of life and amongst all communities, there will be pockets of people who do hold odd views, contrary to the opinions of mainstream Islam. However, to suggest such views are prevalent amongst the Muslim student population is completely unfounded and such assertions only seek to damage the strong relationships developed between Islamic Societies and their respective Universities.
Although we firmly believe that there is no evidence to support this claim, we are not at the same time complacent with regards to the possibility of this, and so we have safeguards in place to ensure such does not occur. We do not, however, require reports like ?Islam on Campus? to dictate to us how we ought to counter such possibilities, especially when the report is steeped in bias and clearly aiming to create a moral panic.
Name
Rahema
-
Profession
Teacher
Question
I guess highlighting the role model Muslim youth could encounter what had come through this report, would you think it is a be good idea, or they are criminalizing Muslims as a concept.??
Answer
I apologise as I can't understand the question fully, however I will attempt to answer according to what I have understood.
Had this report been sincere in it's aims to create a positive atmosphere on university campuses, it would not have constantly used vague and dangerous terminology such as the term "Islamist" throughout the entirety of the report, and linking valid Islamic opinions (such as the segregation of Muslim men and women at Islamic Society events) to Islamist ideology.
Unfortunately, the views espoused by the CSC in tackling extremism involves the creation of an "Islam" outside the Muslims, which, to begin with is a sure way to failure, and far from empowering the Muslims, perpetuates a patronising tone of "we know better than you do".
The report's effect is to criminalise the Muslim students premised on a false assumption that they are particularly vulnerable to radicalisation. I would like to counter this assertion by insisting that there is no evidence to suggest that university campuses are hotbeds for extremist activity or recruitment.
Name
Jasmin van der
-
Profession
Question
What is the other activites the FOSIS might do, to handle this misleading report, and to prove and highlight its weaknesses, and do the Muslim youth them through them selves show that they are open-minded and this report contain some incorrect data and results!
Answer
Our first objective was to highlight the inaccuracies within this report and to ensure that this cannot be used as an evidence that extremism is rife on campus.
I feel we have achieved this, whereby even recently on a famous London radio station, when discussing this report, the presenter of the show agreed with the inconsistencies and swiftly moved on to discuss Muslim youth in general as opposed to discussing the contents of the report.
As I mentioned previously, many academics have analysed the report and there have raised serious concerns as to it's credibility, so we feel that there really needn't be any further discussion with this particular report, however this does not mean we are burying our heads in the sand and ignoring the possibility of extremism, we just need to carry on our work and ensure that we engage with all those who wish to support us in our aims.
I think this has been a wake-up call to Islamic Societies all across the country to come out ready for the new academic year (which begins in September) and quash the findings of the report by continuing their excellent work, opening lines of communication between the Muslim students and the University, creating a platform to allow for intellectual discussion and debate and to continue with their interfaith efforts..
Name
Hani Abdullah
-
Profession
social worker
Question
Asalamualykum all bro and sis.
I doubt that some of the results mentioned in the report might be right, so don't you think that we should pay more attention to the results? It might be misleading but it might be right, why don't the Muslim Organizations do the same survey but on a larger scale, and then start to look at results??
Answer
Excellent question!
We actually conducted our own survey in 2005 and found that none of our findings tallied with the findings of this report, and one of the key reasons was that this report, even in terms of the questions it posed to the participants, were ambiguous.
For example, the key statistic that has been commonly quoted in all articles is that 32% of Muslim students feel it is justified to kill in the name of religion. However, how do we interpret this question?
A Muslim may look at this question and think to themselves that this refers to the attacks such as 7/7 and 9/11 and would quite rightly disagree with this statement. However another Muslim may consider everything they do, whether it be eating, drinking, or in this case, killing, in the name of religion. Others would consider this as being self-defence and would agree with the statement. So it is difficult to understand the interpretation of each of the participants and this was what our own survey intended to identify, whenever we asked a question and were given a response, we always asked why? Simply because this clearly demonstrates how the participant has understood the question.
Also, if the statistics are to be believed, it appears that out of the 32% of Muslims who believe killing in the name of religion is justified, 28% responded by saying this was only if the religion was under attack, thus reaffirming the point that the respondents were referring to an act of self defence, as opposed to indiscriminate killing of civilians.
