Understanding Islam - Challenging Islamophobia

Understanding Islam CHALLENGING ISLAMOPHOBIA a toolkit for teachers & facilitators KS3-4+

credits resource content Dave Richards with Shehnoor Ahmed, Liz Allum, Matthew Battey, Lesley Elias, Barbara Lowe, Gareth Richards, Louise Robinson, Saima Shabir, Rachel Witton design Dave Richards thanks to The Abbey School, Reading, Munawar Karim, Katarina Kohanyi, Jahan Mahmood, Hafsa Sanders images 1001 Inventions, Ahmed Aboul-Seoud, Antiqueprints.com, Arsalan Asad, Bridgeman Art Library, Trustees of the British Museum, Cecilia Mak, English Heritage Photo Library, Freer Gallery of Art, Global Commons, Hamilton Weston Wallpapers, Islamic Relief, Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division, Liverpool Records Office, Mary Evans Picture Library, Michael Mayhew, Orientalist Museum, Doha, Paul McFegan, John Miller, Museum of London, National Army Museum, National Maritime Museum, National Portrait Gallery, Pew Research Center, The Royal Collection, Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, The Royal Pavilion and Museums, Brighton & Hove, Peter Sanders, Show Racism the Red Card, Teachers in Development Education, Tim Smith, Homer Sykes, The University of Birmingham, Research and Cultural Collections, Victoria and Albert Museum, Woking Muslim Mission, Tim Yip ﾂｩ RISC 2014 Users may copy pages from this pack for educational use, but no part may be reproduced for commercial use without prior permission from RISC. cover: Ruh al-窶連lam 8 www.visualdhikr.com

The first edition of this publication was been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union as part of its Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Programme. Its contents are the sole responsibility of RISC and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union.

The second edition was produced with the support of the Big Lottery Fund.

contents Introduction Islamophobia: the nature of the beast Islam in the curriculum Key concepts Teaching controversial issues Useful tips Distribution of world Muslim population Islam in Britain timeline Recommended resources

Rap duo Poetic Pilgrimage. Š Peter Sanders www.artofintegration.co.uk

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introduction In 2010 the Exploring Islam Foundation commissioned YouGov to survey public perceptions of Islam, Muslims and the Prophet Muhammad. A majority (60%) of the 2152 respondents said they didn’t know very much about Islam and obtained most of their information about Islam from the TV news (57%) or newspapers (41%) rather than directly from Muslim organisations.

Perceptions were generally negative: • • • • •

50% associate Islam with terrorism 13% associate Islam with peace and 6% with justice 16% think that Islam promotes fairness and equality 41% disagree or strongly disagree that Muslims have a positive impact on British society 69% believe that Islam encourages the repression of women.

The Understanding Islam: Challenging Islamophobia teaching materials aim to satisfy the need for resources that challenge these misconceptions. They are aimed at teachers working with secondary school students (Key Stages 3-4+ and International Baccalaureate Middle Years and Diploma), as well as facilitators working with community or faith groups, or with young people in a youth work context. They provide a range of activities which: • increase understanding of the beliefs and values of Islam • investigate the historical relationship between the Muslim world and other faiths and cultures • explain the history of Muslim communities in Britain • reveal the often hidden contribution that Islam and Muslims have made to the world generally and Britain in particular • allow young people to reflect on their own views about Islam and listen to other opinions and values • introduce the concept of Islamophobia and look at its causes and its impact on social cohesion • explore strategies for the school and wider communities to break down barriers and celebrate difference as well as what they have in common.

The activities use different participatory learning methods that will engage young people and give them the opportunity to develop critical thinking about complex and sometimes sensitive issues. There are activities suitable for a variety of situations: schemes of work relating to every area of the curriculum, assemblies, 20-minute tutor time sessions or post-exam project work.

The resource comprises three elements, the Understanding Islam: Challenging Islamophobia pack, the website and Islam in Britain exhibition.

The pack provides an overview of how Islam fits into the curriculum, discussion of the nature of Islamophobia, an illustrated timeline of the long history of Islam in Britain and a list of recommended resources.

The website is a portal to recommended learning resources – weblinks and mostly free downloadable materials – produced by the project and other organisations from around the world. It is an Aladdin’s cave of riches that will repay the time a teacher or facilitator invests in following the links. From the voyage of a 9th century Arab dhow trading with China to north African heavy metal music, there is something to challenge, inspire or intrigue everyone.

Islam in Britain is a 28-panel exhibition that charts the long relationship between Islam and these islands from the time when Islam was expanding rapidly and Christianity was just beginning to establish itself in Anglo-Saxon England, to 21st century Britain. An A3 version can be downloaded from the website for classroom work. A larger A1 version can be borrowed from RISC for displays in schools or community venues.

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islamophobia: the nature of the beast The Runnymede Trust has identified eight components that define Islamophobia. This definition is accepted widely, including by the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia.

• Islam is seen as a monolithic bloc, static and unresponsive to change.

• Islam is seen as separate and ‘other’. It does not have values in common with other cultures, is not affected by them and does not influence them.

• Islam is seen as inferior to the West. It is seen as barbaric, irrational, primitive and sexist.

• Islam is seen as violent, aggressive, threatening, supportive of terrorism and engaged in a ‘clash of civilisations’.

• Islam is seen as a political ideology and is used for political or military advantage.

• Criticisms made of the West by Islam are rejected out of hand.

• Hostility towards Islam is used to justify discriminatory practices towards Muslims and exclusion of Muslims from mainstream society.

• Anti-Muslim hostility is seen as natural or normal.

Islamophobia: A Challenge For Us All Runnymede Trust, 1997

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Hostility towards Islam and Muslims has been a feature of European societies since the eighth century of the common era. It has taken different forms at different times and has fulfilled a variety of functions. For example, the hostility in Spain in the fifteenth century was not the same as the hostility that was expressed and mobilised in the Crusades. Nor was the hostility during the time of the Ottoman Empire or that which prevailed throughout the age of empires and colonialism. It may be more apt to speak of ‘Islamophobias’ rather than of a single phenomenon. Each version of Islamophobia has its own features as well as similarities with, and borrowings from, other versions.

A key factor since the 1960s is the presence of some fifteen million Muslim people in western European countries. Another is the increased economic leverage on the world stage of oil-rich countries, many of which are Muslim in their culture and traditions. A third is the abuse of human rights by repressive regimes that claim to be motivated and justified by Muslim beliefs. A fourth is the emergence of political movements that similarly claim to be motivated by Islam and that use terrorist tactics to achieve their aims.

Islamphobia – issues, challenges and action Uniting Britain Trust, 2004

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Islamophobia is the fear and/or hatred of Islam, Muslims or Islamic culture and history. Islamophobia can be characterized by the belief that all or most Muslims are religious fanatics, have violent tendencies towards non-Muslims, and reject as directly opposed to Islam such concepts as equality, tolerance, and democracy. It is a new form of racism whereby Muslims, an ethno-religious group, not a race, are, nevertheless, constructed as a race. A set of negative assumptions are made of the entire group to the detriment of members of that group. During the 1990s many sociologists and cultural analysts observed a shift in racist ideas from ones based on skin colour to ones based on notions of cultural superiority and otherness.

Imam Dr Abduljalil Sajid Chairman Muslim Council for Religious and Racial Harmony UK

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The day will come A statement of vision

The day will come when: 1 British Muslims participate fully and confidently at all levels in the political, cultural, social and economic life of the country.

2 The voices of British Muslims are fully heard and held in the same respect as the voices of other communities and groups. Their individual and collective contributions to wider society are acknowledged and celebrated, locally, regionally and nationally.

3 Islamophobic behaviour is recognised as unacceptable and is no longer tolerated in public. Whenever it occurs people in positions of leadership and influence speak out and condemn it.

4 Legal sanctions against religious discrimination in employment and service delivery are on the statute book and offences aggravated by religious hostility are dealt with severely.

5 The state system of education includes a number of Muslim schools, and all mainstream state schools provide effectively for the pastoral, religious and cultural needs of their Muslim pupils. The range of academic attainment amongst Muslim pupils and students is the same as for the country generally.

6 The need of young British Muslims to develop their religious and cultural identity in a British context is accepted and supported.

7 Measures to tackle social and economic deprivation, unemployment and neighbourhood renewal are of benefit to Muslims as well as to all other communities.

8 All employers and service providers ensure that, in addition to compliance with legal requirements on non-discrimination, they demonstrate high regard for religious, cultural and ethnic diversity.

Islamophobia: A Challenge For Us All Runnymede Trust, 1997, slightly adapted

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islam in the curriculum The obvious place in the curriuculum for increasing understanding of Islam and challenging Islamophobia is in Religious Education (RE), Personal, Social, Health and Economic education (PSHE) or Citizenship. However, as the grid overleaf shows, there are many opportunities for embedding learning about Islam in every subject area. In fact, it is a requirement in the Science curriculum that pupils recognise ‘that modern science has its roots in many different societies and cultures’, while the key concepts for English including expecting students to understand ‘how ideas, experiences and values are portrayed differently in texts from a range of cultures and traditions’.

Ideally, developing a strategy for addressing the issue of Islamophobia should be an extension of existing good practice. Where there is a whole school approach to Global Citizenship, exploring Islam and Islamophobia is part of a wider commitment to increasing pupils’ knowledge and understanding about social justice, exploring their values and attitudes and developing their skills to enable them to become active global citizens. There is a need for classroom activities which analyse the portrayal of Muslims in the media or the significance of the hijab (veil). However, most key concepts can be integrated into the wider curriculum.

Discovering the contribution of Muslim science to modern scientific methods and knowledge is not only part of the history of science, it also helps to demolish the idea that Islam is a set of oppressive, archaic and violent beliefs. Realising that so many elements of our culture and lifestyle – language, sports, food, music, fashion – have been formed by the world of Islam undermines the notion that Muslims contribute little to British society. Finding out that there is a vibrant heavy metal scene in Tehran, that the 2012 Aquatics Centre in the Olympic Park was designed by Zaha Hadid, an Iraq-born woman, or that Muslims use their iPhone apps to check on prayer times and the direction of Mecca when they visit a new city erodes the stereotype of a monolithic backward-looking culture. Watching a movie about the intersecting lives of five Lebanese women or reading a murder mystery set in Ottoman Turkey reveals the diversity of the Islamic world. Learning that millions of Muslims fought and many died for Britain and its empire challenges the belief that Commonwealth migrants do not have a place in Britain.

