OUR MESSAGE IS ABOUT TRUE ISLAMIC VALUES

This is Dr Habib Akram's First Person column, published in today's Leicester Mercury:

Our message is about true Islamic values

Dr Habib Akram wants us all to get on board his community's bus peace campaign

Not a day goes by without some bad news relating to my faith. Atrocities and extremist actions "in the name of Islam" fill the national news pages. No good, it seems – if the media were to be believed – ever comes from Muslims. No wonder Islamaphobia is at such a high.

A recent survey has found that a total of 98 per cent of respondents gained information about Islam from the press and broadcast media. Islam was therefore associated with terrorism, extremism and repression of women. Decades ago, it was not Islam that was the menace (it was then an ally) when communism was the great threat and the West feared the "reds under beds". Prior to that, fascism too had wreaked havoc across Europe.

Ideologies – be they faith-based or political – taken to extreme threaten us all and the extremists' interpretation and expression of Islam that panders to the media is in fact anathema to Islam. This is why, in common with many Muslims across all walks of life, my community is driving home a message of peace through a nationwide peace campaign.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, founded over a century ago on the basis of the peaceful practice of Islam, has placed banners proclaiming Loyalty, Freedom, Peace on 240 buses in British cities, including Leicester. From the end of this month and in May, a number of Leicester buses will display the values that Islam inculcates. This is part of an Affirmative Action campaign by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community to send out a clear message to religious extremists as well as Islamaphobes about true Islamic values.

At the very heart of the campaign is the belief that it is not sufficient to simply declare that Islam is a religion of peace – one must live this belief by setting an example. The belief in peace stems from the very inception of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community who have peace missions in towns and cities across the UK, including Leicester. My community is actively engaged in local and national fund-raising, volunteering, peace conferences, charity and interfaith work. The peace campaign comes as a national youth charity drive in the Midlands by Ahmadiyya Muslims aims to raise £225,000 for British charities.

The vast majority of Muslims live ordinary, decent lives and wish to contribute to the wellbeing of the country in which they live – it is where we and our children and their children will live. It is in all our interests – as well as an act of faith – to be good and loyal citizens and we must not allow extremist thinking and behaviour to destroy what we hold dear.

My community has launched a dedicated website for those who want to find out more about the peaceful message of Islam: www.loveforallhatredfornone.org

Dr Habib Akram is President of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Association Leicester