Seen But Not Heard
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I August 2014
Voices of Young British Muslims
Young muslims face the issue of identity and citizenship. This is because muslims attract a lot of media attention globally. In an extremely fast-moving and technologically advanced world, the media is not portraying a goodimpression of muslims worldwide. Similarly, as exemplified in the UK, they demonise the British muslim youth labelling them as extremists, however their not being heard. We need a society where we understand the needs of one another across cultural and faith boundaries. Up and down the country, we work alongside each other, yet we have little understanding of each others ways. There is no framework where muslim youth can be heard and where their views are voiced. However, the media can find that British muslim youth are keen and eager to engage positively to Britain if they take notice of them more positively. So much is written about the
Muslim Youth in the media, but we rarely hear their voices. The writings focus on extremism and terrorism. In the recent decade, media coverage has included coverage of individuals in towns and cities of Leeds, Leicester, Bradford, Dewsbury, Oldham and Burnley. The muslim youth in these cities and towns need more opportunities to voice their opinions about what ‘fitting’ in means to them in British society and the media needs to play a fairer role in finding out more about them and portraying the right image for this sub-group. What makes matters worse is the muslim community is equally unsupportive and do consider the traditional rather than the contemporary issues. In the last decade, many madrasahs have advanced considerable with children to ensure the recitation of the Quran and the formality of prayers is to a high standard. Though many madrasahs are missing a crucial
Part One
opportunity to connect to the muslim youth by simply listening to their concerns. In understanding them, madressahs can play a key role in alleviating the social challenges that the muslim youth face in Britain today. There is so much evidence to say that Muslim youth are suffering from social and emotional disorders. Research tells us that this seems to be higher among lone-parents, low income families and among families where there is no educational qualification but the government services are not understanding their needs because their not finding out. Muslim health challenges need to take into consideration the culture of the community they inherit. Since more and more young people are being affected by mental and social disorders such as depression, it is even more important that these services are designed and customised to meet the cultural and religious needs of this target youth