As Muslims, we need to up our equality game.

THE MAN IN SEAT 1A

A D I F F E R E N T T A K E O N T H E W O R L DN A B E E L S H A R I F F

I took the decision to highlight the Black Lives Matter movement on this months edition for so many reasons. There are the obvious condemnations from the fate of the late George Floyd to the less obvious nuances of institutionalised racism in society. The latter has been well documented and awareness is being raised to the centuries of devastating policies endured by people of colour.

My attention though is on self-reflection. For too long, I've seen discrimination in parts of our faiths community. From gender discrimination, where a female Muslim holds less importance than their male counterpart in conducting their prayer in a masjid, to the issue at hand, the indifferent treatment of black people. The sub-continent diaspora sometimes refer to black people with the 'k' word and Arabs sometimes by the 'a' word. The latter literally translates as 'slave'. If we think for one moment this is a white problem, we need to think again.

The simple acceptance of a black Muslim marrying an Arab, Indian, Bengali, Pakistani Muslim is still severely frowned upon. A black revert with dreadlocks is told not to enter the mosque until it's removed. In the 21st century, these examples show there is a stigmatism and stereotype over black people, when those said communities have undergone the same stereotyping in recent times.

The Prophet Muhammad (SAW) took the first steps from turning the lawless slave trade era to a system where it could be abolished. We also know he was kind to his black brothers and sisters as in the story of Bilal (RA). However, we seem to have lost sight of his example and simply quoting these events is not enough to say todays Muslims are not anti-black. We all have a responsibility to be make changes internally and externally. So let's be on the right side of history.