THE GUARDIAN: Documentary maker Masood Khan explains why he was inspired to make Muslim Resistance, a series of films examining British Muslims' efforts to combat extremism
Whenever you read something negative about Muslims in the press, it is often followed by someone saying: "Where are all the moderate Muslims? Where are all the Muslims who are against terrorism, against extremism ... why aren't we hearing from them?"
The reality is that Muslims have been working against the extremists in the their community way before 7/7 or even 9/11. It is the reason why the likes of Abu Hamza and Omar Bakri, the now exiled leader of al-Muhijiroun, were shunned by the Muslims up and down the country way before they became the known faces of Islamic extremism. It is also why their followers number in the hundreds rather than in the hundred of thousands. But nobody talks or writes about that.
Growing up in Britain, in a pre 9/11 world – it is strange how one can define one's life this way, by a single event - I gave very little consideration to my Muslim identity. Nor did anyone else around me. Yes, like countless other Pakistanis, I would be called "Paki", but that was the worst of it.
How times have changed. My sister, a primary school teacher in the town in which we grew up, was alarmed when one of her seven-year-old pupils called another child of Arab origin "Muslim" as a term of abuse. The boy was surprised to hear that my headscarf-wearing sister was in fact a Muslim herself. There is a perception out there that Muslims are bad, or that they are extremists, or terrorists - or do not take the threat of terrorism seriously. What I wanted to show by making these films was that Muslims of all persuasions were as keen as any other citizen to rid Britain of Islamist extremism. I want to challenge the perception that Muslims are not doing their bit to take on extremism. >>> Masood Khan | Tuesday, January 18, 2011