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But the greatest irony for me is the commonality that actually exists between people from both ‘East and West’. When Muslim aspirations are listened to, and the Islamic view on today’s pressing issues (eg the environment, social justice, human and animal rights etc) is compared to that of the ‘West’, the convergence and overlap of opinion gives me much reassurance and optimism. The tragedy is that more are not aware of the preponderance of ‘shared values’.

The way forward now seems much clearer. Opportunities for teachers to raise awareness and to share and explore ideas are much needed, as well as educational resources which highlight the positive historic and modern contribution to society of Islam and of Muslims. Above all, positive and structured interaction between young people of all backgrounds must be urgently arranged, eg twinning schools with very different ethnic and religious compositions.

In short, the conclusion is unsurprisingly simple: for prejudice to be overcome, and for commonality to be recognised, other people’s perspectives must be explored.

Above all, only through increased interaction will familiarity and trust arise, which may in turn lead to friendship and partnership, which is the only lasting foundation for a shared citizenship.

Muhammad Imran, in Citizenship and Muslim Perspectives ~ teachers sharing ideas Islamic Relief and Tide~, 2003

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Art and Design

MFL

English

• traditional and contemporary • use films from Muslim countries • use of loan words and historical art from the world of Islam to consolidate learning of Urdu, links, eg science and Arabic, Farsi, Turkish and Arabic textiles and Indian languages • fusion of traditional and modern art forms, eg calligraphy • acknowledge languages • media portrayal of events in spoken in the school and wider Britain and Muslim countries, • influence of Islamic styles on community eg coverage of terrorism by BBC European art and design and Al Jazeera • study the spread of Arabic • European ‘Orientalism’ • work of traditional and • design poster campaign to contemporary writers from challenge Islamophobia Islamic countries

Citizenship

Design & Technology

Drama

• how Muslim beliefs and values translate to action for international development, trade justice, human rights…

• strategies for challenging Islamophobia in the school and wider communities • achieving Millenium Development Goals in Muslim countries

• impact of Muslim technology on • influence of the Arabian Nights 21st century life on theatre and pantomime • influence of ‘Turquerie’ on • use films from Muslim countries British style and design, eg in a programme of film textiles and soft furnishings, education or citizenship paisley shawl, carpets • portrayal of Muslims in Othello • Muslim influence on fashion and other 17th century plays from 17th century to today

Music

Geography

• influence of Muslim musical instruments on European musical traditions, eg guitar, military band • traditional and contemporary musical styles from the Islamic world • Muslim rap and heavy metal

• push and pull factors behind • identify Muslim sportsmen and migration from Muslim women, eg map countries of countries to Britain Muslim Premiership players • globalisation from Tudor times • work of Show Racism the Red Card • factors behind the spread of Islam and distribution of today’s • explore the roots of sports such as polo and the Arab horse in Muslim population worldwide racing • work of Muslim geographers and cartographers

RE

Science

PSHE

• Five Pillars of Islam • different traditions in Islam, eg Shia, Sunni, Sufi • similarities between the beliefs and values of the ‘People of the Book’ • coexistence between Muslims and other faiths, eg al-Andalus, giving sanctuary to Jews during Holocaust

• importance of Muslim science to Royal Society and European scientists • key figures in history of Arabic science

• attitudes to migrants and refugees including Muslims • causes and effect of cultural stereotypes • devise a school assembly on Islamophobia

ICT

Maths

PE

• Muslim beliefs about debt

History

• design online survey of attitudes • geometry in Islamic art and • history of Islam in Britain to Islam in school using Survey architecture • research family histories of Monkey • Arabic contribution to maths, eg migration within and to Britain • design websites/pages that algebra, numerals, astronomy • examine Crusades from challenge Islamophobia • survey students’ attitudes to Western and Arab eyes • design time line to show history Islam and compare to national of Islam in Britain polls

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key concepts • Islam is a religion; Muslims do not belong to one single race or ethnic group.

• The Prophet Muhammad is a messenger from Allah (God); he is not divine.

• Not all Muslims are Arabs; not all Arabs are Muslims. There is huge diversity among the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims, reflecting very different histories and cultures.

• Practising Muslims may agree on the basic tenets of Islam but have different beliefs on how these should be followed – just as there are huge differences among Christians.

• Muslims are part of the 21st century; there are magazines, online dating agencies and apps that reflect Muslim aspirations and values, as well as some of the best-funded universities in the world.

• Islamic civilization has a long tradition of tolerance to other religions, especially the ‘People of the Book’.

• Islam has a long tradition of scholarship, care for the environment, human rights, respect for women and support for the needy.

• Muslim scientific and technological advances provided the foundation for the European Renaissance and many aspects of modern life.

• There has been a long and complex relationship between Britain and the world of Islam.

• There is a long history of negative stereotypes of Islam, the Prophet Muhammad and Muslims. These date to well before the Crusades and have been reinforced by the need to justify conquest and colonisation.

• Not all Muslims are terrorists; not all terrorists are Muslims.

• There are many different Muslim communities in Britain that have different reasons for settling in this country. Some have been drawn by opportunities to invest their wealth or by employers seeking labour; others have been pushed by conflict, oppression or loss of livelihood.

Grave of merchant seaman, Azeour Ulla, Bayeux War Cemetery, France

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teaching controversial issues

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For far too many people, Islamophobia is seen as a legitimate – even commendable – thing. You could even say that Islamophobia has now passed the dinner-table-test.

Sayeeda Warsi, Chairman of the Conservative Party, University of Leicester Sir Sigmund Sternberg Lecture, 2011 The National Curriculum lays down the expectation that young people should have the opportunity to explore controversial issues. It is clear that the place of Islam in British society is a question of fundamental importance. It is not only the English Defence League (EDL) that believes that ‘the proponents of radical Islam have a stranglehold on British Muslims’.

Conservative Party Chairman, Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, has asserted that prejudice against Muslims has ‘passed the dinner-table test’ and become socially acceptable. Since 9/11 Islam and terrorism have become synonymous and the 2010 YouGov survey reveals a widespread belief that Muslims contribute little to Britain.

Schools should be at the forefront of challenging Islamophobia – ‘the fear and/or hatred of Islam, Muslims or Islamic culture and history’ – as part of their role to prepare young people to be active global citizens who are able to make sense of the complexities of the 21st century.

This is not an easy task.

At the same time as acknowledging the benefits of raising controversial issues in the classroom, you will need particular teaching skills to prevent reinforcing stereotypes, raising tension between pupils or increasing confusion.

You will need to find approaches that meet the need for balance and objectivity and to ensure that you avoid bias. Those which you choose will match your confidence and experience as well as the maturity and skills of your pupils. You might plan a topic to raise controversy or controversy may arise unexpectedly – you will need to be prepared for both.

Young people are likely to express a wide range of responses when confronted with controversial questions. Their different experiences, learning styles and emotional intelligence levels can lead to different reactions.

Oxfam GB Teaching controversial issues, 2006

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some useful tips...

As a classroom teacher wishing to enable work on Muslim perspectives, what should I bear in mind?

Do...

• Create a climate which values all views and opinions. It can be useful to negotiate some ground rules.

• Encourage a questioning approach.

• Enable students to share their views with each other in groups.

• Encourage student groups to share and justify their views and findings with a different audience.

• Introduce perspectives through a variety of stimuli, eg quotes from individuals and organisations, newspaper articles, cartoons etc.

• Represent and explore a diversity of Muslim viewpoints.

• Explore Muslim perspectives alongside other perspectives.

• Enable students to identify commonality as well as difference, ie what do Muslim perspectives have in common with other perspectives.

• Share some of your own thinking... particularly your uncertainties, as a contribution to group discussion.

• Support students to explore issues in their wider, global context.

Try not to...

• • • •

Worry about being an ‘expert’; it is all right to admit sometimes that you ‘don’t know’.

Make discussion too teacher-centred.

Manipulate discussion in order to get to ‘the right answer’.

Simply dismiss racist or provocative views, but ensure that other points of view are also heard; allow time for a positive deconstruction.

• Be afraid to challenge sensitively, or to enable others to challenge sensitively, to ensure that different sides of an argument are heard.

• Reinforce stereotypes but rather to think about using stimuli that will challenge stereotypes.

• Alienate by using ‘them and us’ language. Be inclusive.

• Put Muslim students (in a diverse class group) ‘on the spot’, but do ensure that their voices are heard in the discussions.

• Be too rigid in your planning – sometimes the best discussions are spontaneous, so allow for this! from Citizenship and Muslim perspectives ~ teachers sharing ideas, Islamic Relief with Teachers in Development Education, 2003

And • Ensure participants do not assume that their views are shared by other group members.

• Do not generalise about Muslim beliefs and values. Just as Christianity has many sects and individuals may have very different understandings of their faith, Islam is not a monolithic belief system. It also has a variety of traditions and different interpretations of the Prophet’s sayings (hadith) and actions (sunnah). Some Muslims may no longer practise their faith but will have been influenced by its beliefs and values.

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World distribution of Muslim population

This ‘weighted’ map of the world shows each country’s relative size based on its Muslim population.

Figures are rounded to the nearest million.

Source: Mapping the Global Muslim Population: A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World’s Muslim Population, Pew Research Center, 2009

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islam in britain timeline From the 8th century, when Islam rapidly spread east and west from its origins in Arabia, it came into contact with Europe and its peoples. This complex relationship developed over the centuries as successive Muslim dynasties established rich and powerful empires over the land they conquered. It involved conflict (eg during the Crusades and between the Muslim and Christian kingdoms in Spain), military alliances and trade.

For many centuries, during Europe’s so-called ‘Dark Ages’, the flow was from the world of Islam to Europe, which benefited from the advances of the Golden Age of Islamic science and technology (c750–1258). From the Renaissance onwards the relationship changed as European countries embarked on a period of aggressive expansion around the globe, based on trade backed up by the cannon, musket and Bible. Even while the ‘Gunpowder Empires’ (Mughal in India, Safavid in Persia and Ottoman around the southern and eastern Mediterranean) flowered and influenced European art, architecture and fashion, European power was beginning to undermine their foundations. By the late 19th century these once magnificent civilisations had become territories carved up into colonies or spheres of influence by the main European powers.

