Islam & Democracy - Civic Responsibility
Dr. Mozammel Haque
Last
month in January, two events were held at the Islamic Cultural Centre, London.
The first one was a meeting on “Islam & Democracy – Civic Responsibility,”
organised by Islamic Cultural Centre, London, in collaboration with the UK Home
Office, on Thursday, 26th of January, 2017. The second one was a
conference on “Fifth Forum of Imams in Britain,” organised by Islamic Cultural
Centre, London, in cooperation with the Dawah Office of Britain, on Saturday,
28th of January, 2017.
Followings are the write-up of those two events prepared on the basis of the
draft reports of both the events received from the Islamic Cultural Centre.
First is the meeting on Islam & Democracy – Civic Responsibility.
Islam & Democracy - Civic Responsibility
On
Thursday, 26th of January 2017, Islamic Cultural Centre in cooperation
with the UK Home Office held the first of four community question sessions
under the theme of Islam and democracy; civic responsibility in the library
Conference Hall of the Centre.
The
event was attended by Trustees of the Centre, Cultural attaches, academics,
researchers and many youths. With the sole aim of promoting dialogue to support
the knowledge and understanding of the audience members in relation to pertinent
issues as well as to provide communities with the opportunity to ask questions to
specialists and government representatives and to offer their own views and
reflections. The event was also designed to guide grievances towards positive
and legitimate channels of democracy.
Each
panellist was presented with a certain timeframe to present relevant views and
points in relation to the theme of Islam and democracy which was followed by Q
& A (Question and Answer) session and then dinner.
Keynote
speakers & Event Dignitaries
The
Islamic Cultural Centre was pleased to welcome and host the following Trustees
and Embassy/High Commission Representatives:
v His Excellency
Sheikh Fawaz Bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Bahrain
London.
v His Excellency
Major General (Rtd) Dato Paduka Seri Haji Aminuddin Ihsan Bin Pehin Orang Kaya
Saiful Mulok Dato Seri Paduka Haji Abidin, High Commissioner for the Brunei
Darussalam.
v His Excellency
Mr. Md Nazmul Quaunine, High Commissioner for the People’s Republic of
Bangladesh.
v Mr Saud Al
Hamdan, Counsellor of the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia
v Mr Asif Khan,
Head of Chancery, High Commission for the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
v Mr Muneer Ahmed,
Press Attaché, High Commission for the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
v Professor Dr Reem
Baghat, Cultural Counsellor and Director of the Egyptian Cultural Bureau of the
Embassy of the Republic of Egypt.
v
Mr Mohammed Higair, 1st Secretary, Embassy
of The Republic of Sudan London.
The
evening was entertained by a host of speakers with a collective rich vast
background of skills and expertise; the panellists for the evening discussion
include the following:
v
Director
General of The Islamic Cultural Centre: Dr
Ahmad Al Dubayan
v
Chair
of Panel: Mr. Hassan Mujtaba –
London Tigers Community Development officer, London Tigers is an award winning
registered charity that engages with disadvantaged communities across London
and beyond with community cohesion projects.
v
Panellist:
Hon Rehman Chisty MP, Member of
Parliament for Gillingham and Rainham.
v
Panellist: Mr.
Hashi Mohamed, Barrister with No5 Chambers, and special advisor to the
Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation.
v
Panellist:
Sheikh Shafi Chowdury, Imam and
religious advisor for Her Majesty’s Prison Services.
Forum
Proceedings
The
event was opened by Dr Ahmad Al Dubayan, Director General of the Islamic
Cultural Centre. In his opening speech, Dr Al Dubayan addressed the audience
and highlighted how the moral and teaching of Islam does promote democracy and stressed
on the pertinence of this Forum in addressing the challenges and common
misconceptions with democracy and provides the opportunity for detailed Q &
A (Question and Answer) sessions with the panellists.
The
‘Islam and Democracy: Civic Responsibility’ event is a response to two local
concerns expressed by some community members. The first is theological:
specifically, a concern that Muslims cannot be both British and Muslim and that
Muslims should not engage in mainstream British society, including democratic
processes. The second is practical: even if individuals want to become more
engaged in society and affect change it is not possible and there are no
opportunities to do so. The event sought to challenge such narratives and to
highlight the importance of democratic and civic engagement, from a theological
and practical perspective, and the ways in which this can be achieved.
Panel
Chairman Hassan Mujtaba explained the parameters of the discussion and how the
discussion will be run and invited the speakers onto the stage to present their
key points to the audience.
Rehman
Chishti MP covered ‘How to affect change
locally and nationally – ways to engage with society and the importance and
benefits of democratic participation’.
Sheikh
Chowdhury gave a Theological discussion regarding ‘the importance of participation in society and a deconstruction of
arguments about non-engagement’.
Hashi
Mohamed spoke about the ‘Importance of
engagement with the democratic process at a local level – practical ways to do
so’.
Speeches
were preceded by half-an hour Q & A (Question and Answer) session with the
audience and Dr Al Dubayan concluded by thanking all for their attendance and
participation within the Forum and was delighted to see such engagement and enthusiasm
during the evening. Dr. Al Dubayan paid tribute to the Trustees of the Centre
for their invaluable support in the activities of the Centre and thanked the UK
Home Office for their collaboration in the Event and also thanked his
colleagues in the Islamic Cultural Centre for their hard work and diligence in
preparation of the event.
Forum Feedback and Data Analysis:
The
participants of the event were asked a series of question in terms of how they
felt towards the event with the first question that was answered being “Has this event improved your awareness of
Islam and Civic Responsibility” and the results can be seen below:
Question “Has this event improved your awareness of Islam and
Civic Responsibility”
It
can be deduced from the results that attendees had their awareness of Islam and
civic responsibilities improved overall throughout the event. Participants were
then asked two comparative questions before and after the event:
Question: What were your feelings on your ability to engage
with civic democratic processes Before and After the event:
|
Description
|
Before
|
After
|
|
Positive
|
24
|
40
|
|
Neutral
|
12
|
0
|
|
Negative
|
4
|
0
|
How confident were you that you could influence positive
local and societal change Before and After the event?
|
Description
|
Before
|
After
|
|
Confident
|
16
|
36
|
|
Neutral
|
20
|
4
|
|
No Confidence
|
4
|
2
|
How did you feel about the event overall?
|
Impact
|
No. of PARTICIPANTS
|
|
Positive
|
36
|
|
Neutral
|
4
|
|
Negative
|
0
|
Evaluation & Recommendations from Results:
The
Results displayed in the Data Analysis shows that overall an improvement from
before the event to after the event in the following sectors:
o
Advocating
for better understanding of Islam and Democracy
o
Promoting
The Civic Responsibilities of all in the Community
o
Creating
awareness of civil rights of all communities in Britain
The
results also indicate a high satisfaction rate in the participants’ attitude
towards the event itself which help promote a positive atmosphere in the event
itself.
General Comments
and suggestions:
v
Most
participants relayed to the Centre in the additional comments section that they
much enjoyed the discussions and found it most informative.
v
It
was also mentioned that the topics covered were highly relevant and important
topics as they were current affairs facing the Muslim community was highlighted
in the feedback.
v
Many
people mentioned how they enjoyed appreciating the views of the speakers as
each one came from a different professional background thus providing the forum
with a wealth of knowledge and information.
Areas to improve
on in future events:
v
Include
perspectives of youth and ways in which youth can better connect and engage
with the Muslim Community.
v
Include
more women in events and promote initiatives to promote women and to inspire
women in the community
v
Allocate
timeframe and monitor length of speeches to better allow for the flow of
punctuality in the forum.
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