Plenary, 20 Nov 2002

Meeting date: Wednesday, November 20, 2002

Official Report 345KB pdf

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Time for Reflection

To lead our time for reflection today we have Professor Abd al-Fattah El-Awaisi, the vice-chancellor of the Al-Maktoum Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies in Dundee.

Thank you. One day my son, Ali, who was in primary 5 at the time, came back from Dunblane Primary School and proudly started explaining to me about the Scottish clans and their different tartans. Then he asked, "Where is the El-Awaisi's tartan?" That question was, for me, a reflection of the strong sense of belonging among the new Muslim generation, whom I tend to call the Scottish Muslims.

There are Muslims in Scotland, however, who do not have that sense of belonging. They live as if they are foreigners in the country. I tend to call them Muslims in Scotland. For example, a certain mosque has an imam who has lived in this country perhaps for more than 20 years, but who cannot speak English. He delivers his sermons every Friday in broken Arabic, although the majority of his audience does not understand Arabic.

Islam, as I understand it, encourages Muslims to be part of the community in which they live. Indeed, Islam encourages integration, which is an important component in Islamic teachings. The Qur'an says:

"O mankind, we created you from a single pair, from a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes so that you get to know each other."

And not to fight each other—that is my addition, not the words of the Qur'an.

The month of Ramadan, which Muslims are observing now, is for me the month of communities. In this month of Ramadan, Muslims try to share the hardship faced by those suffering poverty and those in need.

For the first time in history, Muslim minorities form a significant proportion of the total Muslim population of the world. Muslims have been living in Scotland for at least 130 years. In 1873, Joseph Salter, a Christian missionary, wrote in his book, "Missionary to Asiatics in England", that he had met Muslims in Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh.

In Scotland, our focus has been to study Islam and Muslims from the Scottish context. I feel proud to be part of the Al-Maktoum Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies in Dundee. The institute has set up a unique centre for the study of Islam and Muslims in Scotland. My colleague Professor Malory Nye has been appointed as the chair in multiculturalism, Islam and Muslims in Britain. Our unique institution prides itself on its multicultural vision, which exemplifies our commitment to encourage integration and co-operation.

I would like to pay a special tribute to the late Donald Dewar, the first First Minister to acknowledge the Muslim communities' contributions to Scottish life. In 1999, Donald Dewar held a reception in Edinburgh Castle for the Scottish Muslim communities to mark the end of Ramadan and to celebrate Eid al-Fitr.

Let me finish by reading the meaning of a verse in the Qur'an. God says:

"Help one another in righteousness and piety, but do not co-operate in sins and aggressions."

Thank you.