This timeline charts the impact of the Islamic world on England/Britain. Evidence of contact during the ‘Dark Ages’ is limited, but from the medieval period records show active military, diplomatic and trade relations. Diplomats and traders visit, Muslim characters feature in English literature, Arabic words enter the language, scholars begin to study Arabic, imported luxury goods and clothes from the East become fashionable and small communities are established. This forgotten history reveals a long relationship between Muslims and the British, involving the exchange of goods, people, knowledge and ideas – the world of Islam is woven into the fabric of British life.

570–632 • Life of the Prophet Muhammad 723–727 • Wessex-born Saint Willibald traveled to the Holy Land and wrote about his adventures in Damascus and Jerusalem

8th C • Islam spread its empire from Arabia into Europe, North Africa and Asia; the world of Islam became a changing pattern of empires and dynasties, often in conflict with each other and neighbouring states • by 772 Umayyad dynasty ruled over present-day Spain and Portugal (711– 1492), called al-Andalus (origin of Andalucia) • the people of al-Andalus were called Moors by Europeans, giving rise to ‘moorish’ dance, ie Morris dance • Shakespeare’s Othello was a Moor

794 • Anglo-Saxon King Offa of Mercia (757–796) receives ambassadors from Harun ar-Rashid, Caliph of Baghdad, and includes Arabic inscription, There is no God but Allah, on the first gold coin minted in Britain

left: Ballycottin Cross; right: Offa’s gold imitation dinar. ©Trustees of the British Museum

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illustration: Cecilia Mak

Spread of Islam 634-1475, showing major Muslim dynasties

9th C • the bronze Ballycottin Cross found in southern Ireland, bears the inscription Bismillah (‘in the name of God’) • records show that merchants continued the trade in luxury goods between Muslim and Christian lands; silk, gems, ivory and cowrie shells were imported into Anglo-Saxon England, as well as lapis lazuli from a mine in Afghanistan – this was ground up and used to create rich blues in illustrated manuscripts late 10th C • the Christian patriach of Muslim Jerusalem sent medicinal spices to King Alfred 1095–1291 • series of nine military campaigns to restore Christian control over the Holy Land; the Crusades marked a watershed in the relationship between Islam and Europe 1099 • the capture of Jerusalem and much of the Holy Land by the Franks (European Christians) introduced Crusader states into the complex rivalries of the region; Muslims and Christians not only fought with and against each other, but also established trade routes • new foods (rice, lemons, sugar, apricots…), household goods (paper, mattresses, carpets, cotton cloth…) and science and technology (musical instruments, water wheel, ships compasses, medicine, astronomy, mathematics…) came to Europe

1109 • English scholar Adelard of Bath began his travels through Muslim lands devoting himself to studying the ‘wisdom of the Arabs’; his translations into Latin of many important Greek and Arabic scientific works of astronomy, philosophy and mathematics influenced medieval thought throughout Europe

12th C • Muhammad al-Idrisi (1099–1165), a north African geographer and map maker patronised by Sicilian kings, travels to many parts of Europe, including York

1143 • Robert of Ketton, English-born medieval scientist and Arabist (scholar of Arabic language and culture) working in Spain makes first translation of Qur’an into Latin

1144 • Robert of Chester, another English Arabist working in Spain, translates Jabir Ibn Hayyan’s The Book of Chemistry into Latin – it influences medieval science in Europe

1147 • on their way to the Holy Land in the Second Crusade, soldiers from Norfolk and

Tabula Rogeriana, a world map created by the Arab geographer, Muhammad al-Idrisi, in 1154.

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Two examples of the glories of Muslim Spain. top: Stalactite vaulting in the Hall of the Abencerrages, Alhambra Palace, constructed during the mid-14th century by the Moorish rulers of the Emirate of Granada in al-Andalus. The dome is honeycombed with about 5000 different cells. bottom: The former Great Mosque of Córdoba was built between 784–987 and is considered one of the gems of al-Andalus. It became a Catholic cathedral during the Spanish Reconquest in 1236. Both are World Heritage Sites.

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Suffolk join other crusaders in the siege of Muslim Lisbon; after the surrender an estimated 150,000 were massacred 1185 • Robert of St Albans, an English Knight Templar converted to Islam – many crusaders were impressed by Muslim beliefs and embraced Islam

The pointed arch that features in much Gothic architecture came to Europe from Cairo via Sicily. left: Cairo’s Ibn Tulun Mosque built in 876. © Ahmed Aboul-Seoud; right: Bolton Abbey, UK built in the 12th century. © John Miller

1213 • according to contemporary historian, Matthew Paris, King John, younger brother of Richard the Lionheart, faced with excommunication by the Pope, revolt by his barons and war with France sent an embassy to the powerful ruler of Morocco, Muhammad an-Nâsir – Paris claimed that King John’s offer to convert to Islam in return for military assistance was rejected

1267 • Oxford scholar Roger Bacon (1214–1292) delivered his scientific treatise Opus Maius to Pope Clement IV; fluent in Arabic, Bacon studied in Muslim Córdoba and drew heavily on the work of Ibn al-Haytham (Latinised to Alhazen) and al-Kindi (Alkindus) for the section on optics and Ibn Sina (Avicenna) for medicine

1299 • rise of Ottoman Empire centred on Constantinople (Istanbul in modern-day Turkey); at the height of its power in the 16–17th centuries it controlled much of southeast Europe, north Africa and the Arabian peninsula and profited from the

left: Syrian medicine jar, c1300, excavated in Fenchurch St. © Museum of London; right: Royal Exchange opened in 1571 by Elizabeth I to accommodate merchants trading around the world. © Trustees of the British Museum

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The Family of Henry VIII, c1545 shows the King seated with his third wife, Jane Seymour and Prince Edward, later Edward VI. The canopy of state is highly decorated with arabesques and geometric patterns. The carpet is in the Turkish Anatolian style found in many Renaissance paintings. The Royal Collection © 2011 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

trade between East and West • Arabic loanwords, eg algebra, admiral, alcohol, began to appear in the English language, directly or via other European languages; guitar appeared as giterne in 14th century directly from Spanish guittara, from the Arabic qitar 1386 • Muslim scholars are mentioned in prologue of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales 1581 • Elizabeth I granted a charter to the Turkey Company to trade with Ottoman Empire; in 1592 it merged with the Venice Company (founded in 1583) to form the Levant Company • England exported tin and lead for casting cannon to the Ottoman empire and imported silks, spices (especially nutmeg, cinnamon, pepper, cloves) and precious metals; traders became known as pashas

1585 • Barbary Company established by Elizabeth I to trade with Morocco – English weapons, timber and metal in exchange for Moroccan sugar; the north African states west of Tripoli were called Barbary (from the indigneous Berber people) • in 1600 ambassador from Moroccan ruler Ahmad al-Mansur spent 6 months in the English court to negotiate an alliance to invade Spain

1588 • Elizabeth I offered treaty to Ottoman Sultan Murad III against Catholic Spain; Muslim traders given protection in England and English traders given free passage in Muslim territories 16–17th C • records show that many Muslims came to Britain as refugees (enslaved seamen released from captured Spanish ships), captured north African corsairs (pirates) who were imprisoned in coastal towns in the south west of England, merchants and ambassadors • attitudes to these visitors ranged from intolerance towards poor sailors to awe at the ambassadors who wore luxurious silk clothes and brought lions and Arabian horses as gifts; these horses were renowned for their intelligence, speed and endurance – characteristics that helped Muslim cavalry to defeat their enemies and encouraged breeders to introduce Arabian bloodlines into local stock for military use and racing • Britons also lived amongst Muslims as soldiers/seamen, pirates, traders and captive slaves • European Christians converted to Islam – ‘turned Turke’ – forcibly and voluntarily • in 1619 there were an estimated 5,000 English converts in Algiers alone and Absalom, a former butcher from Exeter, found a new vocation as the ‘Moorish King’s Executioner’

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Abd el-Ouahed ben Messaoud, Moorish Ambassador to Queen Elizabeth I, 1600. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society and may have been the inspiration for Shakespeare’s Othello. © The University of Birmingham, Research and Cultural Collections

• thousands of unemployed English soldiers served as well-paid mercenaries for Muslim rulers in North Africa and Turkey and were particularly valued as gunners • Samson Rowlie from Great Yarmouth became Hasan Aga, a powerful Ottoman eunuch while a Scotsman named Campbell became a general re-named the ‘Ingliz Mustapha’ • the word ‘renegade’ (from Spanish ‘renegado’) entered English language to describe converts to Islam

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left: Babur Supervising the Laying Out of the Garden of Fidelity, c1590. Babur founded the Mughal dynasty in India and this garden in Kabul includes pomegranates and oranges. Many new crops from around the Muslim world were introduced to Europe including sugar cane, oranges, rice, cotton, apricots and figs. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London; right: Coffee houses were often named Saracens and Turks, referring back to the Crusades and the Ottoman empire; the name was then used by pubs.

