British imam who reached out to far-right rioters says dialogue is central to breaking faith stereotypes

Muslim cleric at the UK's oldest mosque in Liverpool advocates constant discussion as solution to divisions in society

A Muslim cleric who last year reached out to offer food, drinks and hugs to hundreds of protesters gathered outside the UK’s oldest mosque says regular dialogue is critical to recognise the “human in the other side”.

When Imam Adam Kelwick invited rioters into Liverpool’s Abdullah Quilliam mosque and embraced a far-right protester in August last year, he became an online sensation.

The riots were sparked by a fake social media campaign that falsely claimed a Muslim asylum seeker was responsible for stabbing to death three young girls and seriously wounding eight others at a Taylor Swift dance class in the seaside town of Southport, 30km from Liverpool on July 29. This led to days of rioting, attacks on shops and violent protests across England and Wales.

Coming together as humans doesn't leave any room for stereotypes anymore

Imam Adam Kelwick,
cleric at England's oldest mosque

“For as long as the Muslim is the other … it will be a scary character that you're building up,” Mr Kelwick told The National. “But when people meet in person and interact, that's when we can break the ice and get to know each other. We ask people to speak to us face-to-face, we build friendships, we have coffee, we have snacks and that's usually when the magic happens.”

Mr Kelwick was in Abu Dhabi to speak at In Dialogue, a conference held on Monday at the Abrahamic Family House.

He detailed how his outreach efforts have continued well after last year’s protests as has “made friends” with the ringleaders of the demonstrations, met for meals and organised community walks in the countryside.

“I've been invited with the Muslim communities to some of their gyms and boxing rings. They've offered to train our youngsters up and they come to the mosque,” he said. “I've appeared on some of their podcasts and the message is getting out to their followers that Muslims aren’t all these terrorist extremist monsters who are trying to take over of the world.”

Imam Adam Kelwick was in Abu Dhabi to attend In Dialogue at the Abrahamic Family House. Antonie Robertson/The National

‘Break through anger’

The imam spoke out against spreading hatred and misinformation on social media and emphasised the power of engagement.

“It’s actually when we stand together, eat or drink something together and listen to each other that people realise they are human just like me,” he said. “It’s when you talk, when you listen that all sides involved realise that the other is not a horrible monster … this is about recognising the human in the other side.”

Mr Kelwick also spread the message within the Muslim community that not all protesters were “nasty, evil people” but there were some genuine people tagged as Islamophobic. He said it was important to “break through the anger and fear” and find solutions as both sides realise they faced similar issues from the rising cost of living to the decline of health services in the UK.

“Let’s go one step beyond that and be the solution to these problems,” he said. “When it comes to the crunch, you find out that they might not necessarily fit the stereotype, which we apply to them in the same way that we don't fit the stereotypes they apply to us. Coming together as humans doesn't leave any room for stereotypes any more. You meet people for who they are and that's literally the solution to ignorance.”

Mr Kelwick said it was crucial to push back against labelling people and fitting them into boxes as Muslim, asylum seekers, legal and illegal immigrants. “As soon as any one person from any one of these groupings does anything wrong, everybody within that circle gets the blame … and my message is 'No, that's not true.'”

Mr Kelwick added that cultural, sports figures, Mixed Martial Arts fighters helped improve understanding, noting the impact of Liverpool footballer Mohamed Salah in particular. “It’s an opportunity for high-profile people to understand the importance and the responsibility of the position that they have,” he said. “We need to amplify positive messages and positive examples.”

Mr Kelwick speaking during a Stand up to Racism rally at St George’s Hall in Liverpool in August. Reuters

Rise together during Ramadan

Mr Kelwick also saw hope in the numerous anti-racist rallies showing solidarity with the Muslim community and immigrants that were held in the UK after the rioting.

“At the same time, we had protests against the mosque, against the Muslim community, we also had anti-racist protests which were bigger in size than the far right protests,” he recalled. “We had counter protests by hundreds of people from all walks of life from different religious communities. This shows the resilience that can be built from interfaith dialogue.”

With Ramadan around the corner, the cleric said it was not only about stopping indulgence in food and drink and spoke of the quality of forbearance or hilm in Arabic.

“The point is to improve your spirit, to train your spirit up,” he said. “If we're talking about times where people are in conflict, one particular characteristic and quality we need, is the characteristic of forbearance. Forbearance is this awkward patience where you choose to respond to negativity with positivity. It's the characteristic when you're attacked, when you're abused, you respond with positivity, kindness and generosity. The reason we exercise this hilm, this forbearance, is so we can both rise together.”

Asked about Israel’s war in Gaza, he said he prayed for the continuing ceasefire to hold. “Let's continue to pray that we get some peace, some security, some justice, we get some mercy in that region, which is really, really lacking those things right now.”