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May 24, 2006

UK: Muslim Lord Says Imams Should Use English

News from the Sheffield Star states that Lord Ahmed of Rotherham, Nazir Ahmed, has said that sermons in mosques should be conducted in English, and where parts of prayers need to be spoken in Arabic, these should be translated.

Ahmed said that this should happen to avoid young people becoming isolated, and ultimately being drawn to extremist preachers. He cited the example of Omar Bakri Mohammed, who exploited the alienation of some youth to inculcate radical ideas at breakaway meetings.

He wishes to start an advisory group which would provide training for all imams, and to set up certain basic standards. He was speaking yesterday in the House of Lords, Parliament's Upper House.

He said: "While some mosques have been used as an effective vehicle for social change by providing moral, social and spiritual development of individuals through worship education and recreation, unfortunately many are still run as tribal and regional centres, disconnected from the local British Muslim community and from the mainstream of British society."

"For instance we know that an overwhelming majority of British Muslims attend Friday prayers but 60 per cent of those who are British born are disconnected in many ways because of the language spoken. Sermons are delivered in Urdu, Arabic or another language. Of course all the religious teachings have to be done through the Koran and the Hadith, which are in Arabic, but I think we should ask everyone to deliver their sermons in English and to translate everything into English so that they can connect with young people."

Ahmed's views are mild compared to those of Labour MP for Keighley, Ann Cryer who in February who went a step further, claiming that many imams coming to Britain have "little knowledge" of women's rights and rights of children. She said: "They should have a knowledge of child protection, of how we regard the rights of women. Imams and others should encourage integration as opposed to segregation...Over many many years, I have not been given any help at all by many of the imams who have been brought in, many of whom don't speak a word of English, have little knowledge of what life in Britain is all about, particularly for their young members."

She added: "We have got to get away from this sort of attitude, we have to help our communities to integrate, to live in cohesion with the rest of our communities. I think that some of these imams coming in, particularly from Mirpur, where there is very little education, they are part of the problem rather than the solution."

Cryer was speaking within the context of her own constituency, but yesterday, Ahmed was trying to speak as a national spokesperson. He admitted in the Lords that he still was receiving resistance from some quarters over the issue of imams speaking the language of their host country.

He said: "Things have not changed much and we need to put pressure on Muslim leaders to ensure they connect with the British Muslim youth."

Ahmed, born in 1957 became Lord Ahmed of Rotherham in 1998. He used to fry fish and chips in the family chip shop, and describes himself thus: "I'm not a typical member of the House of Lords, I'm very much a peer of the people."

He married his wife Sakina Bibi in 1974, and they have three children.

He is a member of the Jammu and Kashmir Human Rights Commission. Formerly, he was chairperson of the South Yorkshire Labour Party and was vice-chairperson of the South Yorkshire Euro-constituency Party.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at May 24, 2006 5:38 PM

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