I agree with your request for a similar survey on a larger scale and inshAllah this is one of the potential plans for FOSIS
Name
zaid Kader
-
Profession
student
Question
Why don?t we (Muslims) illustrate the cases that Islam would permit the killing, and why, and to clarify the certain misdeeds that Islam made killing is the sanction.
Answer
I completely agree with you, and this is a failing on our part, in that many people have misconceptions about Islam simply because we have been failing in our duty to propagate the message of Islam.
However, at the same time we have to be aware that certain organisations, groups, individuals and think tanks wish to falsify or exaggerate certain aspects of Islam and this is what I feel we are dealing with in this case. A few months ago, the think tank Policy Exchange was caught forging receipts and documents in attempts to highlight that they had obtained extremist literature from Mosques across the UK.
This was exposed by the BBC programme "Newsnight" and they produced a documentary on it. So we have to accept that at times, people are simply not interested in engaging with the Muslim community and working to eradicate any traces of radicalism that may exist, but rather wish to dictate to us what type of Islam we can and cannot follow.
Name
Gameel ben saad
-
Profession
Question
Are there any relevance between issuing this report right now, just after the huge Muslims' gathering in Islam Expo? And I don?t want to manifest Muslims as oppressed people, I'm just inquring?
Answer
I don't know if we can connect the release of this report to the Islam Expo event, however, I do feel that this report is yet another damning attack on the Muslim community and serves only to create a hysteria about Islam and Muslims.
Recently, there was a documentary aired in the UK on Channel 4 by Dispatches entitled "It shouldn't happen to a Muslim", and the whole aim behind this documentary was to highlight the scaremongering and sensationalist articles/reports that have come out attacking Muslims and Islam. It was suggesting that these same reports would not have been published regarding other communities such as the Jewish, Sikh or Hindu communities.
Muslim students have had a tough time since the dreadful attacks on 7/7, they have faced numerous challenges with courage and perseverance, it is evident that those challenges have yet to go away and what is equally evident is the resilience of Muslim students to face those challenges. The message though to those who seek to cause this mischief is clear, we will not be deterred, our work will continue and the results of our efforts are clear for all to see.
Name
alhagi
- United States
Profession
business
Question
i would like to know about shortened salat on journey and how long will one continues to shortening the salat even arrived to where going to if this not ones permernant resident.
Answer
Dear sir,
this question is not in the live dialogue's topic, we'll contact you latter on to tell you about the proper section you should ask.
Name
Khadija
-
Profession
Question
Why are the muslim people in Britain so angry?
Answer
I think the question needs to be rephrased to ask Whether the Muslims in Britain are angry?
Because I wouldn't necessarily agree with the generalisation that all Muslims in Britain are angry, there may be certain individuals or minorities who are angry, but as opposed to sidelining these individuals and making them outcasts in society (which I feel will only fuel their anger and drive them underground), I feel the Muslim community need to work and engage with them in order to quell their anger.
In addition to this, we need to really analyse the situation and find out why these Muslims are in fact angry, and I feel blame needs to be apportioned on both sides (Muslims and non-Muslims.)
Muslims should work to seek out such individuals, aim to educate them about the true teachings of Islam and the possible danger of their actions.
However, if you were to ask many Muslims why they may feel anger or a sense of injustice, then I think it's only reasonable to expect that many will apportion this to the unjust foreign policy of the US and UK, where we, the British people were lied to and as a result hundreds of thousands of Muslims have been murdered in an illegal war.
Similarly, following the attacks on 9/11 and 7/7 we have witnessed the introduction of draconian legislation whereby our human rights and liberties and being stripped away. There are many other examples I could give, however due to time constraints I will leave it at this.
Name
Amina Jassar
-
Profession
PR
Question
Salamu alykum,
After the releasing of this report from the CSC, what was the Muslim students' reactions, do they find it wrongly-representing them either?
Do they came up with any demonstrations or official rejection? As the results might be somehow provocative.
Answer
There was an uproar amongst the Muslim student community with many Islamic Societies up and down. The country concerned at the possible media backlash as a result of this.
