Results tagged “extremism” from Birmingham Mail - Faraz Yousufzai Blog

Totally understand where you are coming from Hoque and many people feel the same as your man Rachel. Let me try and explain where my thoughts come from...

Islam has almost 1500 years of profound theological, legal and social scholarship. Never in that time has there ever been a 'branch' of thought that promoted the indiscrimate taking of life. 'Extremism' as we now term it, is probably best described as a post post modernist 20th century ideology. It has no roots in ANY faith - no matter what it claims.

This is important to understand because, as I said on Midlands Today last night and again this morning on Radio WM, the Muslim community is as bewildered as you are and has no more to do with violent extremism than anyone else. And yet, the focus and expectation to 'solve' it is laid squarely, if not wholly, at their feet.

The problem of violent extermism is a shared one. If we took the time to listen we would find a Mulsim community that desperately wants to be a part of the solution and not just a mere adjunct to it as the Councils top down approach and your comments, Mr Hoque, seek to promote.

My thanks however to Rachel for caring enough to offer a positive contribution to this debate and providing my inspiration for this entry. The only way to move forward is to get people meeting and talking...its not easy though. Many communities lack confidence in their ability to connect with people of other faiths and backgrounds. There is a lot of fear, mistrust and myth to break down but it can be done....it must be done!

There are lots of groups that have sprung up over the last few years to do just this. Birmingham Citizens for example, is arguably one of the most successful of these. Led by Sajida Madni, they have managed to not only bring together but keep together an amazingly diverse group of people that are actively working to better their communities.

Rachel is reaching out her hand to someone from another community to get in touch. Anyone willing to take it and prove that Im not just making all this up? Leave a comment and we'll take it from there....