her say
Recent attacks and disasters in the UK have shown that ordinary people come through best
Eid Al Fitr is on our doorstep, but for Muslims in the UK, the preceding month of Ramadan has been one of the hardest ever.
Three major events have taken place during the month of fasting. The terrorist attack at London Bridge, where three men drove a van into pedestrians and then stabbed innocent people. Earlier this week, worshippers exiting the Muslim Welfare House after night prayers were mowed down by man who, when apprehended, said he wanted to “kill all Muslims”. Barely days earlier, the horrific fire in West London at Grenfell Tower created an inferno of 27 floors. Many residents jumped, braved smoke-filled corridors and shockingly recorded their last moments on video.
This is to the backdrop of the bombing attacks in Manchester just days before Ramadan and the Westminster Bridge attack just weeks before. And in the middle of it all, we had a snap election that produced a shock result and has rattled the country, all on the eve of Brexit negotiations.
The UK is weary and hurting. The relentlessness of events, and their huge emotional, psychological and physical toll are obvious to the nation.
Despite this dark hour, what has been most remarkable has been how people have come together. Community solidarity has been astonishing, even faster in many cases than the reaction of official authorities. For example, ordinary people came to Grenfell Tower to support with offers of shelter, clothing and food, offering homes to sleep in and raising £5 million. It was only three days later that the government announced an emergency fund of £5m. The government admitted it handled it wrong. Ordinary people got it right.
What is also remarkable is that ordinary people understand what the policy should be in such situations: standing together, supporting victims, asking tough questions, protecting the vulnerable.
On London Bridge, young Muslim girls handed out roses to passers-by for solace and healing. After Finsbury Park, a vigil by locals showed placards that read: “Leave our Muslim neighbours alone.” The instinctive human goodness of people shone through instantly. The government, on the other hand, has been slower to manifest the same sentiment in policy and law. The end of that day saw a robust statement from the home secretary that “British Muslims deserve full protection and they deserve it”. It’s welcome and reflects popular sentiment, but despite so many of us calling for this for so long, it has been many years coming.
People are angry too. Many of the attackers were known to authorities. Until the Finsbury Park event, Muslims were interrogated on air about why they weren’t doing more, why they were not denouncing radicals (they were doing more – they had reported one attacker five times to the authorities, and they were constantly denouncing). There was also anger over the fire – why weren’t people listened to when they raised issues about fire safety? Why did on the ground support work fall to ordinary residents in the light of the failure of the authorities? Again, people were right in their instincts and actions, but authorities did not respond.
It is the power of community and goodness that has been overwhelming, and what has got the nation through this intense and brutal period. These are also of course the hallmarks of Ramadan. And its spirit has been evident in the responses of Muslims to these horrible events. It is now widely acknowledged that those who were awake late after Ramadan night prayers and spotted the fire saved many lives.
Many Muslim charities were on the front line after the Grenfell Tower fire, with fasting volunteers working through the night and the heat to support survivors. And perhaps most of all it was the imam, who stood over the perpetrator of the Finsbury park attack shielding him from retaliation until he was taken by the police and could face justice, who epitomised the instinct that ordinary people have to stand for what is right, even when the authorities are still to catch up.
Despite the terrible events of the last few weeks, Eid must be a celebration of the resilience of human beings and the extraordinary power or ordinary people.
Shelina Zahra Janmohamed is the author of the books Generation M: Young Muslims Changing the World