However, alhamdulillah this attempt to vilify Muslims has backfired and we the Muslim student community have a renewed sense of urgency, whereby we have created a joint statement between FOSIS and the Islamic Societies in essence rejecting this report and highlighting the positive work we have done.
At present, the joint statement has been signed by over 50 Islamic Societies from all across the UK (this can be found on our website www.fosis.org.uk), and in addition to this, there has been an online petition which has received over 500 hundreds in the last 3 days from individuals (mainly students) all across the country. http://www.petitiononline.com/FOSIS/petition.html
Name
cerebrosus
-
Profession
Question
Studies indicate that there are some extremist groups within UK universities. Those kind of studies , in my point of view, always heat the hatred and discrimination toward the whole Muslims community. on the other hand those studies isolate those young-people groups which increases their hatred for the whole British community also it's also, somehow, considered one of many causes for terrorism and may cause another 7/7 . So my question is, How can you, UK Muslim leaders, solve this situation is it by daialouge with those groups, daialouge with non-muslims sosiety or do you deny the idea of thier exsitence?.
and How will you conduct the dialouge with people who may see you on the wrong path??
Thanks
Answer
This is a very good question and one that we have been considering for sometime.
It is difficult to answer a question of this nature in a short period of time as I'm sure you would appreciate, however the answer to this question is to adopt a multi-pronged approach, where one approach is not sufficient to tackle this problem.
As highlighted in your question, the answer is to ensure that there is sufficient dialogue between all parties, and this should not be simply restricted to one particular group.
From a non-Muslim perspective, we need to employ a combined strategy whereby Government legislation, media reporting and police initiatives go hand-in-hand and are not seen by the Muslim community as an attack on themselves or their efforts. It is unfortunate that on many occasions, organisations such as FOSIS or the MCB, which are best placed to deal with the problem of extremism are often targeted by certain sections within the media (such as this report) and this does nothing but to hamper the positive efforts made by such organisations.
In addition to this, it is important to gain the respect and trust of the Muslim community, particularly the Muslim youth, some elements of which feel disengaged with such organisations and feel that no one organisation or individual best represents their needs or views. It is important to work with Muslims from a grass-roots level and to ensure that potentially controversial issues are discussed and debated, and it is only by such initiatives that the disengaged Muslim youth will start to get involved and respect Muslim umbrella organisations.
It is also vital that in order to refute some of the erroneous beliefs regarding Islam, organisations such as the MCB and FOSIS have the backing, support and advice from scholars all across the world, but in particular the UK, and inshAllah this will be seen by the youth as something respectable and will hopefully refute the idea that organisations such as ourselves are on the wrong path.
Name
Farhan Omar
- United Kingdom
Profession
Director
Question
Aside from the report, do FOSIS believe there is extremism on campus? What more can FOSIS do as a Muslim student body to integrate the Muslim students with the other students? Is more integration required? Essentially isn't it a situation where Muslims are forming ghettos and what not at university as in various communities in the UK?
Answer
When discussing terms such as extremism and radicalisation, it is important to identify what exactly we mean by this. Extremism is condoning, supporting or promoting acts such as 7/7 and 9/11 and it is clear that the overwhelming majority of Muslims do not support such acts.
With regards to extremism on campus, there is no evidence to suggest that this is a credible threat, and this is the opinion of not only FOSIS, but many other non-Muslim educational related organisations including the NUS, the University and College Union and others.
Some who wish to propagate this false notion that extremism is rife on campus often cite that a certain number of individuals attended university and were then charged or implicated in acts of terror. But to suggest that their university life was the cause of this is completely absurd and there is no evidence to support this claim. Those same students all used the internet, all went to school, all watched TV, all went to the shops etc. so how can we identify at what point they became radicalised?
FOSIS has a number of initiatives to ensure that Islamic Societies and Muslim students in general, interact and engage with non-Muslims on campus. We highly encourage and support Muslims to get involved with their Student Unions and become active members.
We encourage intellectual discussion and debate to allow for the dissemination of knowledge and ideas and we ourselves often organise a series of talks and events covering a variety of issues, relating to Muslims and non-Muslims. We feel that the Muslim student community are an active and integral part of the student population and are as integrated as any other ethnic/religious group on campus, if not more so. On many occasions at a number of universities, Islamic Societies have been awarded the illustrious title of "Society of the Year" and was the case at the university I attended.
