There is no shortage of extremists ready to capitalise on the events in Syria to serve their own divisive agendas
In an article entitled, ‘Sectarian Hatred at the Heart of British Muslim community,’ The Times recently highlighted issues of sectarianism that have been bubbling in the UK for some time. These issues have been crystallised after the Syrian conflict which brought matters to a head.
The Times article highlighted a graffiti incident against a Bradford-based Shia institution that had the words ‘Shia Kaffirs’ sprayed across its entrance. TELL MAMA, the national anti-Muslim hate incident reporting project that I manage and founded, picked up this case within hours when a leading member of the British Muslim Shia community reported it into us.
The incident highlighted what many of us knew, that the Syrian conflict, combined with preachers in Muslim communities promoting anti-Shia rhetoric and a mixture of hatred towards Assad and his Shia backers (Hizbollah and Iran), were threatening to upset the fragile cohesion between both faith communities in the UK.
Whatever the driver for the Bradford incident, it was becoming patently obvious to us at TELL MAMA that there were some individuals in Yorkshire and the Midlands who were actively promoting anti-Shia rhetoric. In some instances these individuals have been quietly re-enforcing anti-Shia discussions fuelled by hatred towards Assad and the largely Shia-based military support network that is keeping his administration alive.
The first time I came across the Shia and Sunni fault-lines was in May 2013 whilst I was sitting in Edgware Road in central London. Prior to 2013, I had not seen much of a fissure between the communities, and there seemed to be an acceptance that they found common ground on issues such as Halal food preparation, countering anti-Muslim hatred, protecting places of worship etc.
However 2013 seemed to be a turning point for Sunni-Shia relations in the UK, as the Syrian war dragged on and Assad’s brutal repression of the mainly Sunni population started to appear on YouTube videos. Such readily available content no doubt fuelled public discussions in areas like Edgware Road.
I remember endless conversations taking place in the busy restaurants on this famous road which pitted family against family and business against business in endless arguments about the future of Syria, and about the future of Shia communities in Syria, Iraq and the Gulf.
Most conversations ended in a bout of shisha smoking, raised eyebrows and pats on the back, though it was clear that, however tentatively, positions were being taken and support bases tested. The conflict was beginning to have an impact here in the UK.
Sadly, there were people waiting to take advantage of these emerging religious and political divides. Keen to use any situation as an opportunity to promote extremism, Anjem Choudary and his motley crew descended on Edgware Road in July 2013.
Loudspeaker in hand, surrounded by young hotheads chanting anti-Assad and anti-Shia slogans, a few individuals decided that a group of men walking down Edgware Road were Shia. The resulting brutal assault on one of these men lead to over 10 separate cuts and bruises as he was mauled to the ground and hit with placards which Choudary’s group has previously used to demonstrate against the Egyptian Embassy in Mayfair.
A few days later, I met with the victim and he started to tell me his story. He was a Shia and he was married to a Sunni woman. His children would be influenced by both Islamic traditions and he lived his life on the basis that sectarianism was a cancer that had continued to damage Islam and Muslim communities.
He made clear to me that the attack on him was not something that he held against the Sunni community, and he saw the attack for what it was. He believed that extremist groups were using the war in Syria as a means of opening up Shia and Sunni fractures and this was one way in which Choudary and his group were trying to attract new followers.
The war in Syria has therefore acted as a catalyst for those seeking to create and build divisions within Muslim communities. These divisions have also been manipulated and used by extremist groups who believe that Shia communities are heretics who should be eradicated through force of arms.
Yet we must also acknowledge that there has always been a small section within Sunni communities who have always taken a theological position that Shia communities are non-believers. A handful of them have been active promoting this rhetoric in the UK since before the Syrian war.
Finally, some of the people that I meet in Muslim communities believe that there is no problem and that ‘outside forces’ are at work trying to divide Muslim communities in the UK. The only forces that I see are extremists from within who seek to divide and who relish violence and confrontation.
Sadly, as long as the war in Syria continues, the risk to the UK will remain. The least that we can do is to counter and confront those who seek to sow the seeds of hatred within, to create the conflicts of tomorrow.
Fiyaz Mughal is the director of Faith Matters and the founder of Tell Mama, a project which records and measures anti-Muslim incidents
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46 Responses to “Shia hatred is a real and dangerous issue in the UK”
pyewacket
It’s the fault of the killers themselves – and of course the fault of those who are radicalising young people at an alarming rate. Obviously the West is at fault too. I for one opposed the Iraq war and have never been a supporter of Tony Blair.
