Islam is the second largest and fastest growing religion in the UK and Europe. In Britain there are about 1.5 million Muslims, concentrated in London and Birmingham, and as part of a major educational series, the BBC launched Islam UK this week aimed at encouraging a better understanding of the faith and its followers.
The series includes television and radio programmes exploring the history of Islam, young people's experiences as Muslims in Britain and using figures such as the boxer, Naseem Hamed, offers a contemporary image of Muslims - avoiding the Islamic stereotypes about terrorism, four wives and religious fundamentalism.
Muslims in Britain come from a range of different countries and there are Muslims of Caribbean, Irish, Cypriot and Pakistani descent attending some of the largest mosques in Europe.
Although there are many Islamic cultural and religious practices which non-Muslims consider archaic, particularly rules applying to women, the public role of women within the Islamic faith in Britain is gradually increasing. The largest group of converts to Islam in Britain are women and in an unprecedented move a woman, Ms Wageha Sayeda, was recently appointed as an observer to the Birmingham sharia court, where previously women were not allowed to take part in an official capacity.
Muslim academics and writers hope that after the BBC series ignorance will have fewer excuses. Dr Munir Butt, president of the Islamic Society of Britain, believes that it is ignorance of Islamic cultural and religious practices and customs that often leads to prejudice against Muslims in Britain.
One of the most frequently misunderstood issues, he says, is the dress code for Muslim women. He rejects the suggestion that Muslim women do not have a choice about wearing the veil covering their faces and body, the hijab, by insisting Islam requires total adherence to the Qur'an or one is not a Muslim at all.
"Women are seen as oppressed which is far from the truth. The hijab applies to men and women and it is a whole concept about how we look at each other, so that sexual feelings do not creep into everyday contacts. Either you accept the Qur'an or you do not. It is not pick this bit and not the other otherwise you make it up as you go along. It is about dressing modestly and being judged equally rather than being judged by body shape," says Dr Butt.
Racial tensions between some Muslims, Asians and members of the white community in Leeds, Bradford and Burnley this summer sparked off riots and sporadic violence. And Muslim leaders condemned the young Muslim men who were involved in the violence, some of whom were brought to local police stations by their parents. Expressing their frustration at poor housing and education and lack of jobs by throwing stones at the police and looting shops was wrong, says Dr Butt, suggesting their violent actions were a result of not being properly educated in the Islamic faith.
In the same way that many people in Britain misunderstand arranged marriages among Muslims, and indeed some Muslims misinterpret the concept by forcing their children into marriage, Dr Butt says there are commonly held prejudices in the way that the conflict in Palestine is reported around the world. Negative stereotyping, he says, can feed prejudice against the Muslim community in Britain. "I have always said that in Northern Ireland, for example, it is a land occupation issue and religion is a secondary issue," Dr Butt argues. "In Palestine it is not that we hate Judaism, we have respect for the Jewish faith. It is land occupation issue. It irks Muslims because we see the people of Palestine as freedom fighters and not terrorists. People can be seen as a freedom fighter one day and a terrorist the next."
Myth, demonisation and particularly the conflict in the Middle East have contributed to the portrayal of Muslims as intolerant, abusers of human rights and the rights of women. Events such as the BBC's Islam week and the annual Islam Awareness week in Britain in November can go a long way to encouraging British society and Muslims to understand their differences and end prejudice.
rdonnelly@irish-times.ie