lubna
25-04-2004, 13:09
Message: 1
Date: Fri, 23 Apr 2004 23:15:16 +0100 (BST)
From: s h <s787h@yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: British Muslims
The benefits of being a British Muslim
Sarfraz Manzoor
Wednesday April 21, 2004
The Guardian
There is a depressing familiarity to the news arc that followed the
arrest of 10 people in Manchester this week on suspicion of planning a
terror attack. First there is the breaking news of the arrests, followed
by the revelation that they are Muslims who were seemingly ordinary
young men but planning carnage on their neighbours. The people held on
Monday are apparently of North African and Iraqi Kurdish origin but when
those in custody are British Pakistanis - like the eight arrested last
month - an anguished media debate on the angry Muslims in our midst
usually develops. For anyone who is a British Muslim such times are
particularly frustrating, because however much we might want to ignore the news
it becomes almost impossible not to get sucked into the swirl of
frenzied paranoia. As Michael Corleone said in the third Godfather film:
"Just when I thought I was out they pull me back in."
What is most striking about the coverage of such stories - the
inevitable images of fiery, bearded men screaming outside mosques - is that any
neutral viewer would conclude that it must be just terrible being a
British Muslim at the present time. Think about it: if it is not the
increased likelihood of being stopped by the police on the streets it is the
added attention at airports; if it is not the education tables that
reveal Pakistani boys are faring poorly at school it is unemployment
statistics which show that Pakistanis are more likely to be unemployed than
any other ethnic group.
It is all so unrelentingly grim you would be forgiven for thinking that
British Muslim men, in the few minutes when they are not busy feeling
alienated, are at home with their heads buried in their hands sobbing at
the sheer misery of their lives. But this is not the case at all. So I
thought that as a public service I would use this space today to
concentrate on the many very real benefits of being a British Muslim male -
advantages that are so often overlooked amidst the fear and loathing.
Let's start with air travel. It is true that flying is a different
experience if you are a Muslim male; you can expect to be detained,
questioned and searched more thoroughly than any of the other passengers. It
might add hours to your journey time and ruin your plans to visit the
relatives. But if flying has become a nightmare, it is more than
compensated by our experience on other modes of transport. Ben Elton had a
routine in the 80s about the British obsession with getting a double seat
on the train; it never rang any bells of recognition with me because I
have never had a problem getting a double seat. Whether on the bus into
Luton town centre, the train to Manchester or the Hammersmith and City
line you can bet your last bag of fertiliser that the seat next to me
will either remain unused or be the last one taken. I have been on tube
carriages that have been packed with passengers but the seat next to me
has been left vacant. It used to freak me out when I was younger, I was
paranoid that I was giving off some scary vibe to everyone around me.
But when I discussed it with other Muslim friends it turned out that
they too had had the same experience. These days, now I know it is not
personal, I am more relaxed about it. Sometimes on the bus I deliberately
put my rucksack on the seat next to me and when the bus begins to fill
up I make a great play of moving it to see if anyone feels persuaded to
sit down. Occasionally they do, but if you look like a Muslim you can
be pretty confident of getting a double seat on most forms of public
transport.
And there's more good news when trying to get a black cab. It is true
that it is harder to get them to stop for me but again that is not the
full story. In all my experience of riding in cabs I have never had a
racist driver. White friends have often told me about uncomfortable
journeys with bigoted cabbies spouting rubbish, but all the taxi drivers I
have met have been either polite or silent. As for the private minicab
firms, pretty much all of those use Pakistani drivers and all it takes
is a few words of Urdu and that's a few quid knocked off the fare right
there and then.
There are numerous other benefits. At school I was able to get out of
swimming, assembly, RE and a trip to a local farm by telling the teacher
they were all against my religion. At home, being a Muslim male means
you can live with your parents into your late 20s and not be dismissed
as a maladjusted loser. If, as a Muslim, you get more attention from the
police on the streets, that is offset by the lack of interest that
others pay. Those charity muggers who stand in the middle of city high
streets for example. You see them everywhere accosting uninterested folk on
their way to work or shopping. But all I have to do is walk towards
them and look vaguely alienated and they pick on the kind-looking white
woman on her way to Boots instead.
If that wasn't enough, while we might be under-represented in the
mainstream media and in parliament, the great thing about being a British
Muslim is that you can call yourself a "community leader" without the
inconvenience of being elected or having any sort of legitimate mandate.
The rest of British society remains so ignorant of the Muslim
"community" that they think there is one, and anybody willing to shout into a
microphone will instantly be dubbed a "community leader". And having a
metal hook for an arm and only one eye is not seen as the drawback for
career advancement that it might be in elections for the parish council.
So there you have it: conclusive evidence that being a British Muslim
is not just about feeling marginalised, mistreated and misrepresented.
You will, I hope, be feeling suitably reassured.