16–19th C • north African Barbary states, based in Tunis, Salé, Algiers, Tangier and Tripoli, attacked ships and traded pirated goods and slaves throughout the Ottoman empire

16th C • contact with the rich and powerful Islamic ‘Gunpowder Empires’ in Turkey, India and Persia gave rise to ‘Turquerie’, a fascination with the Oriental style in fashion and the arts • Islamic motifs adopted into architecture and decorative arts

Disembark of Moorish corsairs by Vicente Camarón, c1823. Barbary pirates attacked ships in the Mediterranean and raided coastal towns in Spain and SW England. © The Trustees of the British Museum

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Sultan Ahmed Mosque, Istanbul, Turkey. Built in 1609–1616, it is an impressive example of late Ottoman architecture. Š Giorgio Fochesato

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Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque, Isfahan, Iran. Built in 1615, it is one of the architectural masterpieces of Persian Safavid architecture. Š tunart

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Taj Mahal, Agra, India. Completed around 1653 by Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife, Mumtaz Mahal, it is the finest example of Mughal architecture, which combines elements from Persian, Turkish and Indian styles. Š Ostill

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Amalfi

Venice

Genoa

Pisa

Vienna

Black Bla ack Sea Constantinople

s Se

illustration: Cecilia Mak

a

Surat

Bay of Bengal

Malacca

Penang

Mughul Empire

Safavid Empire

Ottoman Empire

Sylhet

Calcutta

Madras

Delhi

INDIAN OCEAN

Arabian abian

Sea Bombay

Muscat

Karachi

Mirpur

The ‘Gunpowder Empires’ and places mentioned in the text

Zanzibar

Mocha

Aden

Mecca

Medina

Jask

Córdoba Smyrna Granada arr y C oa stt ba B ar b Seville Aleppo Tunis

Algiers Iskenderun Tangier Salé Fes M di Mediterranean Mediterra anean n Sea S Damascus Baghdad Tripoli Alexandria Jerusalem Isfahan

Cairo Suez Canal Shiraz

Lundy Island

London

North Sea

Ca n pia

• oriental carpets and other luxuries imported by the rich – Elizabeth I requested English ambassador to the Ottoman empire to send Turkish clothes • Muslim figures appeared in Renaissance and Baroque art, eg three Magi in Biblical scenes 1501–1736 • Safavid Empire in Persia – diplomatic and trading relations developed with Europe • East India Company is allowed to set up ‘factories’ (trading posts) in Isfahan, Jask and Shiraz and develops a long involvement; in 1598 Shirley brothers help to reorganise the Persian army on European lines 1526–1857 • Mughal Empire in India

Muhammed Ibn Haddu riding in Hyde Park, 1684 by Godfrey Kneller. He was Moroccan Ambassador to court of Charles II, was made a Fellow of the Royal Society and reported to be the son of an English woman. © English Heritage Photo Library

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Jahangir preferring a Sufi Sheikh to Kings, Mughal miniature by Bichitr, c 1620. James I can be seen at bottom left. Š Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC

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1600 • Elizabeth I granted a Charter to the East India Company (EIC) as a subsidiary of the Levant Company to operate east of the Cape of Good Hope; it aimed to take advantage of the growing trade with the East Indies via the cheaper Indian Ocean sea routes pioneered by the Portuguese, Spanish and Dutch • the EIC’s first voyage set sail in 1601 and took 16 months to reach Java where they set up the first European factory (trading post) in the great commercial centre of Bantam; all four ships returned safely to England, their holds full of pepper 1603 • Richard Knolles published The Generall Historie of the Turkes which was so popular it was reprinted seven times in the next 100 years; it was allegedly read by Shakespeare who refers to Islam – to the prophet ‘Mahomet’, Morocco, Barbary, Constantinople, Moors, Turks, Ottomites, sultans, saracens, paynims, moriscos – at least 141 times, in 21 different plays • stereotypes of Muslims as deviant, tyrannical, deceitful and cruel portrayed in many plays during the Tudor and Stuart periods; the Prophet Muhammad was often demonised as a pagan, false prophet or anti-Christ

1614 • the EIC realised that good profits could also be made from trading in high quality Indian textiles and in 1614 secured exclusive rights to set up factories from the Mughal emperor Jahangir; by 1647 ‘John Company’ had 23 factories around the Indian coast • the English began to engage in the Red Sea and Persian trade from the Indian port of Surat, and also shipped Indian cloth to the great trading centre of Bantam in Java in exchange for cloves, mace, nutmeg and pepper • once the first cargoes of cloth reached England, the home market grew rapidly and related Indian words became part of the English language – chintz, calico, gingham, dungarees, pajamas • from its first expeditions the Company recruited lascars (Asian seaman, from Arabic al-askar meaning ‘soldier’ or ‘guard’) from ports on its routes around the Cape of Good Hope, up the east African coast to Zanzibar, Somalia, Yemen, the Bay of Bengal and the Malay archipelago

left: The Old East India House in Leadenhall Street – the Company’s headquarters, 1648– 1726. © Trustees of the British Museum; right: Title-page to Richard Knolles’, The Generall Historie of the Turkes, 1621. © Trustees of the British Museum

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top: Portrait of East India Company official by Dip Chand 1760–1763. Probably William Fullerton who joined the Company’s service in 1744 and was second surgeon in Calcutta in 1751. He was an excellent linguist, had one or more Indian bibis (mistresses) and became mayor of Calcutta in 1757. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London; bottom: The Palmer Family, painted by Zoffany in Calcutta, 1786. Major William Palmer (1740-1816) became a wealthy nabob and married Fais Baksh a Mughal princess (seated on his right). © Bridgeman Art Library

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The Wise Men make their offerings to Christ, and worship Him, print from painting by Paolo Veronese in the Royal Galleries of Windsor and Kensington, late 17th–early 18th century. Many depictions of ‘Moors’ and ‘Turks’ can be found in European art. In Biblical scenes in 15th–16th century Dutch paintings, the three magi and background figures, especially Romans and Jews, were given exotic costumes that distantly reflected the clothes of the Near East. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

• all of these ports were in Muslim areas and many sailors were transported to London where they often stayed, waiting for a return passage; they were joined by lascars from the Bombay and Bengal Squadrons of the Royal Navy when their men-of-war returned to England for refits

• many of the Company’s Indian regiments were Muslims recruited in Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh • Company agents often adopted an Indian lifestyle and took local wives and mistresses, including Muslims

1627 • community of poor Muslim seamen freed from captured Spanish ships found working in central London as tailors, shoemakers, button makers • Barbary corsairs from Salé, led by Dutchman Jan Janszoon, occupy Lundy Island in the Bristol Channel for five years; Ottoman flag raised over the island

1632 • Professorship in Arabic estabished at Cambridge University with money from Sir Thomas Adams, Lord Mayor of London • Laudian Professorship of Arabic at Oxford University set up by Archbishop of Canterbury, William Laud in 1636, in order to facilitate trade and study of Arabic scientific texts

1637 • Charles I authorised English fleet to assist the Morrocan ruler against a local rival

1649 • first English translation of the Qur’an by Alexander Ross from a French version

1652 • first coffee house opened in London by a Turk, Pasqua Rosée – by 1675 there were over 3,000 in England • introduced into Europe from Turkey by Venetian traders, most of the world’s coffee beans came from Mocha in Yemen until the end of the 17th century when the Dutch introduced the plant to Indonesia

1658 • Quaker missionary Mary Fisher travels to Turkey and has audience with Sultan Mehmed IV to discuss the nature of God

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A new map of the whole world with the trade winds according to ye latest and most exact observations by Herman Moll, 1719. The title shows the four known continents in human form. The half-naked figures for South America (left) and Africa (right) contrast with the noble European and bold Asian. The turbaned, finely dressed Muslim is more of an equal than the barbarian ‘Other’. Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division

1660 • Royal Society founded to discuss the new philosophy of studying the natural world, ie science • nearly forty Fellows of the Society in the 17th and 18th centuries were Arabists who recognised the importance of Islamic science and translated classic texts from the Arabic – merchants from the Levant Company were requested to send home manuscripts • three Arab Ambassadors were elected Fellows

1700s • ‘Turquerie’ – the fashion for Turkish art and culture – spread to the aristocracy and wealthy middle class who might go to watch a play or opera based on a Turkish theme or attend a masked ball in an elaborate Turkish costume; at home they might relax wearing a Turkish robe while smoking Turkish tobacco in a hookah, drinking Turkish coffee and eating Turkish sweets; women had their portraits painted wearing loose, flowing, ermine-trimmed robes and pearltasselled turbans • Islamic motifs and brightly coloured decoration were used on many luxury objects manufactured in Europe – from wallpaper to watches

Portrait of a Lady thought to be Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1689–1762) by George Knapton. She wrote Turkish Embassy Letters, observations of life in the Levant based on her time in Constantinople as wife of the English ambassador and is credited with inspiring later women writers and much Orientalist art. She had two of her children innoculated against smallpox – a practice she had witnessed in Turkey. She is dressed in the fashionable Turkish style. © Christie’s Images/The Bridgeman Art Library

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Examples of Turquerie, clockwise from top left: Edwd Wortley Montagu Esqr in his dress as an Arabian Prince, 1814 by H Phillips. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London; illustration to Cooke’s edition of the Arabian Nights, 1801. © Trustees of the British Museum; Mr Barry in the Character of Othello, 1769. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London; enamel portrait of unknown woman wearing Turkish costume by Gervase Spencer, 1757. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

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left to right, from top: Wallpaper designs inspired by Ottoman textiles: Lambeth Saracen, c1690, © Hamilton Weston, and pomegranate motif from Christ’s College Cambridge, c1509; Textiles exported by the East India Company: early-19th century shawl made in Kashmir and chintz hanging from Gujarat, India, c1700. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London; East India House Museum, Leadenhall Street, London, 1858. © Illustrated London News Ltd/Mary Evans

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• Mughal architecture and decorative arts became fashionable, eg Brighton’s Royal Pavilion built for George, Prince of Wales, in 1787

1706 • first English translation of the Arabian Nights based on a collection of stories from around the Islamic world – Ali Baba, Sinbad, Scheherazade and Aladdin enter English culture 1714 • King George I ascends the throne and arrives in London; his retinue includes Mohamet and Mustapha, two Turkish Grooms of the Chamber – influential advisors whose portraits are included in Kensington Palace’s Grand Staircase 1724 • George Handel composed the opera Tamerlano for the Royal Academy of Music, using Tamerlane, the Mongol conqueror of Turkey, and the defeated Ottoman sultan Bajazet as key characters in a story of revenge and requited love

1733 • Ayuba Diallo (1701–1773), who was enslaved in Senegal and taken to America, was freed and arrived in London where he became a celebrity in fashionable society, including the Royal family; he was painted by the artist, William Hoare, a rare example of a strong individual portrait of a Muslim; his personal account of the slave trade made an early contribution to the Abolitionist movement

Ayuba Suleiman Diallo, called Job ben Solomon by William Hoare RA, 1733. © Orientalist Museum, Doha

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top: Covent Garden Piazza and Market by Samuel Scott, 1758 shows an anonymous figure with kaftan and turban amid the hustle and bustle. Š Museum of London; bottom: Fresh Wharf, London Bridge by William Marlow, c1762, clearly shows a trader in Arabic clothes with his goods. Š Museum of London

