Umm Ruqayya: Yes, but we don’t
have to wear a yellow star; we're quite distinct with our
Islamic dress and the brothers with their beards. But we play
into that when we fail to support the brothers who have been
imprisoned, along with the families of the detainees. Do we
not think that we'll be accountable for abandoning them?
Al-Istiqamah:
In light of the current climate,
would you consider a hijrah (migration to a Muslim land)?
Umm Ruqayya: I've never known any
other home. Unlike our parents, we were born here, so we have
more of an understanding of the culture. We've been through
the education system; we are familiar with their legal system.
Perhaps we've got too comfortable here, because it is a comfortable
way of life compared to other countries. I don't have the
means to leave. If I had, it would certainly be an option.
There was a recent documentary on Radio 4 which said that
16% of Muslims in this country are considered middle class.
It was investigating why many of them have migrated to the
Emirates etc. It's this country's loss, if they lose hard-working
citizens, or even moral, upright citizens due to the increasing
islamophobia.
Al-Istiqamah: What
do you make of the view that as British Muslims, we should
be doing more to integrate into the society?
Umm Ruqayya: This is what some people
said to me, when my daughter chose to wear hijab. They said
that I should tell her not to, in order to make things easier
for her. She chose to wear it in Ramadan, the holiest month.
And I wanted to support her in that. We need to integrate,
but not assimilate. Losing your identity does not serve anyone's
purpose. We can benefit from a few things of British culture,
the system of queuing for example! And whether they like it
or not, they can benefit from us too: the joys of multiculturalism
etc. We don't go on pub crawls. We're the sort of people you
should want in your neighbourhood. We shouldn't need to dissipate
ourselves until we are indistinguishable. For some reason
I don't feel that going on a pub crawl, losing all my money
gambling or getting drunk and beating up one's spouse are
lofty aspirations. Not to say that every British person is
like that, but not every Muslim is a so-called terrorist.
Al-Istiqamah: With
Muslim children in state schools they often have to deal with
the issue of 'terrorism' cropping up in class discussions.
Umm Ruqayya: I really feel for our children
who are in state schools post 9/11. It's a very different
experience compared to when we were in school. Now it's not
uncommon for teachers to make comments about terrorist this
or Usamah [bin Ladin] that. We must take active steps to teach
our children to not put up and shut up. It will lead them
into confrontation, but we're getting that anyway. Also at
each level, we can contribute to the society in a positive
manner: a child baking a cake for school, a mother involved
in the PTA or a husband organising a charity event at work.
My daughter recently organised a cake sale with her friends
and raised £400 for their school.
Al-Istiqamah: We
have a responsibility to correct the misinformation and propaganda
that is spread about Islam.
Umm Ruqayya: Of course. If the gutter
press was my only source of knowledge about Hinduism or Shintoism,
I wouldn't want my children sitting next to its followers.
Muslims need to be at the forefront, teaching others correctly
about their religion. How else will they learn? And if we
don't do that, then the only images of Islam seen will be
the ones in the tabloids. In order to dispel that stereotype
we do need to speak out. First they're surprised that you
have an English accent and secondly they're surprised that
you've got a big mouth! And that's different from our parents'
generation when they got away with speaking to them like that.
They're not going to get away with it this time. And that's
not what I want for my daughter. She's an equal child in humanity.
She's not culpable for any of these events and neither am
I. I'm willing to have a debate or even an argument if anyone
comes up to me. I'm not willing to let them vent their frustrations
on my children because they're casting their brush of bigotry
on everyone. As Muslim women, we need to make that clear to
everyone who makes islamophobic comments in the presence of
our children.
Al-Istiqamah: Umm
Rukayya, jazaakillah khayran (may Allah reward you) for this
candid interview.
Source: al-istiqamah.com
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