"Keep high aspirations, moderate expectations, and small needs." -
William Howard Stein
Date: Fri, 23 Apr 2004 23:15:16 +0100 (BST)
From: s h <s787h@yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: British Muslims
The benefits of being a British Muslim
Sarfraz Manzoor
Wednesday April 21, 2004
The Guardian
There is a depressing familiarity to the news arc that followed the
arrest of 10 people in Manchester this week on suspicion of planning a
terror attack. First there is the breaking news of the arrests, followed
by the revelation that they are Muslims who were seemingly ordinary
young men but planning carnage on their neighbours. The people held on
Monday are apparently of North African and Iraqi Kurdish origin but when
those in custody are British Pakistanis - like the eight arrested last
month - an anguished media debate on the angry Muslims in our midst
usually develops. For anyone who is a British Muslim such times are
particularly frustrating, because however much we might want to ignore the news
it becomes almost impossible not to get sucked into the swirl of
frenzied paranoia. As Michael Corleone said in the third Godfather film:
"Just when I thought I was out they pull me back in."
What is most striking about the coverage of such stories - the
inevitable images of fiery, bearded men screaming outside mosques - is that any
neutral viewer would conclude that it must be just terrible being a
British Muslim at the present time. Think about it: if it is not the
increased likelihood of being stopped by the police on the streets it is the
added attention at airports; if it is not the education tables that
reveal Pakistani boys are faring poorly at school it is unemployment
statistics which show that Pakistanis are more likely to be unemployed than
any other ethnic group.
It is all so unrelentingly grim you would be forgiven for thinking that
British Muslim men, in the few minutes when they are not busy feeling
alienated, are at home with their heads buried in their hands sobbing at
the sheer misery of their lives. But this is not the case at all. So I
thought that as a public service I would use this space today to
concentrate on the many very real benefits of being a British Muslim male -
advantages that are so often overlooked amidst the fear and loathing.
Let's start with air travel. It is true that flying is a different
experience if you are a Muslim male; you can expect to be detained,
questioned and searched more thoroughly than any of the other passengers. It
might add hours to your journey time and ruin your plans to visit the
relatives. But if flying has become a nightmare, it is more than
compensated by our experience on other modes of transport. Ben Elton had a
routine in the 80s about the British obsession with getting a double seat
on the train; it never rang any bells of recognition with me because I
have never had a problem getting a double seat. Whether on the bus into
Luton town centre, the train to Manchester or the Hammersmith and City
line you can bet your last bag of fertiliser that the seat next to me
will either remain unused or be the last one taken. I have been on tube
carriages that have been packed with passengers but the seat next to me
has been left vacant. It used to freak me out when I was younger, I was
paranoid that I was giving off some scary vibe to everyone around me.
But when I discussed it with other Muslim friends it turned out that
they too had had the same experience. These days, now I know it is not
personal, I am more relaxed about it. Sometimes on the bus I deliberately
put my rucksack on the seat next to me and when the bus begins to fill
up I make a great play of moving it to see if anyone feels persuaded to
sit down. Occasionally they do, but if you look like a Muslim you can
be pretty confident of getting a double seat on most forms of public
transport.
And there's more good news when trying to get a black cab. It is true
that it is harder to get them to stop for me but again that is not the
full story. In all my experience of riding in cabs I have never had a
racist driver. White friends have often told me about uncomfortable
journeys with bigoted cabbies spouting rubbish, but all the taxi drivers I
have met have been either polite or silent. As for the private minicab
firms, pretty much all of those use Pakistani drivers and all it takes
is a few words of Urdu and that's a few quid knocked off the fare right
there and then.
There are numerous other benefits. At school I was able to get out of
swimming, assembly, RE and a trip to a local farm by telling the teacher
they were all against my religion. At home, being a Muslim male means
you can live with your parents into your late 20s and not be dismissed
as a maladjusted loser. If, as a Muslim, you get more attention from the
police on the streets, that is offset by the lack of interest that
others pay. Those charity muggers who stand in the middle of city high
streets for example. You see them everywhere accosting uninterested folk on
their way to work or shopping. But all I have to do is walk towards
them and look vaguely alienated and they pick on the kind-looking white
woman on her way to Boots instead.
If that wasn't enough, while we might be under-represented in the
mainstream media and in parliament, the great thing about being a British
Muslim is that you can call yourself a "community leader" without the
inconvenience of being elected or having any sort of legitimate mandate.
The rest of British society remains so ignorant of the Muslim
"community" that they think there is one, and anybody willing to shout into a
microphone will instantly be dubbed a "community leader". And having a
metal hook for an arm and only one eye is not seen as the drawback for
career advancement that it might be in elections for the parish council.
So there you have it: conclusive evidence that being a British Muslim
is not just about feeling marginalised, mistreated and misrepresented.
You will, I hope, be feeling suitably reassured.
"Keep high aspirations, moderate expectations, and small needs." -
William Howard Stein