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late-18th C • the EIC began to import the soft goats’ wool shawls made in Muslim Kashmir; the ‘cashmere’ shawls became very fashionable but could cost £200, the price of a small house; the Scottish silk-weaving town of Paisley turned to shawl weaving during the Napoleonic wars when raw silk was difficult to obtain; the industry was so successful the pattern became known as ‘paisley’

1788 • first known pantomime performance of Aladdin at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden 1794 • Joseph Haydn premiered his Symphony No 100 ‘Military’ in London, composed during one of his visits – the Turkish percussion of the second movement was fashionable among other Viennese musicians, including Mozart and Beethoven • instruments from Turkish Janissary (military) bands – bass drum, trumpet, kettledrums, cymbals, and bell trees – had been introduced to European military bands in the 17th century because of their loud percussive impact

1805 • the site of Nelson’s decisive battle off Cape Trafalgar in southwest Spain is a corruption of the Arabic Tarf al-Gharb, meaning ‘western cape’

19th C • travellers and artists took advantage of cheaper and more reliable sea transport to visit the Levant to record a more ‘authentic’ vision of the ‘Orient’ to the popular imagination • a genre of European painting emerged which drew on ancient stereotypes of the world of Islam – enticing, luxurious and erotic, but also untrustworthy, violent and sinister • some argue that this portrayal of the ‘Other’ combined with the new science of anthropology to reinforce the idea of western superiority and to justify what Kipling, the poet laureate of empire, called ‘the white man’s burden’

1813 • Doctrine of the Trinity Act granted toleration for Unitarian worship but is also seen as legalising the practice of Islam

1815 • Sake Deen Mahomed opened his Vapour Baths and Shampooing Establishment in the popular health resort of Brighton • King George IV appointed Mahomed as his personal ‘Shampooing Surgeon’ and the Establishment was patronised by the rich and famous

1832 • Arab Sultan of Oman moved his capital from Muscat to Zanzibar in East Africa, taking many Indian traders with him

left: Sake Deen Mahomed print from a painting by Thomas Mann Baynes, c1825. © Brighton Royal Pavilion and Museums; right: The Munshi Abdul Karim painted for Queen Victoria by Rudolf Swoboda, 1888. The Royal Collection © 2011, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

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top: The Hhareem of a Mamluke Bey, Cairo by John Frederick Lewis RA, 1850. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London; bottom: The Courtyard of the Coptic Patriarch’s House in Cairo by John Frederick Lewis RA, c1864. © Tate Gallery

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top: The Gate of Cairo, called Bab-el-Mutawellee by David Roberts RA, 1843. © Victoria and Albert Museum; bottom: A Frank Encampment in the Desert of Mount Sinai, 1842 by John Frederick Lewis. © Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection, USA/The Bridgeman Art Library

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Sunset on the Nile by Frank Dillon, 1855窶田1870. ﾂｩ Victoria and Albert Museum; An Arab Improvisatore by Frederick Goodall RA, 1872. ﾂｩ Victoria and Albert Museum

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Feeding the Sacred Ibis in the Halls of Karnac by Sir Edward John Poynter RA, 1871. © Christie’s Images/The Bridgeman Art Library

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• after the British established their colonies in the region many Muslim and Hindu traders from Gujarat in India settled in Zanzibar and became important businessmen throughout East Africa • most of the Muslim settlers came from Baroda, Surat and Bharuch Districts; many of their descendants later migrated to Britain in the 1970s 1835 • Lord Macaulay, member of India’s Supreme Council, set up a bilingual higher education system to create an Indian elite who could assimilate to English ‘taste, opinions, morals and intellect’; Indian students came to study in Britain

left: Troops in the East India Company’s service, a Sergeant and a Grenadier Sepoy of the Bengal Army, 1812 by J C Stadler. © National Army Museum; right: Opium Factory at Gulzarbagh, Patna, Bihar by Shiva Lal, c1857. The Company smuggled Indian opium into China to pay for tea, silk and porcelain imported into Britain from China. Opium was also an ingredient in laudanum, which was widely used in patent medicines in 18th–19th century Britain. © Victoria and Albert Museum

1838 • Balta-Liman trade agreement signed between Britain and Turkey brought Arab traders from the Lebanon and Fes in Morocco to ‘Cottonopolis’ – Manchester 1856 • pro-Ottoman diplomat and MP David Urquhart and Richard Barter opened Britain’s first modern Turkish bath near Blarney in Ireland; the following year the first bath to be built in England since Roman times was opened in Manchester; the craze took off and hundreds more were built in Britain and its empire

1859 • Captain Robert Stewart and seven tea planters set up the Silchar Polo Club in north east India, after watching local men playing the game; polo was first played in Persia two thousand years ago and was popular throughout Asia, including Mughal India 1860 • first recorded mosque in Britain, in Butetown, in Cardiff’s docklands

1863 • British Indian Army reorganised in aftermath of the ‘Mutiny’; to foster loyalty, Indian regiments were recruited from particular communities, villages and families and commanded by British officers • recruitment was also affected by the classification of some ethnic classes groups as ‘martial races’ – those from hilly or mountainous regions with hunting or agricultural cultures and a history of conflict were considered to have the strength and bravery to make good soldiers (similar assumptions were made about Highland Scots) • many of these martial races were Muslims from parts of British India that became Pakistan – Pathans, Rajputs, Jats, Awans • the Army mounted expeditions to the Malay archipelago and the Dutch East Indies, Egypt, Sudan, East Africa, Persia, China, Tibet, Burma and French islands in the Indian Ocean; it established itself as the firepower behind British imperial expansion in the East and a deterrent to Russian expansion from central Asia

1869 • opening of Suez canal increased recruitment of lascars including Somalis, Arabs from Yemen and Muslims from British India and the Malay archipelago • new wave of Muslim immigration into Britain especially in ports such as Cardiff, South Shields, Liverpool and Hull, with licensed boarding houses and cafes springing up; in 1855 there were an estimated 10,000 lascars living in Britain, the majority Muslims • Henry Mayhew’s study London Labour and the London Poor published in 1861 refered to several mixed race families with lascar fathers and English mothers; multicultural communities grew in other ports, with boarding houses and cafes springing up

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left: One of the most famous Turkish baths was Urquhart’s London Hammam opened in 1862 at 76 Jermyn Street and patronised by several of Queen Victoria’s sons. © Illustrated London News/Mary Evans; right: Entrance to Nevill’s New Broad Street Turkish Bath, opened in 1895, and now a restaurant.

1870s • Britain’s merchant fleet converted from sail to steam which required stokers to shovel coal in the hot and dangerous boiler rooms • ex-boatmen from Mirpur District, in present-day northern Pakistan, made redundant by the railways built by the British, recruited in British ships sailing out of Bombay and Karachi • in Bengal stokers were recruited from Sylhet (in present-day Bangladesh) for ships sailing out of Calcutta; ships’ cooks were also recruited and there are records of some working in restaurants in London in 1873 • these areas are the origins of many Muslim migrants from South Asia – Bangladeshis still dominate the ‘Indian’ restaurant business

1889 • Liverpool solicitor and Muslim convert William Quilliam founded a mosque and Islamic Centre in a semi-detached house at 8 Brougham Terrace, Liverpool • over 150 English men and women were converted to Islam by his teachings • he was honoured by the last Ottoman emperor, the Sultan of Morocco and Shah of Persia

1887 • Abdul Karim sent as a ‘gift from India’ to mark Queen Victoria’s golden jubilee • starting as a servant, he quickly became her close confidant – she gave him the title of munshi (teacher), made him her Indian Secretary and gave him honours and land in India

Four noblewomen playing a game of polo on horseback, c1750, Rajastan, India. © Trustees of the British Museum

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• the friendship caused friction in the royal household and after her death he was sent home and his letters to her destroyed 1889 • Europe’s first purpose-built mosque outside Muslim Spain was built by Dr Leitner in Woking, Surrey with funds donated by the Sultan Shahjahan Begum, ruler of the princely state of Bhopal, India WW1 • by 1918 over one million Indian soldiers had fought for Britain on the Western Front and in Gallipoli, the Middle East and East Africa • an estimated 400,000 were Muslims, with the largest ethnic group from the Punjab, especially the cities of Rawalpindi, Jhelum, Attock, Lahore and Rohtak; there were also large numbers of soldiers from NW Frontier Province

Lascar seamen at work and at rest in the Home for Asiatic Seamen, 1906. © Illustrated London News Ltd/Mary Evans

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Arab Hall in Leighton House, former home of the painter Frederic Lord Leighton, built in 1877 to display Leighton’s collection of over 1000 Islamic tiles. © Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea/Justin Barton

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• three Victoria Crosses (Britain’s highest military bravery medal) were awarded to Muslim soldiers from the British Indian Army 1915 • The Muslim Burial Ground, Horsell Common, Woking was built for the Muslim soldiers who died at the Indian Army Hospital in Brighton • the bodies were exhumed in the 1960s because of vandalism and moved to the military section at the nearby Brookwood Cemetery 1918 • partition of the Ottoman Empire – territory divided among Russia, France and Britain and new states created, including Turkey, in 1923 • with its mandate over Mesopotamia (Iraq) and Palestine, Britain ruled well over half of the world’s Muslims

left to right, from top: Interior of Liverpool Muslim Institute established by Abdullah Quilliam (right) in 1889. © Liverpool Records Office; Lord Headley by Bassano, 1920. The Baron was a leading member of the Woking Muslim Mission. © National Portrait Gallery, London; Drawing of the Shah Jahan Mosque, Woking produced by WI Chambers, the architect who designed it, The Building News and Engineering Journal, 1889. © www.wokingmuslim.org

WW2 • the British Indian army began the war with about 200,000 men; by 1945 it had become the largest volunteer army in world history with over 2.5 million men fighting in north Africa, Europe and Asia – about 25,000 lost their lives • over 600,000 were Muslims recruited from modern-day Pakistan, especially the Punjab and North West Frontier Province; estimates suggest that Muslim regiments provided 65% of Indian troops fighting in north Africa, Italy and Burma • four Victoria Crosses were awarded to Muslim soldiers • Noor Inayat Khan, a French-speaking Indian Muslim princess was the first woman agent to operate in occupied France; after three and a half months she was captured but resisted interrogation by the Gestapo; she was executed in Dachau Concentration Camp and awarded a posthumous George Cross (the highest gallantry medal for actions not in the face of the enemy) • in the words of Field Marshall Sir Claude Auchinleck, ‘[Britain] couldn’t have come through both wars if they hadn’t the Indian army’

