Umm Ruqayya is a married mother of four. In this interview with al-istiqamah.com she describes her experience of increasing hostilities directed towards Muslim women and children in post 7/7 Britain.

Al-Istiqamah: Assalamu Alaykum

Umm Ruqayya: Wa alaikum salam

Al-Istiqamah: Could you give us a bit of background about yourself, where you were born etc?

Umm Ruqayya: I was born and brought up in London. My family are originally from Bangladesh.

Al-Istiqamah: How many children do you have?

Umm Ruqayya: I have four children.

Al-Istiqamah: Did you experience any discrimination whilst growing up?

Umm Ruqayya: We did experience some, but it was all about "Pakis" – it was objection to colour rather than religion with very few exceptions.

Al-Istiqamah: Could you give us an example of one of those exceptions?

Umm Ruqayya: In some schools they would make dispensations for a fasting child, but in other schools, you still had to partake in P.E. (Physical Education) etc. I remember fasting as an adolescent. I was 15 at the time and Ramadhan came during the summer. I was playing tennis and after the lesson I was feeling rather dizzy and tired. My teacher remarked that it was very 'barbaric' to make children fast. Nobody was making me fast. But such comments were rare. There was less understanding than nowadays about the basic tenants of Islam, but also less interference. Non-Muslims might have thought we were strange, but for the most part you were left alone. There were a few incidents of prejudice, but the climate of the country changed significantly with 9/11 and in particular 7/7.

Al-Istiqamah: How old were your children when 7/7 happened?

Umm Ruqayya: The eldest was 8 years old when 7/7 happened.

Al-Istiqamah: How did you find out about the events of that day?

Umm Ruqayya: On the day that the attacks happened, I was walking towards some shops. I noticed a crowd of people standing outside a TV repair shop watching something on the screen. I thought that obviously something must have happened, an accident or something.

Al-Istiqamah: Did it occur to you that it might have been an attack on UK soil?

Umm Ruqayya: No, because although 9/11 had happened, it was so far away. America is such a well-known aggressor around the world, that you thought this is an agenda people have only with America. British people generally — not just Muslims — do tend to think of Americans as separate and somewhat dim-witted when it comes to foreign policy. We consider ourselves a bit more in the know about the cause and effect of things around the world. So I had no idea that there would be an attack by Muslims. It wasn't something that I was expecting. If anything I was expecting another attack on America, which is why the news was all the more shocking.

1 2 3 4 5 6