Muslims: high achievers, not terrorists...

A most important collateral casualty of the endless warfare in the Middle East is Islam itself.

 

Years ago few in the West gave much thought to it. The extent of the ordinary persons knowledge was probably limited the fact that Muslims don’t eat pork. Pakistanis in Bradford and elsewhere were seen as hardworking, honest people who kept themselves to themselves and caused little trouble.. Since then, successive atrocities and terrorist outrages  has forced people to know more, and they don’t like it. Islamists have brought one of the three great Abrahamic religions into ‘hatred, ridicule and contempt’.

 

Now Muslims everywhere are looked upon with suspicion. They are seen as essentially hostile to their host nations; not to be trusted; potential terrorists or at least fellow-travellers. Their blatant refusal to integrate is exemplified by their ‘in your face’ message from the burka – ‘ I am different. I reject your culture, values and institutions. I refuse to be like you or to speak your language’.

 

But there is another side.

 

I began this inquiry after reading an article by Dr Afzal Ashraf, a management consultant. I was intrigued to see that he was a retired Group Captain in the RAF, and engineering officer. We don’t usually think of the British military as a career choice for Asians, and yet the first Muslim to become a General served in both World Wars – it was that long ago.

 

Despite self-imposed handicaps, Muslims have been remarkably successful in many walks of life – politics, business, the professions, arts and entertainment, academia, journalism, justice and others.

 

In the public service, the Ambassador to the Philippines is a British Muslim, having previously been Ambassador to Thailand, as was the High Commissioner to Bangladesh, now a senior F&CO official. There are a good many Muslims holding senior positions in central and local government.

 

Muslims are prolific in law and medicine. For nearly 40 years all my GPs were such. There are barristers and solicitors aplenty, judges and Crown Prosecutors, one of whom wasted no time in  initiating prosecutions of child-abusers in Rochdale shortly after his appointment. There are artists, writers, journalists, poets. There are actors, musicians, comedians, TV producers, film script writers – just about the whole gamut of the entertainment industry.

 

In the media, the most instantly recognisable in a long list are Rageh Omar, Konnie Huq and Mishal Husain. Passing quickly over Yasmin Alibhai-Kahn, there are sports personalities in boxing, such as Naseem, a former world champion, cricket including our latest find Moeen, martial arts, football.

 

This brings us inevitably to politics.

 

At the last count, there were 11 MPs, 5 MEPs (one UKIP), 3 MSPs, 16 peers, and 7 Mayors.

 

So what’s all this discrimination, lack of equal opportunities, blah-blah that we hear from the race relations industry?