That said, I’m merely pointing out that no one should pretend that the current extremist call to jihad has absolutely nothing to do with Islam, as some continue to claim. Without doubt, the radicalised are practising an extreme form of Islam, but it’s still a form of Islam according to those who are practising it.
If the prophet had not condoned the killing of non-believers in order to spread the faith, the present day killers would have to find another excuse for it.
I agree with Maajid Nawaz and the Quilliam Foundation – that the religion of Islam must be separated from politics and the Sharia, und thus practised within the umbrella of secularism. However, I think he’s facing an almost impossible task, since a lot of Muslims are hostile to Nawaz whom they regard as an apostate. I, too, have some reservations about certain of his tactics, which I won’t go into here. But overall, I think he’s on the side of goodness.
pyewacket
“…maybe the violent quotes {found in the Koran} reflect your own view and not theirs…”
I just want to add one final comment about this, as our discussion is getting protracted.
Both yourself and another poster earlier on have succumbed to a curious phenomenon of mind when confronted by an unpleasant truth. It’s not hatred coming from within my own being to point out just a few of the many violent koranic passages, which form the roots of extremist Islamist ideology, the ideology adopted by the likes of Islamic State and Islamist sympathisers.
To accuse me of violence/hatred for pointing out the hatred found in the Koran is a classic example of psychological projection and displacement. You know in your heart that the violence advocated in the Koran (and other Islamic texts) against non-believers, ‘people of the book’ (Jews and Christians), apostates, and blasphemers is inhumane. So the indoctrinated mind represses this information (unconsciously) and projects a different meaning (often the opposite meaning) into another person’s rational words.
In truth, I don’t hate individual Muslims, on the contrary. I can see that most have been indoctrinated from an early age to believe in the absolute righteousness of Allah and his messenger, long before their minds had developed the capacity to think independently and to rationalise.
I also recognise that Muslims themselves are the main victims of Islamist ideology and sectarian violence, especially in places like Syria and Iraq. This also brings us back to the subject of Fiyaz Mughal’s article – namely, sectarian hatred between Sunni and Shiites being played out in the UK.
MahmudH
You complain about projection, but you continue with shameless generalisations which constitute quite naked prejudice. Our debate started with your refusal to distinguish between different groups of Muslims, based upon your desire to tar all Muslims by association with ISIS and alqaeda.
In contrast, you don’t want the brutality of western governments in their wars to in any way be viewed as reflecting on western culture and society.
You hold up Christianity as a paragon of virtue in a frankly baffling way that makes me wonder if you have ever actually opened the pages of a history book.
You want to demonise the Koran as a means of attacking Islam, without having any expertise in the subject, but simply picking the worst translation you can find and then projecting all your Orientalist fears of the alien “other” upon muslims, despite the fact that they tell you clearly that they do not agree with your interpretation.
It’s great that you agree with Maajid Nawaz. He is a Muslim, who gets attacked by islamophobes as much as by islamists.
pyewacket
Sadly, you are unable or unwilling to understand any of my points.
Religion has always been a major excuse for warfare, which is why I’m not religious. I’ve acknowledged this, but you seem unable to think in a nuanced way.
I’m concerned that religion continues to be a cause for violence, particularly Islam in the current era (indeed, Islam in essence is a warrior religion which kills in order to spread itself, not just in self-defence). Islamic terrorism is just that, Islamic. They call themselves Islamic, so I have to believe this, considering that they pick the most violent parts of the Koran in order to carry out their attacks.
If you are saying that Islamism has nothing to do Islam, sadly you are kidding yourself. Instead, you’d prefer to believe that it’s always someone else’s fault.
I’ve already acknowledged that the situation is complex. I was one of the millions throughout the Western world who marched against the Iraq war. Those marches involved people from right across the political spectrum, not just left wing protestors but people of all persuasions and none.
The bottom line is this: no amount of political grievance justifies the behaviour of terrorists who proclaim to be acting for Allah. Why are they saying this? It’s because they are emulating the behaviour of Mohammad whom they believe had direct access to Allah’s commands and that the Koran is the literal word of Allah. There is no doubt that Islam is a violent religion, but thankfully not all Muslims are fundamentalists.
Just out of interest, which variety of Islam do you follow?
MahmudH
I don’t follow any of the sects. I have a family background in both Shia and Sunni islam, I don’t follow any schools of thought, I just pray when I feel like it, and I believe in whatever makes sense to me, God, His prophets and messengers, life after death and divine justice.
I am interested, with regards to your perception of Jesus as a peace loving hippy, what do you think of Matthew 8:28-34, the passage where Jesus casts a swarm of demons into a herd of pigs and sends them charging off a cliff into a lake to drown?