Outgoing Muslim Council leader criticises lack of government contact

When Zara Mohammed became the archetypal pistillate person of 1 of the largest typical bodies for British Muslims successful 2021, she already had a batch connected her plate: rising Islamophobia, the Covid-19 pandemic, and a authorities refusing to prosecute with the group.

The past 29-year-old could not person imagined 3 years later, she would beryllium facing 1 of the biggest challenges of her vocation - rioting crossed England and Northern Ireland, often explicitly targeting Muslims, and inactive nary authorities contact.

The convulsive unrest, triggered by mendacious rumours that the Southport weapon attacker was a Muslim asylum seeker, saw bricks hurled astatine mosques and Islamophobic chants connected the streets.

Many Muslims and radical of colour felt acrophobic to permission their homes.

"It was truthful visceral. We were watching connected our screens: radical breaking doors down, stopping cars, attacking taxi drivers, smashing windows, smashing mosques," she told the BBC. "The benignant of evil we saw was truly terrifying and I felt like, americium I adjacent making a difference?"

As Ms Mohammed ends her clip arsenic wide caput of the Muslim Council of Britain – connected Saturday, Dr Wajid Akhter was elected arsenic her replacement – she spoke to the BBC astir the difficulties she has faced.

In particular, she described the "unbelievable tidal question of Islamophobia" successful the UK, which she said was made much hard to tackle owed to the ongoing argumentation of authorities non-engagement.

"It was the Southport riots for america that made it truly rather alarming. The justification was there, the urgency, the necessity of engagement was there, British Muslims were nether attack, mosques were nether onslaught and the largest umbrella Muslim organisation wasn't being talked to," she said.

Strains successful the narration betwixt successive governments and the MCB began implicit a decennary ago. Ties were severed with the MCB successful 2009 nether then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown, aft the group's lawman person signed a declaration advocating attacks connected the Royal Navy if it tried to halt arms for Hamas. Hamas's subject helping had been proscribed arsenic a panic radical successful the UK 8 years earlier.

The lawman caput aboriginal resigned and Ms Mohammed said the MCB made wide specified actions did not bespeak the organisation, starring to a little play of re-engagement.

However, nether consecutive governments, that engagement was breached again. In 2018, erstwhile asked astir Islamophobia successful the Conservative Party, past Home Secretary Sajid Javid said the authorities did not prosecute with MCB arsenic "too galore of their members person had favourable comments connected extremists and that's not acceptable" - claims the MCB vehemently denied astatine the time.

For Ms Mohammed, determination were hopes that engagement would beryllium renewed erstwhile Labour entered authorities past twelvemonth arsenic she described "strong" and "positive" relationships with Labour MPs. However, the argumentation of non-engagement has continued without immoderate explanation.

She said this was having a "terrible impact" connected communities who "do not consciousness Islamophobia is being taken seriously". "At slightest person a speech astir it, but to not accidental thing and not archer america why? Surely what happened 14 years agone cannot beryllium the justification.

"What is the contented now? We're not illegal, we're not proscribed. We bash not harbour immoderate extremist views. We person a broad-based demographic of British Muslims," she added.

A spokesperson for the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) confirmed determination had been nary alteration to the argumentation of non-engagement with MCB but did not item why.

"All forms of spiritual and radical hatred person perfectly nary spot successful our society," the spokesperson said. "The authorities engages regularly with religion communities to assistance foster beardown moving relationships and we are exploring a much integrated and cohesive attack to tackling radical and spiritual hatred, including Islamophobia."

Various authorities departments engage with religion organisations to sermon applicable issues and policy, including connected the Covid-19 pandemic and tackling hatred crime.

The emergence successful Islamophobia has personally affected Ms Mohammed, who faces predominant maltreatment online. She was besides the unfortunate of a hatred incidental connected the London Underground by a antheral who utilized violative language.

"I've decidedly got much of a fearfulness of my idiosyncratic information than I've ever had before," she said. "There's been an onslaught of far-right, thuggish, anti-Islam, rather disgusting, truly atrocious graphic contented that's posted connected my account."

National monitoring radical Tell Mama UK recorded 4,971 incidents of anti-Muslim hatred successful the twelvemonth aft the Hamas attacks connected Israel - the highest full successful 14 years - with Muslim women peculiarly vulnerable.

Challenged connected whether the MCB had done capable to enactment communities, peculiarly without authorities engagement, Ms Mohammed said the organisation had done "a batch of assemblage gathering " and "political advocacy" to code anti-Muslim hate, including interfaith projects, an Islamophobia lawsuit successful Parliament and a Visit My Mosque initiative.

However, she said this had not changed mainstream narratives astir British Muslims. "There has been specified a normalisation of Islamophobic rhetoric without it being challenged oregon condemned."

"We could accidental we're making a quality but past what is being seen successful nationalist sermon does not look to translate," she added.

Ms Mohammed recognised this arsenic portion of a broader inclination of hostility directed astatine Muslim politicians and leaders, drafting attraction to erstwhile Conservative MP Lee Anderson saying "Islamists" had "got control" of the politician of London.

Sadiq Khan condemned the remarks arsenic "pouring substance connected the occurrence of anti-Muslim hatred".

As much Muslim professionals and politicians reached caller heights, similar Humza Yousaf becoming Scottish archetypal curate and Sir Sadiq being knighted, they "faced disgusting levels of Islamophobia which others person not ever faced", said Ms Mohammed.

A BBC Woman's Hour interrogation with Ms Mohammed was besides accused of being "strikingly hostile" with much than 100 politicians, writers and different salient figures criticising Ms Mohammed's "mistreatment" connected the show. The BBC said it promised to "reflect on" the concerns raised pursuing the interview.

These ongoing challenges has near Ms Mohammed successful 2 minds astir her legacy.

"You're perpetually firefighting. Did we marque British Muslims' lives better? On 1 hand, yes, due to the fact that we raised these issues, we took them to a nationalist platform. But with Islamophobia, we're inactive having the aforesaid conversation.

"We inactive haven't been capable to interruption through, whether it's authorities engagement, Islamophobia, societal mobility," she added.

"My happiest achievements are that I've visited implicit 300 organizations crossed the country," she said.

"Whether it was Swansea, Newport, Liverpool, Leeds, Manchester, I truly made definite wherever I went I met the women's groups, and I ever reassured them that they had a dependable astatine the array and a leader."

The Conservative Party did not respond to a petition for comment.