WHAT IT MEANS TO BE BRITISH
What does it mean for a Muslim to be British? For some it means presenting your pink passport when you travel for Hajj or Umrah. For some it means wearing a Union Jack patterned hijab. For some it means attending the annual Eid party at the House of Commons and drinking tea with ministers. And for others it means shaking Mr Policeman’s hand when he visits the local mosque as part of ‘community’ relations.
What does it mean to me to be British? I was born and lived all my life in Britain. I completed all my education here. I obeyed the law. I worked, contributed to society and paid my taxes. I helped fundraise for disabled children’s charities and participated in ‘diversity.’ I never studied under radical clerics or joined extremist groups. I never supported a terrorist attack on Britain, publicly or privately, even though Britain terrorises Muslims around the world. I thought I had a fair idea of what it means to be a ‘British Muslim.’ But I was wrong.
On 02 December 2003, two years ago today, I found out what it really means to be British. To me, being British means being beaten up at 6 a.m. by a gang of racist ‘British’ police officers, in front of my wife, in my own bedroom. To me, being British means being dragged around by handcuffs on my wrists like a dog on a leash. To me, being British means being placed in prostration and having my religion mocked by the same police officers who drink tea with mosque committees. To me, being British means having my Quran thrown onto the floor, my newly decorated house smashed up and my wedding gifts deliberately broken by ‘British’ police officers.
To my wife (also ‘British’), being British means watching your husband being attacked by seven or eight fully armed and padded police officers until you think they are going to kill him. To my wife, being British means being handcuffed by police officers twice the size of you, for ‘their’ safety. To my wife, being British means women police officers smirking and laughing at you whilst you are trembling in a distraught state.
To my sister-in-law (also ‘British’), being British means having your unborn baby murdered by police officers by miscarrying due to the terror of an ‘anti-terror’ police raid. To my four year old nephew (also ‘British’), being British means having toys ripped open in order to protect ‘National Security.’ (I wonder how ‘British’ he will feel when he grows up?)
What else does it mean to me to be British, to feel British and to feel ‘part’ of Britain? It means bring strangled by police officers en-route to the police station until you think you are going to die. It means being punched, kicked and sworn at by the same police officers who remove their shoes out of ‘respect’ when entering mosques to recruit spies amongst the Muslim community. It means suffering over 50 injuries including blood in your ears and urine, leaving permanent scars all over your body, including your face.
To me, being British is to have the police officers who tortured and terrorised me escape criminal prosecution, only to be formally "commended" for their "professionalism and bravery" by the same senior police officers who ask for "co-operation" from the Muslim community. To me, being British is to be locked up like a caged animal for over 16 months without charge or trial, facing extradition without evidence to a foreign country to spend possibly the rest of my life behind bars. Moreover, this ‘foreign country’ happens to be a nation that holds thousands of Muslims in torture camps around the world and is not ashamed to admit it.
Had being ‘British’ really meant anything, the ‘British’ Government would have protected ‘British’ citizens from being plucked off the streets at the request of foreign countries, just like the German, Dutch, U.S. and French Governments protect their citizens.
The natural question thus arises: if I was born in Britain and lived all my life here but still cannot say that I belong here, then where do I belong? The answer is nowhere. I am a refugee. The writer and Islamic scholar Syed Qutb interestingly wrote in ‘Milestones’ that the homeland of a Muslim is not necessarily the place where he was born or lives, but the land in which Allah’s Shariah is established and every Muslim feels secure. Since at present there is no land on earth in which Allah’s Shariah is established and every Muslim feels secure, every Muslim is without a homeland. Every Muslim is a stateless refugee. Every Muslim is a Palestinian.
Since the one with his hand in water is unlike the one with his hand in fire, you may not agree with my perception of ‘Britishness’ as long as your hand remains in water, unlike my hand. I think today I have reached the conclusion on what it means to be ‘British.’ The concepts of ‘British Muslim’ and ‘British Islam’ are clever ploys to make the dog feel part of the family, when it is nothing more than a dog. It has taken me two years to come to this conclusion but I have reached it. Being ‘British’ means nothing. Being a ‘British Muslim’ means even less.
Babar Ahmad
MX5383
HMP Woodhill
British Political Prisoner Babar Ahmad
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For the Pleasure of a Lord, Mighty and Generous
The prisons come perfumed, and the bitter come sweet…