Welcome to the mosque
JUMANA El-Hamdoon and Khadija Meziane are not even teenagers yet, but they have already felt the weight of being a Muslim in Britain.
Both are wearing the Hijab, a choice they made themselves.
And yet, Jumana has been shouted at in public by strangers telling her she is being forced to wear that ‘thing on her head.’
She told the story as part of an opening speech at Visit My Mosque Day on Sunday March 3 in the Feltham HIRA centre on Hounslow Road.
The national initiative sees Muslims open the doors of their mosques and encourage visitors to come and look inside and learn about Islam.
“This story is just a simple example of some of the things that Muslims endure on a daily basis,” Jumana said.
“Being a Hijabi, and a Muslim in general, puts you under a microscope. Every move you make is being watched and judged.”
Jumana is only eleven, but she speaks with more wisdom than some well known world leaders.
“We need to remove barriers. We need to build bridges, not walls. We need to get to know each other, and we need to appreciate diversity,” she told My London.
“An event like today goes a long way in achieving this, and we hope that we continue to educate each other.”
I found her praying with her friend Khadija, 12, in the upstairs women’s section of the mosque.
“It’s a peaceful place,” Khadija tells me. “If you want some calm, you might sit here, read the Quran.”
Both girls feel disheartened by the reputation of Muslims in Britain. Like their parents, they see the terrible actions of a tiny minority of Muslims reflected in the public’s perception of them, and it’s upsetting.
“It’s quite frustrating to me,” Jumana explained.
“As me and Khadija and lots of other Muslims strive to do their best to keep Muslims’ reputation high.
“People think us Muslims are monsters and that we are out to eat everyone!”
The hijab has prompted a backlash from some Islamophobes in the UK, with claims that it is a sign of the oppression of women living within the religion.
But Khadija and Juamana are more confident and outspoken than any other girls I have seen at their age.
“I think [wearing the hijab] is inspiring because it shows that you care about religion, that you care about what God said and the words that came down to earth,” Khadija said.
Jumana agreed: “It is about modesty and religion, but I do also feel, and I’m pretty sure lots of other hijabis out there, feel like it’s part of your identity.
“I don’t really know if I took it off now where I would be, I would just feel so uncomfortable all the time if I didn’t wear it.
“I feel like it’s part of my identity. It’s me.”
The event in Feltham was more like a wedding party than an open day. There was an outside function room with mountains of traditional food, cake, and tea.
Small children were running riot with faces painted and glittersplashed clothes, and guests could visit henna artists or a calligrapher to request a souvenir of the day.
Fouzi Saffar, one of the trustees at Feltham, proudly showed me around the main building of the mosque, which had been decked out with information boards and displays for visitors to read about Islam.
“That’s the purpose today,” he explained.
“To open the mosque for people to come in and have a look, see what it looks like inside, how we pray.
“It’s for people to look and learn and ask questions. We find that there are many ambiguities and misunderstandings.
“The only way that you can clarify these is to open the doors and break the barriers so people feel at ease here.”
The worshippers there were friendly and open, and eager to show me the various areas of the mosque and explain their traditions and practices.
But they were also just having fun, eating and chatting and laughing like you would at any party.
The perception of ‘normal’ lives of Muslims in Britain have been stained by stereotypes and bad press. They play football, go to McDonald’s, go for bike rides and have fun just like everybody else, Fouzi tells me.
Visitors were permitted to watch afternoon prayers
But when the Adhan sounds, it’s a call for worshippers to wash and gather for prayer.
They were kind enough to allow visitors to watch, and it felt like an intimate and privileged look into their world.
Muslim prayer is very active; they are continuously kneeling and standing, bending at the hips and kneeling again.
And they whisper prayers in Arabic under their breaths, creating a hypnotic murmur.
“When you pray it is literally talking to god,” Fouzi tells me.
The whole experience is quite enchanting, whether or not you believe in the same God or understand their words. They attend prayer no less than five times a day.
It is refreshing to see adults, teenagers and children committed to their community in a way that we rarely see in British society.
“That’s what we try to create,” Fouzi said. “A brotherhood.”
“Nowadays you don’t ever know your neighbour. We want to create that togetherness and break that taboo.”
The open day was attended by the Leader of the Council, Cllr Steve Curran, various other council members, the mayor, and both MPs for the area.
Disappointingly, the attendance of other members of the public was distinctly lacking. The message of the day was loud and clear, but it felt like it was falling on absent ears. It didn’t deter the organisers; they know that integration will take time and effort.
When they fail to win the hearts of neighbours, they take it as a challenge to do better, Fouzi tells me: “We have a good relationship with the majority of people, but you get the die-hard ones. You can’t change them you can only be there for them.
“One of our challenges is to look at the cup as half full not half empty.
“We blame ourselves and think if we have not conveyed the message properly we have not done our job.”