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Stained glass window from the Indian Army Memorial Room, Royal Military College, Sandhurst. Š Courtesy of the Council of the National Army Museum, London

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Stained glass window from the Indian Army Memorial Room, Royal Military College, Sandhurst. Š Courtesy of the Council of the National Army Museum, London

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left: The Muslim Burial Ground, Horsell Common, Woking. right: Peel Street Mosque, Cardiff, 1964. This was the first purpose-built mosque in Wales, constructed in 1947 by the Yemeni and Somali communities of Butetown. Britain’s first Arabic newspaper, al-Salam, was published here. © Crown copyright: Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales

1948 • creation of Israel led to first influx of Arab refugees from north Africa and the Middle East; further political turmoil and repression brought new Muslim communities to Britain – political dissidents and refugees from conflict • most have been middle-class professionals with the means to escape and the skills to improve their economic prospects • an estimated half million Arabs are now resident in Britain 1950s • partition of British India in 1947 led to inter-communal violence, forced migration and economic disruption • migration is always a combination of ‘push’ factors, such as loss of livelihood, and ‘pull’ factors, such as demand for cheap labour for post-war reconstruction • most migrants came from the Indian sub-continent, especially farming areas with strong links to Britain through the army or merchant navy which had converted from steam to diesel-fuelled engines and no longer needed stokers • they settled mainly in the inner-city areas of London, the industrial towns of the Midlands and the textile towns of Lancashire, Yorkshire and Strathclyde

1952 • many middle-class Eygptians went into exile following overthrow of King Farouk early 1960s • construction of Mangla Dam displaced 100,000 people in Mirpur District, part of Azad Kashmir in northern Pakistan – many migrated to Britain 1950–60s • Yemenis recruited for steel and metal-working mills in Sheffield and Birmingham

1960s • shortage of doctors led to mass recruitment from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh whose medical schools were geared to British standards – 30-40% of junior NHS doctors were from the sub-continent

1969 • overthrow of King Idris by Colonel Gaddafi led to exodus of middle-class Libyans 1970 • large-scale migration from Sylhet to Britain followed the devastating Bhola cyclone and the subsequent violent creation of Bangladesh a year later

1970s– • the increase in world oil prices resulting from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) using its economic muscle created an extremely rich Arab elite; they wanted a safe haven for their wealth and invested heavily in British property and businesses 1968–76 • ‘Africanisation’ in newly independent East African countries, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Malawi, resulted in over 100,000 Asians with British passports entering the UK and joining established communities around the country – about 15% were Muslims • better educated than previous immigrants, many set up businesses or joined the professional classes

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top: Mangla dam spillway, Mirpur, Pakistan. © Arsalan Asad www.facebook.com/ArsalanAsadPhotography; bottom: Laundry workers, Bradford, 1983. © Homer Sykes

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Yemeni worker in George Oxley’s Vulcan Foundry, one of the factories that employed Yemeni men who moved from their jobs shovelling coal in the engine rooms of British ships to fuelling the furnaces of Sheffield’s steel industry, 1985. © Tim Smith/Panos

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Brick Lane Jamme Masjid (Great Mosque) in London’s Spitalfields serves the largest concentration of Bangladeshi Muslims in the country – first established in 1743 as a chapel for French Huguenot refugees, it became a synagogue for Jewish refugees in the late 19th century and a mosque in 1976.

1975–90 • wealthy Lebanese left the country during the civil war

1979 • fall of the Shah and subsequent civil war forced many Iranians into exile • Soviet invasion of Afghanistan created over three million refugees; some of the more wealthy came to Britain

1985 • first episode of EastEnders screened by BBC; original cast included a Turkish Cypriot cafe owner, Ali Osman, and a Bengali couple, Saeed and Naima Jeffery, owners of the ‘First til Last’ grocery store 1980–90s • Iraqis fled regime of Saddam Hussein, the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq war and both Gulf Wars

1980s • Turkish Kurds escaped human rights violations

1988 • Sudan-born Zeinab Badawi became the face of Channel 4 News; in 2009 she was named International TV Personality of the Year

1990s • political violence in Algeria forced many to flee 1991– • Somalis sought refuge from ongoing civil war 1993795 • Bosnian Muslims escaped the civil wars that followed the breakup of Yugoslavia

1995 • Naseem Hamed (born in Sheffield to Yemeni parents) became World Featherweight Boxing champion and retained his title in 15 fights

1997 • Pakistan-born Mohammad Sarwar became the first Muslim MP elected to the House of Commons, in Glasgow Govan – he swore the Oath of Allegiance on the Qur’an

1998 • Bangladesh-born Manzila Uddin becomes the UK’s first Muslim-born life peer, followed shortly after by the first Muslim male peer, Nazir Ahmed, born in Mirpur

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1999 • Nasser Hussain became English cricket captain and led the team in 45 test matches, including victories in four test series in a row; born in India Hussain’s family came to Britain in 1975

2003 • Iran-born Sami Yusuf released his debut album Al-Mu’allim to critical and popular success that propelled him to being hailed as ‘Islam’s biggest rock star’; he is involved in humanitarian initiatives, supporting Islamic Relief and Save the Children

2004 • Amir Khan (born in Bolton to Pakistani parents) won a boxing silver medal for Britain in Athens Olympics; he went on to become world lightweight champion in 2008 and welterweight world champion in 2009 and combines boxing with charitable fund raising and community work; his cousin, Sajid Mahmood, has played cricket for England 2005 • Shanna Bukhari (born in Blackburn to Pakistani parents) won Miss England beauty contest generating anger from various quarters, including Muslims, who claimed that she was denigrating the name of Islam, white supremacists, who

clockwise from top left: Nasser Hussain, England v South Africa, Trent Bridge, 2003 © Michael Mayhew; Mo Farah after winning 5000m final in London Olympics, 2012 © Paul Mcfegan; Amir Khan with Olympic silver medal, 2004 © Paul McFegan

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top: Award winning street artist Mohammed Ali fuses Islamic calligraphy and graffiti to promote messages of peace and dialogue. bottom: Customer Service Attendant, Muhammad Jamil tending his small garden at Edgware Road tube station. When a bomb exploded there on 7 July 2005, he was among the first to help the victims. © Peter Sanders www.artofintegration.co.uk

said that an Asian could not represent the UK, and women, who condemn beauty pageants as an affront to feminism

2006 • Pakistan-born Amjad Hussain promoted to Rear-Admiral and became the highest-ranking officer from an ethnic minority in the British Armed Forces; became Controller of the Navy 2009-12 (responsible for procurement) and appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath in 2011 New Year Honours 2007 • Shahid Malik became Britain’s first Muslim minister, for international development

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Dr Masud Khan and his team of cardiologists at work in the Hemel Hempstead Hospital, Hertfordshire. © Peter Sanders www.artofintegration.co.uk

• Power100 publish a list of the most powerful and influential Muslims in Britain following a process of nomination and judging by a panel of Muslims from many areas of British life; it includes curry king Sir Gulam Noon (worth £55 million), human rights lawyer Imran Khan, The Independent columnist Yasmin AlibhaiBrown, TV presenter Rageh Omaar, musician Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens) and businessman Sir Anwar Pervez • venture capitalist and entrepreneur James Caan joined BBC’s Dragon’ Den; his charity, The JCF, helps underprivileged children get access to education and supports communities hit by the 2010 Pakistan floods

2010 • over 90 Muslim candidates from various parties stood in the general election – eight were elected as MPs, including the first three women • Sayeeda Warsi became the first female Muslim minister • Somalia-born Mohammed ‘Mo’ Farah won gold medals in the 5,000 and 10,000 metres at the European Athletics Championships and was named track and field athlete of the year by the British Olympic Association • research for Faith Matters estimated that over 5,000 people converted to Islam in the UK in 2010; over half were white British

2011 • Aquatics Centre for the 2012 Olympics unveiled – designed by Zaha Hadid, Iraqi-British architect whose practice has won prestigious contracts and awards world wide • at the World Athletics Championships Mo Farah won silver in the 10,000 metres and gold in the 5,000 metres 2012 • Akram Khan choreographed and performed in the ‘Abide With Me’ section of the Olympic opening ceremony; taking mortality as a theme, it is a tribute to the 52 victims of the 7/7 London bombings in 2005; born in London to Bangladeshi parents) Khan’s innovative fusion of classical Kathak and modern dance has won international acclaim, including the distinguished artist award from New York’s International Society for the Performing Arts in 2011; he has choreographed pieces for Kylie Minogue

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Zaha Hadid. © Steve Double; Hadid’s design for MAXXI: Museum of XXI Century Arts, Rome. © Iwan Baan

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Award-winning choreographer Akram Khan performing his one-man show Desh (homeland), an exploration of the land of his parents, Bangladesh. Š Tim Yip

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Mo Farah celebrates after winning the 5,000 metres at London 2012. © Paul McFegan

• Mo Farah wins Olympic gold in the 5,000 and 10,000 metres • three other Muslims represented Team GB at the London Olympics. Mohamed ‘Moe’ Sbihi (born in the UK to Moroccan parents) rowed in the bronze medal winning men’s eight; he went on to win gold in the 2013 World Championships • Nigeria-born investment banker Abdul Buhari competed in the men’s discus • Husayn Rosowsky (born to an English/Ukrainian father and an Egyptian mother) competed in the fencing; both his elder brothers represented Britain in fencing 2013 • in the 2013-14 season there are about 40 players from all over the Muslim world, from Manchester City’s Samir Nasri to Chelsea’s Demba Ba; Newcastle Utd have seven Muslim players and as a result have a purpose-built multi-faith prayer room at their training ground • 9th World Islamic Economic Forum meets in London – the first time it has been held in a non-Muslim country and confirmation of the importance of the Islamic finance sector (worth an estimated £1.3 trillion worldwide) to the City of London • a report published by the Muslim Council of Britain, The Muslim Pound – How Muslims Add Value to Britain’s Prosperity estimates that Muslims contribute £31 billion to the country’s economy and there are 10,000 Muslim millionaires and over 15 British Muslims in the Sunday Times Rich List; London’s 13,400 Muslim-owned businesses provide more than 70,000 jobs; Islamic finance is behind many household names, including The Shard, Chelsea Barracks, Harrods and Premiership clubs Manchester City, Fulham and Hull City • BBC News journalist Mishal Husain (born in Britain to parents from Pakistan) became the first Muslim presenter on Radio 4’s flagship Today programme • at World Athletics Championships Mo Farah took gold in 5,000 and 10,000 metres – only the second man in history to win a double victory in both the Olympics and World Championships in the distance events

2014 • Coronation St, ITV’s long-running soap, gets its first Muslim family even though the 2011 census shows that over 15% of Manchester’s population is Muslim; widower and former soldier turned fitness coach Khalid ‘Kal’ Nazir was introduced in December 2013 and was joined by his mum, dad and two children

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recommended resources These teaching packs, websites and books are clustered into curriculum areas. Hyperlinks are included in the pdf version of the pack. A more comprehensive list is available on the Understanding Islam: Challenging Islamophobia website.

