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Q.  Why is it so important to you that Christians and Muslims should support each other’s religious practices?

 

A.  According to a Eurostat survey in 2005, Britain is the tenth most atheistic nation in the world. Only around a third of British people believe in God and even many of these don’t have a clear idea in their heads or hearts what this actually means in their day-to-day lives. They just ‘feel’ there is a God but don’t really know what to do with this knowledge. This confusion is the direct result of a relentless political and media campaign to promote Darwinism as a fact, and religion as fundamentally unscientific. In such an environment, people of faith should unite as and when they can to survive this onslaught. With Islam and Christianity being the most powerful religious movements on Earth, it is logical for the two faiths to work side by side as and when they can. Both Muslims and Christians believe in God, life after death, a Day of Judgment – not to mention the mighty prophets of Old and New Testament: Adam, Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, David, Solomon, John the Baptist and Jesus Christ, peace be upon them all.   When Muslims were being persecuted in Mecca, the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, sent his downtrodden followers to Abyssinia. He told them that the Christian ruler, King Negus, was a good man and that because he believed in the books of God, he wouldn’t be unjust to the Muslims. As expected, he offered refuge to the fifteen Muslims who had come to Negus for aid. This is something Muslims and Christians shouldn’t forget. 

 

 

Q.  What do you hope the book will achieve?

 

A.  Whilst teaching in a primary school in Birmingham, I was working with a Year 4 class on the basics of Christian belief. I was disturbed to read that one Muslim boy had actually written, “I don’t like Christians because they are killingMuslims in Iraq.  ”The teaching assistant, a practising Christian, was so upset she was on the verge of tears. She was upset that a boy she tries to help everyday seems to think so little of her, and her faith. Because so many faith issues are intertwined with contemporary political conflicts, I hope this book will help Muslim youngsters understand that Christians are not inherent enemies of Islam. They shouldn’t judge Christianity based upon the foreign policies of Western governments just as Muslims wouldn’t like to be judged by a man who blows himself up in order to kill innocents.  On the contrary, young believers should understand that sincere Muslims and sincere Christians working together can be only good for both religious communities, and for humanity.

 

 

Q.  Where can people get hold of a copy?

 

A.  If anybody wishes to purchase a copy of the book, they only have to Google my name. The book will come up soon enough!

 

 

Q.  What are your thoughts on how supportive schools are of pupils wanting to practice their religion? 

 

A.  I think this country is reasonably tolerant of religious beliefs. For example, in many Birmingham schools, where the majority of children are Muslim, there is an Islamic collective worship assembly once a week. The non-Muslim children are given their own smaller assembly to suit their own beliefs. Whilst I think Religious Education is not given anywhere near the status it deserves, I would say that the framework is in place to do this. It often depends on the head-teachers, the senior management teams and how well they communicate with parents and parent governors. 

 

 

Q.  Do you have close Christian friends and how has your relationship developed?

 

A.  Yes, our family has always had Christian friends.  My Mother worked as a translator for a local environmental organisation that had strong links with the church.  They would help locals understand the importance of saving resources, not being wasteful and growing your own fruit in your garden! On humanitarian issues, people of faith should be at the forefront.  As for more personal relationships, around a dozen Christians attended my wedding and really enjoyed themselves – although the food was a little too spicy for some of them.  More recently, some Jehovah’s Witnesses began coming to my house.  We invited them in and they made several visits since.  Whilst they know I am not going to get baptised any time soon, and I cannot see them reading the ‘shahadah’ any time soon, we continue to meet and talk.