mahussain3
Son of Aa'ishah(R.A)
The Tragic Consequences of Demonising Muslims
Written by Karima Hamdan
Monday, 13 August 2007
A 58 year old man reported to be the imam of Regents Park Mosque in London was seriously assaulted on Friday morning. He suffered heavy blood loss and damage to both eyes after being punched repeatedly in the head in a completely unprovoked attack.
The Muslim Council of Britain has released a press statement about the attack in which they report an increase in the number of hate crimes against Muslims in Britain.
Just recently this has included a daytime arson attack on a mosque in Bradford last week where many children had gathered for prayers. The MCB believe that the media is responsible for fuelling this upsurge in Islamophobic attacks. An MCB spokesman said:
"There is clearly a growing anti-Muslim climate in this country and it has some very worrying implications for all of us.
"It is deeply regrettable that sections of our media have been playing a key role in fermenting much of this Islamophobic prejudice and hatred against British Muslims."
The Metropolitan Police said officers were called at about 8.30am on Friday to reports of an assault at Regent's Park Mosque. The imam was taken to a central London hospital by the London Ambulance Service where he had to undergo emergency surgery.
Regents Park Mosque closed for several hours on Friday morning but then reopened for Jumah prayers.
Ryan Donegan, 40, from Hammersmith, has been charged with GBH and assaulting a police officer. He has been remanded in custody until 24 August. He will next appear at Southwark Magistrates' Court.
The fact that this story has only been reported today makes one wonder if there has been an enforced embargo on this story. The usual excuse for the underreporting of hate crimes against Muslims is the fear that they will cause a breakdown of community relations and precipitate a rerun of the rioting in Bradford and Bolton.
The problem with this theory is that a rise in Islamophobic attacks is then not noticed by the wider public and if the media is indeed fuelling anti-Muslim feeling they are not given any insight into the consequences of their biased reportage. A side issue is that during these times of media blackout, anyone who then makes statements about a rise in hate crimes against Muslims is often accused of pandering to a "mentality of perpetual victimhood" in the Muslim community by other less well informed people.
The cynic in me wonders whether the religion of Ryan Donegan will be reported by the media as they seem to find the religious leanings of Muslim criminals to be of vital public import. I also wonder that if it was a rabbi that was the victim of this attack whether there would be such a disinterest in the story.
At the end of the day our prayers are with our brother in Islam who lies in a hospital bed recovering from grievous injuries that he received because he is a Muslim.
In such times we should make the dua that our beloved Prophet (saw) made for the sick:
"O Allah, Lord of mankind, remove the harm, and heal, You are the Healer. There is no healing but Yours, a healing that leaves no illness behind." (Bukhari, Muslim)
Written by Karima Hamdan
Monday, 13 August 2007
A 58 year old man reported to be the imam of Regents Park Mosque in London was seriously assaulted on Friday morning. He suffered heavy blood loss and damage to both eyes after being punched repeatedly in the head in a completely unprovoked attack.
The Muslim Council of Britain has released a press statement about the attack in which they report an increase in the number of hate crimes against Muslims in Britain.
Just recently this has included a daytime arson attack on a mosque in Bradford last week where many children had gathered for prayers. The MCB believe that the media is responsible for fuelling this upsurge in Islamophobic attacks. An MCB spokesman said:
"There is clearly a growing anti-Muslim climate in this country and it has some very worrying implications for all of us.
"It is deeply regrettable that sections of our media have been playing a key role in fermenting much of this Islamophobic prejudice and hatred against British Muslims."
The Metropolitan Police said officers were called at about 8.30am on Friday to reports of an assault at Regent's Park Mosque. The imam was taken to a central London hospital by the London Ambulance Service where he had to undergo emergency surgery.
Regents Park Mosque closed for several hours on Friday morning but then reopened for Jumah prayers.
Ryan Donegan, 40, from Hammersmith, has been charged with GBH and assaulting a police officer. He has been remanded in custody until 24 August. He will next appear at Southwark Magistrates' Court.
The fact that this story has only been reported today makes one wonder if there has been an enforced embargo on this story. The usual excuse for the underreporting of hate crimes against Muslims is the fear that they will cause a breakdown of community relations and precipitate a rerun of the rioting in Bradford and Bolton.
The problem with this theory is that a rise in Islamophobic attacks is then not noticed by the wider public and if the media is indeed fuelling anti-Muslim feeling they are not given any insight into the consequences of their biased reportage. A side issue is that during these times of media blackout, anyone who then makes statements about a rise in hate crimes against Muslims is often accused of pandering to a "mentality of perpetual victimhood" in the Muslim community by other less well informed people.
The cynic in me wonders whether the religion of Ryan Donegan will be reported by the media as they seem to find the religious leanings of Muslim criminals to be of vital public import. I also wonder that if it was a rabbi that was the victim of this attack whether there would be such a disinterest in the story.
At the end of the day our prayers are with our brother in Islam who lies in a hospital bed recovering from grievous injuries that he received because he is a Muslim.
In such times we should make the dua that our beloved Prophet (saw) made for the sick:
"O Allah, Lord of mankind, remove the harm, and heal, You are the Healer. There is no healing but Yours, a healing that leaves no illness behind." (Bukhari, Muslim)