'Muslims suffer most from London attacks'

The July 7 attacks on London, followed by four minor explosions two weeks later, have put British Muslims -- numbering around 1.7 million of a total population of 60 million -- in an uncomfortable situation. The Jakarta Post's Hera Diani talked to secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain Sir Iqbal Sacranie on the sidelines of the Bali Interfaith Dialog that ended on Friday. Below are excerpts from the interview:

Question: What is your comment about the explosions in London on Thursday?

Answer: We had hoped that the July 7 was the last attack in London. But a repetition has taken place. We hope and pray that the criminals behind these attacks will be apprehended.

What about the sentiment towards Muslims in Britain after the July 7 bombing?

The Muslim community ... have been trying to play an important role in mainstream society. There are many, many positive developments taking place. Laws have been changed in the country that now makes it illegal to discriminate against any religion. Participation in the community, in terms of engagement in government, police, non-governmental organizations and other faith communities have also progressed extremely well.

Now, with such a tragic strike in London, and with the criminals who carried out the atrocities being Muslims, the impact on the Muslim community is even greater. We've been trying to put out the message that Islam is a religion of peace. It motivates us to work for the good of society. Because Islam tells us that we've got obligations to society at large.

Yes, you look after the needs of your community, which has been deprived. The Muslim community has three times the number of unemployed as other people. Education-wise, British Muslims, particularly from Bangladesh, are at the lowest in terms of achievement. In terms of poverty and housing issues, the Muslim community has suffered most. But we have to deal with this. After 7/7, the community has been in focus once again. Of course, there were some Muslims who died, and many Muslims were injured. Sixteen different nationalities are affected. With these acts of terror, all of us are involved.

Now, we believe that those who carried out the atrocious acts are not just enemies of mankind, but enemies of Muslims in particular. Because they targeted areas with big Muslim concentrations, but also (in terms of) the backlash, Muslims are suffering the most. The extreme right-wing groups in the UK are now exploiting this tragedy, targeting Muslims. Through their websites, they are trying to give a very false image of Muslims, saying that this has something to do with the religion and the teaching of Islam, which is not true.

We also have extreme right-wing commentators who write very negatively about Islam and the teachings of Islam in the media. Language like Islamic terrorist/fundamentalist/extremist is wrong. You don't mention the IRA as Catholic/Christian terrorists. To face these challenges, the best way is to distinguish ourselves from Muslim extremists. Condemn them because they have nothing to do with Islam. The purpose of the perpetrators of these evil acts was to divide the community in the UK. They should not be succeed in this.

How did the Muslim community react to the terror attacks?

In certain parts of the country, there are feelings of fear. The community ... cannot comprehend how somebody could do that. They're still absorbing the shock. Now, they need to think about what are we going to do now. As Muslims it's our responsibility to prevent the attacks from taking place. The community is more vigilant, if we find something we report it to the police.

What is the position of Muslims in Britain compared to that in other countries, such as the Netherlands?

The position is much, much better than any other European country. Laws in Britain give protection against discrimination, policies are gradually getting better and interfaith relations are much better than any other European country. There has been tremendous progress in the last five years. Before, we were classified as groups of black, brown, Asian, Pakistani, now I can say that I'm a British Muslim. In the government, Muslim community is gradually coming up, with three elected members of parliament, four member of the House of Lords, and there are many Muslims on boards of government, police; very diverse people in different positions.