The ‘APPG – All-Party Parliamentary Groups, on British Muslims defines Islamophobia as “Rooted in racism, Islamophobia targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.”
This Islamophobia Awareness Month, the organisation is inviting us to Flip the Script.
The campaign’s mission is to ‘showcase the positive contributions of Muslims in the UK and raise awareness of islamophobia in society’.
This year the focus is is to ‘challenge narratives that misrepresent Muslims, reframe conversations that are based on stereotypes or assumptions and platform stories that showcase the day-to-day reality… by flipping the script, we move from assumptions to awareness, from silence to allyship, and from tokenism to true inclusion’.
I spoke to the president of the Islamic Society of Salford University, Ibraheem Mohuddin. The aim and objective of the society is ‘to bring people together, regardless of their race, ethnicity, financial background, etc, especially for those coming to university for the first time, as it can be quite overwhelming.’
We discussed ways that Islamophobia can be combatted through Education. Which he says, is to delve into what Islam is really about. “I literally openly challenge anybody to find a verse in the Quran that says anything about hatred towards others.”
Zaara Altaf, a member of the Islamic Society of University of Salford said “As a British Mulsim student, I have always felt underrepresented and not acknowledged, whether it be opportunities or taking part. Islamophobia Awareness Month recognises one month in the year that shines light upon mistreatment of Muslim individuals and the discrimination that has been increasing over the decade.”
I also spoke to a female Muslim in the media sector, Zainab Ikram, a Marketing Executive and graphic designer on why Islamophobia Awareness Month is so important to the community.
She said “its very important especially in light of recent events, with things like i guess Islamophobic riots that happened last year, after the Southport incident, understandably that was a tragedy but it did paint Muslims in a negative light and I think it’s really important to have these conversations that you can’t really generalise a whole group and it’s really important to have those conversions that you can’t really generalise a whole group of people.”