Muslim Welfare House

Finsbury Park’s Muslim community has been through some rough times - most recently, the raid on the local mosque and the arrest of Abu Hamza. Ruchi Datta reports on a local institution that is giving the community some much needed hope.

Page 18
Q-News, Issue 358
December 2004

We turn our gaze to North London, where Islington, a relatively small borough, has been dragged into the harsh glare of the media’s spotlight. Home to the infamous Finsbury Park mosque, this area, once a peaceful district, has risen to global prominence. Widespread islamophobia, triggered by 9/11, resulted in the 14,000 local Muslims suddenly suffering ‘guilt by association’.

Walking through their once undisturbed neighbourhoods, Muslims, targeted for their appearance, found themselves spat on in the street, words of verbal abuse ringing in their ears. The beautiful red brick mosque, with its shiny dome, was forced to shut its doors to over 1,000 worshippers, and Islam became inextricably linked with the new buzz words “terrorism” and “extremism”.

Yet in this turbulent time, a modest courtyard next to the Finsbury Park tube station was attracting a different kind of attention. The Muslim Welfare House, an organisation supporting the local community, had always been popular and well-known, and having been pushed into the shadows as the mosque took centre-stage with the media, it slowly began to spread its glow through the dark clouds that had emerged over the Muslim population.

“The post-9/11 Islamophobic backlash has been a major issue for our charity, made worse by the activities at the nearby mosque,” says Fadi Itani, Executive Director of the Muslim Welfare House. “But, I think the fact that we were already working with one of the largest and most diverse of Muslim communities in the UK, has been helpful. That September we were completely overwhelmed by the number of people ringing and visiting to see how they could help and to offer support to our local Muslims. It was very heartening.”

The Muslim Welfare House, founded in 1970, was originally established to assist Muslim foreign students. However, over the years, the focus of the charity has changed, as has its user community. The multi-purpose building acts as a mosque, a multi-purpose community centre. It acts as a social, cultural, learning and advice centre for more than fifteen nationalities, from Algerians and Somalis, to Pakistanis and Bangladeshis - one simply has to attend the Friday jummah prayer to experience the vibrancy.

The centre boasts, in addition to the mosque, a full library, supplementary school and adult education courses in English, IT, dressmaking among others. There is also employment advice and assistance, business support for start-up companies, and counselling in social welfare and marital issues. The organisation has developed strong links with the local councils, police, and education providers, and has managed to secure funding from the Home Office and the London Development Agency for some of these projects. Jeremy Corbyn, MP for Islington North, has also been involved with the centre, holding regular surgeries on-site for the last year, advising Muslims on issues related to housing, immigration and social welfare. MWH recognises the responsibilities of having some of the most deprived sections of society, including refugees, the unemployed, children with learning difficulties and the elderly, accessing and relying on the services of the centre, which in turn act as a springboard to mainstream services.

Recent statistics show that Black & Minority Ethnic communities (BME) are under-represented in public sector employment, and  that BMEs’ use of public services is at a much lower rate than that of wider society. MWH responded by creating an Access to Jobs and Services programme. The projects aim is to increase the trust between BME communities and public authorities, and provide the former with a service that will give them easier access to public services and to public sector employment.

The breakdown in family structure and rising divorce rate led to the establishment of the Marriage Support Programme. Seminars are held for newlyweds and those planning to get married, to prepare them for married life and introduce them to the problems they may realistically encounter. Sessions are also held for councilors and community leaders who have an understanding of Islamic marriage law, but who are not familiar with psychological issues or the British legal system. A series of talks by Muslim psychologists and councillors were held last Ramadan. The most recent project has been the launch of Bousra.org, which includes articles for guidance, online questions and answers, and discussion rooms.

The Youth & Family Development Unit provides support for children between the ages of six and nineteen through homework clubs, GCSE revision classes, Quran school and mother tongue classes. A Careers Open Day, in conjunction with local schools, an employment service and Connexions, gave Muslim students an opportunity to speak to Muslim professionals. Projects such as the youth centre and smmer camp have given the children a channel to express their creative and imaginative ideas, and trips, such as one to the Parliament, are organised on a quarterly basis to expose the children to British society.

The Community Cohesion programme and the Meet your Neighbours project play a fundamental role in educating the local area about Islam, to combat the increase in Islamophobia. Launched by the Home Office Minister Fiona MacTaggert, a week long exhibition, Experience Islam, was one of the largest Islamic exhibitions held for schools in London.

In January 2004, a youth forum was held with officials from the anti-terrorism unit of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office. The discussions covered controversial issues such as anti-terrorism laws and their impact on Muslim youth. The meeting was welcomed by participants from both sides, and the youth really felt that they gained an insight into policy formulation and how the issue of terrorism is treated within the Government. Fadi Itani states, “I know we cannot change the whole world; but for sure we can change bits of it. Every cloud has a silver lining.”