A religion of peace

The final part of Islam Awareness week, a lecture by Abu Muntasir, Chaplain for University Campus Suffolk in Ipswich, my hometown. And how much better it would have been for those critics at York to have attended this talk. How much they could have learnt about the true nature of Islam in this country. Muntasir gave an open, enlightening and welcoming introduction to some of the key elements of Islam, and again I was struck by the clear similarities between Christianity and Islam.


Peace and neighbourly love, so often associated with Christianity, are also key tenets of Islam. We are all called to love our neighbours, regardless of their religion, or lack of religion. I had not realised that despite charity being a core part of the Islamic faith, most of the aid given by British Muslims is sent abroad to help their brothers and sisters in the wider world. We Christians in this country have a firm sense of charity starting at home, and while international aid programs certainly receive plenty of coverage, the focus is for the most part on the local. Muntasir challenged his fellow Muslims to show love and give help to all around them, regardless of their religion, or indeed lack of religion. All too often we regard Muslims as holding themselves apart, as seeking to keep themselves away from us lesser mortals.


This certainly seems to be the opinion of those who accept the anti-Muslim propaganda and ignorance that saturates our society. The intolerance of those students at York who objected to Al-Kathari's right to speak is a clear symptom of this lack of understanding. If only those who seek to condemn, those who seek to safeguard "decency" were to make the effort to seek out the truth. As Muntasir made clear, Islam is a religion of peace, while even the most thick-skinned listener should have come away from Al-Kathari's lecture seeing that Muslims chose to live the way they do, and do so while submitting to the laws of the country in which they reside. There is a world of difference between believing something privately and demanding all around you believe and submit to the same laws and beliefs.


In all Muntasir really illuminated the spirituality of Islam, the grace and beauty of religion which is so often obscured by the defensive facade British Muslims feel they must construct in the face of such hostility. They feel different, isolated, and so need to keep their distance. And it is a great shame, for Islam has much to offer the world in terms of spiritual peace and brothership. But there is hope in the fact that there are those like Muntasir who are prepared to stand up for their faith and to speak words of peace and openness with non-Muslims. We all have much to learn about each other.