Contribution of Muslims to Communities

Uma Kumaran Excerpts

Thursday 13th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Dr Ahmed]

I wholeheartedly agree, and I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention. In fact, the thrust of the conclusion of my speech will be how important social cohesion is. We must keep that at the forefront of our minds.

The rhetoric we see online has the ability, surreptitiously, to desensitise all of us, and that desensitisation is finding its way to places such at the dinner table, where it is becoming an increasingly acceptable form of conversation to indulge in anti-Muslim rhetoric. As it does so at those dinner tables, at Muslim dinner tables across the country people are questioning their place in this society. This trend should worry us all, because it undermines the fabric of our society, our cohesion and our identity as a country. We know from other forms of hatred that what starts with antisemitism or anti-Muslim hatred rarely stops there.

[Uma Kumaran (Stratford and Bow) (Lab)]

I commend my hon. Friend for his contributions to this House, and I echo the comments about how great it is that we have you in the Chair, Madam Deputy Speaker, for this important debate.

My hon. Friend makes the point about fighting the tide of hatred, which I have seen at first hand. In a previous life before I entered this place, I was very proud to work for our first ever Muslim-heritage elected Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan. It is a testament to him that he has been fighting against this hatred and showing that London can stand as a beacon of hope against it.

It is really important that we are here today to celebrate the achievements of Muslim residents around our country, and there are many amazing organisations in my constituency of Stratford and Bow, such as the Minhaj Welfare Foundation, Soul Sisters and the British Bangla Welfare Trust. Would my hon. Friend join me in thanking them for their contributions to Stratford and Bow, and in wishing them a peaceful and blessed Ramadan?

[Dr Ahmed]

I thank my hon. Friend, a well-respected politician who represents all her constituents well, and I will definitely join her in congratulating those organisations, particularly the Minhaj Welfare Foundation, which also operates in my constituency.

As I was saying, this trend should worry us all, because of its undermining nature. We know that that kind of hatred, which begins as anti-Muslim rhetoric, does not stop with Muslims. It has a common denominator to divide and to fragment the bonds that have been forged over years, and indeed is a lightning rod to violence and civil disorder. This coming Saturday is a reminder of where that hatred leads if left unchecked. It will be the sixth anniversary of the Christchurch mosque shooting in New Zealand. On 15 March 2019, 51 innocent lives were tragically taken in that act of hatred—the youngest being just three years old.

That sickening attack on those attending Friday prayers was a dark day. But in that darkness came the light of the response by the now former New Zealand Labour Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern. She enveloped the Muslim community in empathy, inclusiveness and acceptance in a way that Muslims living in the west had rarely experienced, and in a way that will never be forgotten. I remember, the following day, coming out of the operating theatre and being driven to tears by her compassion. She validated my existence as a Muslim in the west in a way that no one in this country could have managed at the time, and for that, Muslims far and wide will hold her in a special place in their hearts.

But we must not mistake compassion for weakness. In compassion there is often strength, and perhaps an even clearer vision of the future and a bravery to confront difficult issues and have the difficult conversations across communities, but most importantly within. We saw that sense of compassion and bravery in our country last summer in our Prime Minister, who acted so decisively during the riots to protect mosques, to protect those at risk of violent attack, and to mobilise the state quickly and effectively against anarchy. He attended the big iftar at Westminster Hall—the first time it has ever been held there—and tonight he is hosting an iftar at Downing Street too.