8www.challenging-islamophobia.org.uk

Art and design • Some artists’ websites: - Mohamed Ali is a Birmingham-based artist whose work is influenced by urban graffiti art and classical Islamic calligraphy. 8 www.aerosolarabic.com - The Khatt Foundation is a network for contemporary Arabic typography. 8 www.khtt.net - Pascal Zoghbi is a type designer based in Beirut, Lebanon. His blog includes an excellent history of Arabic fonts. 8 www.29letters.wordpress.com/2007/05/28/arabic-type-history • Birzeit University on the West Bank houses a museum dedicated to modern Palestinian art.

8 http://virtualgallery.birzeit.edu/exhibitions_exhibitions • The David Collection museum has a fine collection of Islamic art which can be viewed online. 8 www.davidmus.dk/en/collections/islamic/materials • Discover Islamic Art is a virtual museum of the art and architecture of the great Islamic dynasties of the Mediterranean from the seventh to the twentieth century. Includes a section with excellent interactive learning activities. 8 www.discoverislamicart.org/learn • The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture, Moya Carey et al Lorenz Books, 2010 A comprehensive and superbly illustrated history of Islam’s 1,400 year legacy of art, architecture and design. Essential for the school library.

• Islamic Civilisations The British Museum has a fine Islamic Gallery. A KS3 teaching resource for exploring the collection includes six worksheets that focus on: religion and mosques, keeping control, buildings and architecture, courtly life, science, technology and medicine, travel and trade. 8 www.britishmuseum.org/PDF/Visit_Islamic_Civs_KS3.pdf • Islamic Geometric Patterns, Eric Broug Thames & Hudson, 2008 Book and CD that combines art, art history, geometry and maths. Includes software that enable you to create inticate patterns or re-create classical examples. His website includes an excellent section on history. 8 www.broug.com/learn_history.htm • Leighton House Museum, former home of Victorian artist and Arabist Lord Leighton, has teaching resources which explore the links between collecting art, travel and empire in the 19th century. 8 www.rbkc.gov.uk/leightonarabhall/index.html • The Orient in Western Art, Gérard-Georges Lemaire h.f. ullmann, 2000 A beautifully illustrated survey of the images inspired by Europe’s fascination with the ‘exotic’ Orient. From Venetian Renaissance painters to the modern art of Matisse, Klee and Kandinsky.

• The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York has a superb online timeline of art history that includes a comprehensive survey of Islamic art with essays and images from its collection.

8 www.metmuseum.org/toah/hi/te_index.asp?i=Islamic • The October Gallery in London specialises in exhibiting cutting edge contemporary art from all cultures around the planet. Galleries of work by artists from the Islamic world include Golnaz Fathi (Iran), Rachid Koraïchi (Algeria), Hassan Massoudy (Iraq), Laila Shawa (Palestine), Tajammul (Pakistan/UK), Wijdan (Jordan).

8 www.octobergallery.co.uk/artists/index.shtml • Word into Art: Artists of the Modern Middle East Online version of an exhibition put on by the British Museum. Includes video interviews with some of the artists.

8 www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/wordintoart/word-into-art/exhibition.html

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Geography and history • Asians in Britain: 400 years of history, Rozina Visram Pluto Press 2002 Comprehensive history of Asian migration from the Indian sub-continent to Britain – from the first recorded baptism in 1616, to the soldiers, students, doctors, factory workers and entrepreneurs who arrived in the 19th–20th centuries.

• Britain & the Islamic World, 1558–1713, Gerald MacLean and Nabil Matar OUP 2011 Thoroughly readable history of the interaction between the Muslim world and England through trade, travel and diplomacy.

• Britain’s Muslim Soldiers The Shared History project encourages young people to understand the shared experience of Britain’s ethnic groups in fighting together in the First and Second World Wars. 8 www.britainsmuslimsoldiers.com • Coal, Frankincense & Myrrh: Yemen & British Yemenis, Tim Smith Dewi Lewis, 2008 A collection of striking photographs that explore this crossroads between Arabia, Africa, India, the Mediterranean and the Far East. This tradition for sea-faring led to Britain’s longest established Muslim community.

• The East India Company Website developed by the Battle of Plassey Young People’s Project to undertake research and write a book on the London Heritage of the East India Company and the city’s historical links with Bengal. 8 www.the-eastindiacompany.org • Fordham University’s Internet History Sourcebooks Project is a collection of public domain historical texts for educational use. The section on Islam is a goldmine for serious historical research. KS4+, IB Diploma, adult 8 www.fordham.edu/Halsall/islam/islamsbook.asp • Great British Islam Very good 45 min Channel 4 documentary, presented by Anila Baig as part of the Hidden Civilisations series, that traces the part Muslims have played in the creation of modern Britain. KS3, IB Middle & Diploma, adult 8 www.video.google.com/vid eoplay?docid=2819553276192690531&hl=en-CA • Historical Atlas of the Islamic World, Malise Ruthven Oxford University Press 2004 Almost 100 maps which show the 1500 year history of a religion and its people. From the shifting frontiers of Islamic dynasties and empires to religious sects and economic development. Essential for the school library.

• Institute on Religion and Civic Values Aims to increase understanding, mutual respect and cooperation between people of all faiths and none. Produces excellent lesson plans on the role of religion in world history. Although these are designed specifically for the US curriculum they include material that can easily be adapted for the UK. KS4+, IB Diploma 8 www.ircv.org/category/online-lesson-plans • Jewel of Muscat Reconstruction of a 9th century Arab dhow that sailed the maritime silk road during Islam’s great age of science and discovery. The education section has games, activity sheets and lesson plans suitable for History, Geography and Science and Technology.

KS3-4+, IB Middle & Diploma 8 www.education.jewelofmuscat.tv • Mapping the Global Muslim Population: A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World’s Muslim Population The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, 2009 KS4, IB Diploma The report offers the most up-to-date and fully sourced estimates of the size and distribution of the worldwide Muslim population. Useful for activities on data presentation and analysis.

8 www.pewforum.org/newassets/images/reports/Muslimpopulation/Muslimpopulation.pdf • Muslim Tommies Historical Association KS3, IB Middle In depth look at the history of Muslims who fought for Britain in WW1.

8 www.history.org.uk/resources/secondary_resource_4063,4129_11.html • Portcities UK Discover the maritime histories of UK port cities – Bristol, Hartlepool, Liverpool, London and Southampton – where the first Muslim communities developed. KS34+, IB Middle & Diploma 8 www.portcities.org.uk • Trading Places: the East India Company & Asia 1600–1834 Find out about the East India Company and its effects on life in Asia and Britain, including the arrival of Muslim settlers.

An excellent online exhibition produced by the British Library. KS3-4+, IB Middle & Diploma 8 www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/features/trading/world1.html

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PSHE and RE • Art of Integration: Islam in our green and pleasant land, Peter Sanders Awakening 2008 Beautiful book that portrays the lives of some of Britain’s 2.7 million Muslims – physicians, scholars, writers, teachers, calligraphers, rock and folk-rock icons, a city councillor, awardwinning architect, publisher, sculptor, graffiti artist, cosmetician, police constable, fashion designer, driver, Etonians, Oxbridgians, and many others. Should be in all school libraries.

There is an excellent online gallery of the photographs and a video about the exhibition.

8 www.artofintegration.co.uk • Inspired by Muhammad.com Excellent site that explores the inspirational teachings of the Prophet. Video clips of British Muslims who draw strength from their faith to deal with contemporary issues – women’s rights, social justice, environment, charity, education, health, animal welfare, human rights, coexistence – provide a powerful antidote to negative stereotypes of Islam. 8 www.inspiredbymuhammad.com • Islamic Relief Aims to alleviate suffering, hunger, illiteracy and diseases worldwide through emergency relief and development projects. Its development education programme raises awareness of the root causes of poverty and explores the humanitarian message of Islam in the context of international development. 8 www.islamic-relief.org.uk • Islamophobia: Issues, Challenges and Action Runnymede Trust, 2004 Report provides an explanation of Islamophobia and its consequences throughout society, and sets out recommendations for practical action by government, teachers, lawyers, journalists and by religious and community leaders. 8 www.insted.co.uk/islambook.pdf • Islamophobia Education Pack Show Racism the Red Card, 2008 KS2-4+, IB Middle & Diploma Education pack with activities designed to help young people challenge stereotypes and prejudice towards Muslims and gain a greater historical and political awareness of the climate which has enabled Islamophobia to flourish in recent times. They tie in closely with the Citizenship and PSHE curriculum, but could also be incorporated into English, RE, ICT and History. An accompanying DVD features the views of many top football players and young people discussing their experiences of and views on Islamophobia.

8 www.srtrc.org/uploaded/ISLAMOPHOBIA%20ED%20PACK%20FINAL%20PDF.pdf • Lines in the Sand – New Writing on War and Peace, Mary Hoffman Frances Lincoln, 2003 This anthology of children’s and adults’ responses to the war in Iraq is full of poems, stories, essays and images. A useful source of inspiration for looking at complex issues, and understanding their human impact.