To suggest that Muslim communities are ghettoised requires proof and by analysing the activity of Muslim students and Islamic Societies on campus one would surely disagree with this comment. Even this report by the CSC acknowledges the great level of activity of Muslim students and Islamic Societies on campus, however they feel that we are all just extremists! :)
Name
Yousuf
- United Kingdom
Profession
Student
Question
Many similar reports have been published over the last few years, insinuating a level of extremism on campus. Do you think that any of this is founded and if not, what do you think is the purpose of such condemning reports?
Also, in the light of the continuing onslaught against ISOCs, what, in your opinion, is the way forward (both as a FOSIS representative and a muslim university student)?
Jazakumullah Khayr
Answer
As highlighted in my answer to previous questions, the report's effect (and the many others you referred to) is to criminalise the Muslim students premised on a false assumption that they are particularly vulnerable to radicalisation. We would like to counter this assertion by insisting that there is no evidence to suggest that university campuses are hotbeds for extremist activity or recruitment. Although we firmly believe that there is no evidence to support this claim, we are not at the same time complacent with regards to the possibility of this, and so we have safeguards in place to ensure such does not occur.
With regards to the way forward, we need to ensure that there is a sense of trust between the Islamic Societies and their respective universities. It is pleasing to note that in the past, universities have supported Islamic Societies both publically and privately and we hope this continues.
Also it is vital that Islamic Societies remain undeterred in the face of such public criticism and continue the positive work they have been doing, whether this be in the form of spiritual or academic training, or providing a platform for intellectual debate and discussion. It should also be noted that through the combined efforts of numerous London Islamic Societies, last year over 150,000 was raised for orphans worldwide in the space of 1 week, a truly significant total. And this initiative is set to spread to the rest of the UK, where inshAllah we hope a far greater amount can be reached.
In addition to this, it is vital that Islamic Societies continue to engage with other non-Muslim societies on campus, whether they be religious or social societies, and it is through these efforts that the true, pure message of Islam can be spread to people on campus.
Name
Yousuf
- United Kingdom
Profession
Question
Assalamu Alaykum,
The CSC report questioned issues like apostasy, hijab and the sunni-shia divide. As muslims, we no doubt have different opinions to non-muslims regarding such issues. How do you express this in a way which is both wise and inoffensive?
Answer
I think sometimes we need to remain firm and be clear in our responses. There will, undoubtedly, be differences in the mentality of Muslims and non-Muslims and sometimes both parties need to be honest and agree to disagree.
Just as Muslims would not have the authority or jurisdiction to comment on issues relating to the Protestant/Catholic divide, or other contentious issues in the other religions, the same should standard should be applied when non-Muslims attempt to deal with issues that relate to the Muslims.
It is only appropriate, in my opinion, for one who is well-versed in such issues to discuss these points, otherwise we will simply be spreading half truths and misconceptions.
Name
Farhan Omar
- United Kingdom
Profession
Director
Question
Why don't FOSIS show that Islam is the peace and who is the bad one. FOSIS could do more to show the qualities of Islam and help explain the items of concern to the public.
Answer
Part of FOSIS's efforts is to highlight that the message of Islam is indeed peace, however unfortunately, due to the current climate of fear and hatred towards Islam, many non-Muslims consider this to be rhetoric and often answer this claim by suggesting that Islam is not a religion of peace due to attacks such as 7/7 and 9/11.
And essentially this is the problem we are dealing with on a national basis, we are trying to highlight the misconceptions regarding Islam and make it clear that such acts should not be associated with the religion nor to the vast majority of Muslims.
Your right in the sense that FOSIS could do more to illustrate the beautiful nature of Islam, however, we are often restricted by our limited resources and we attempt to do our best with what we have at our disposal.
Name
Editor
-
Profession
Answer
Dear visitors,
The session has ended. We would like to thank Mr. Qassim Rafiq for taking the time to answer your questions and we apologize for not being able to accommodate all the questions within the time allocated to this session.
We request our readers to join us in the upcoming sessions.