• Making Sense of World Conflicts Cathy Midwinter Oxfam, 2005 KS3-4, IB Middle & Diploma This teaching resource looks at a range of issues on global conflicts with ideas and support for how to raise them, teach about them, and unpick the questions pupils will have. There are lesson plans available online to support the resource. 8 www.oxfam.org.uk/education • Muslim Agency for Development Education A pan-European Muslim-led movement of young people who draw on Islamic traditions to campaign against global poverty and injustice. Campaigns include trade justice, improving maternal health globally, rejecting bottled water in favour of tap water (especially during Ramadan) and supporting mosques to become more environmentally friendly. 8 www.madeineurope.org.uk • The Muslim Premier League BBC documentary, narrated by Colin Murray, that speaks to star players and top managers to find out what impact Muslims are having on the English game. 8 www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-k7CiPKwb0 • Muslims Under Siege: Alienating Vulnerable Communities, Peter Oborne and James Jones, Channel 4, 2008 KS4+, IB Diploma, adult, teachers Booklet to accompany Channel 4’s documentary It Shouldn’t Happen to a Muslim. Clearly argued, it provides ample evidence of how the media fuels Islamophobia. Recommended.

8 www.channel4.com/news/media/pdfs/Muslims_under_siege_LR.pdf • Positive images British Red Cross 2010 KS3-4, adult, IB Middle & Diploma Toolkit includes lesson plans, games, videos and interactive activities and aims to support young people understand migration, the Millennium Development Goals and feel

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empowered to take action to support vulnerable migrants. Ideas for youth action supported by real life case studies. 8 www.redcross.org.uk/What-we-do/Teaching-resources/ Teaching-packages/Positive-Images/Toolkit • Teaching Controversial Issues, Oxfam Education, 2006 Free guidance and activity booklet. 8 www.oxfam.org.uk/education/teachersupport/cpd/ controversial/files/teaching_controversial_issues.pdf

‘’

Geometry enlightens the intellect and sets one’s mind right. All its proofs are very clear and orderly. It is hardly possible for errors to enter into geometric reasoning, because it is well arranged and orderly. Thus the mind that constantly applies itself to geometry is unlikely to fall into error…

Ibn Khaldun, 1332-1406

Maths, science and technology • 1001 Inventions The Foundation for Science, Technology and Civilisation (FSTC) has created an inspirational teaching resource that enables you to discover the Muslim heritage in our world, especially the contribution to science. Includes online films, a laminated exhibition and classroom activities. 8 www.1001inventions.com • A portal of documentaries that explore the history of Islamic culture and science and their influence on Europe is a fantastic resource. 8 www.1001inventions.com/media/ documentaries • 1001 Inventions: Muslim Heritage in Our World FSTC, 2006 KS3-4, IB Middle & Diploma This lavishly illustrated book should be in every school library.

• Arabick Roots, Royal Society, 2011 Catalogue that accompanies the exhibition that tells the largely unknown story of the contribution of Arab and Islamic science to the early development of the ‘New Philosophy’ in Britain. 8 www.royalsociety.org/uploadedFiles/Royal_Society_Content/exhibitions/arabickscience/2011-06-08-Arabick-Roots.pdf • City 1250 A set of colourful and innovative resources that look at the impact of science and technology in the Islamic world in 1250. 8 www.1001inventions.com/media/city1250 KS3, IB Middle • Muslim Heritage.com Discover 1000 years of missing history and explore the fascinating Muslim contribution to present day Science, Technology, Arts and Civilisation. Includes serious articles as well as an interactive virtual civilisation tool and timeline.

8 www.muslimheritage.com • Islamic Art and Geometric Design, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2004 Examines the principles of geometric design that are the basis for the beautiful and intricate patterns in the art of the Islamic world. Includes a brief overview of Islamic art and a series of pattern-making activities for use in the classroom. Teachers can readily adapt these materials to create exciting lessons in art, culture and maths. 8 http://www.metmuseum. org/en/learn/for-educators/publications-for-educators/~/media/Files/Learn/For%20 Educators/Publications%20for%20Educators/Islamic_Art_and_Geometric_Design.ashx

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English • Cinema from the world of Islam, Gareth Richards RISC, 2011 A list of 25 award-winning films from around the Islamic world and diaspora that offers challenging insights into a range of issues, from terrorism to the Crusades, to life, love and loss. It can be used to select films for media studies and citizenship, as well as teaching the Arabic language. 8 www.cmo.nl/islam-uk/index.php/pack • Images of Islam in the UK: The Representation of British Muslims in the National Print News Media 2000-2008 Cardiff School of Journalism, 2008 KS4+, IB Diploma Commissioned by Channel 4, the report studied print and visual media, analysing the context and language used to refer to Islam and Muslims in news and other stories in the UK. It reveals the pervasiveness of prejudice against Muslims which is used to compound representations of Islam as dangerous, archaic or irrational. 8 www.channel4.com/news/ media/pdfs/Cardiff%20Final%20Report.pdf • Reporting Islam: Media Representations of British Muslims, Elizabeth Poole IB Taurus, 2009 Detailed study of ways in which Muslims are represented in the national press using case studies of headline news stories over the last decade.

• And The World Changed: Contemporary Stories by Pakistani Women, ed Muneeza Shamsie Women Unlimited, 2005 Twenty-five short stories with very varied themes and topics by contemporary women authors. The only anthology of creative text written in English by Pakistani women.

• The Animals Lawsuit Against Humanity, Ikwan Al-Safa et al Fons Vitae, 2005 A beautifully illustrated interfaith fable of human rights and taking action to make the world a better place, through an animal and human debate about ecology issues. The first version of this ancient tale is thought to have been written in Arabic, around the 10th century in what is now called Iraq.

• Ayesha’s Rainbow, Rabina Khan Fore-Word Press, 2006 Set in London’s East End during a period of racial tension the novel shows what happens when hate gets out of control, but also offers a message of hope that good can come out of tragedy.

• The A-Z Guide to Arranged Marriage, Rekha Waheed Monsoon Press, 2005 A 21st century Bengali take on the romantic minefields explored by Jane Austen. How can Maya find a suitable bridegroom?

• Burning Boats, Zaynab Dawood Islamic Foundation, 2009 This story of a peaceful fishing village destroyed by a power-hungry leader shows that although conflict is not at the heart of Islam, greed and selfishness can devastate lives.

• Earth and Ashes, Atiq Rahimi Vintage, 2003 A short fictional account of the conflict in Afghanistan during the Soviet War. It shows the impact on the lives of ordinary people in this long conflicted country.

• Gaza Blues, Etgar Keret and Samir El-Yousef David Paul, 2004 A compact and fascinating collection of short stories and short prose written by a Palestinian and an Israeli. Accessible, well written prose and funny yet challenging.

• The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini Bloomsbury, 2004 Fictional tale of two young boys growing up in Kabul, Afghanistan in the 1970s. Their constantly harrowing and emotional journeys focus almost exclusively on some of the worst atrocities of occupation and war. However, it could be used to raise debate around stereotypes and media portrayal of Afghanistan, and the ordinary people who live there.

• The Kites Are Flying, Michael Morpurgo Walker, 2010 A short and beautiful story about a TV journalist visiting the West Bank, and his friendship with a young Palestinian boy and his family. Useful for explaining the complex conflict in a succinct and human way.

• Minaret, Leila Aboulela Bloomsbury, 2006 Najwa, the protagonist of this poignant and complex tale, moves rapidly from a life of privilege and wealth in Khartoum to life as an asylum seeker in Britain. It raises interesting observations about how her character, religious practices, customs and many other things begin to change as she tries to forge a new life for herself.

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• My Name is Red, Orhan Pamuk Faber & Faber, 2001 The Nobel Prize winning Turkish author weaves a thrilling murder mystery set in Constantinople in the late 1590s. One of the artists commissioned by the Sultan to create a great illuminated book celebrating his life and empire is murdered. Was he a victim of professional rivalry, romantic jealousy or religious terror?

• Persepolis – the story of a childhood, Marjane Satrapi Vintage 2008 This beautiful graphic novel, which has since been turned into an equally good film, tells the story of the young Marjane, growing up in Iran during the Islamic revolution, moving to France and coming of age, as a young Muslim woman, all through her own perceptive, confused, sometimes naïve and always endearing eyes.

• The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Mohsin Hamid Penguin, 2008 The short but complex and gripping novel tells an unsettling and challenging tale of the radicalisation of a young wealthy Pakistani man, educated and working in big business in New York, at the time of the World Trade Centre attacks. It raises some of the complexities of such an event, and the anxieties and racism that ensue.

risc What does Reading International Solidarity Centre do?

RISC is a Development Education Centre working with schools, local authorities and teacher training institutions to raise the profile of global issues and promote action for sustainability, human rights and social justice.

RISC offers teachers a range of services and support, including: • How to embed Global Citizenship in all curriculum areas • A Global Citizenship training programme • A loans service of artefacts • Resources and teaching packs to buy or borrow • Books, fiction and non-fiction for children, young people and adults on global issues • Conference facilities and meeting spaces • A programme of events and exhibitions • A half-termly eNews bulletin • The World Shop, the Global Cafe and a forest roof garden, all of which can be used by teachers for local and global education The website contains useful information, CPD opportunities, events, free resources and much more. 8www.risc.org.uk/education RISC’s World Shop has the largest selection of teaching resources on global and development education in Britain. Available through mail order 8www.risc.org.uk/mailorder Some RISC publications are available as free downloads.

The Understanding Islam: Challenging Islamophobia teaching resources are aimed at teachers working with secondary school students (Key Stages 3-4+ and International Baccalaureate Middle Years and Diploma), as well as facilitators working with community or faith groups, or with young people in a youth work context. They provide a range of activities which: • increase understanding of the beliefs and values of Islam • investigate the historical relationship between the Muslim world and other faiths and cultures • explain the history of Muslim communities in Britain • reveal the often hidden contribution that Islam and Muslims have made to the world generally and Britain in particular • allow young people to reflect on their own views about Islam and listen to other opinions and values • introduce the concept of Islamophobia and look at its causes and impact on social cohesion • explore strategies for the school and wider communities to break down barriers and celebrate difference as well as what they have in common.

Supported by the European Union Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Programme

challenging-islamophobia.org.uk

www.