On Friday 23rd October The Muslim Institute publicly launched a new report, commissioned by the institute and authored by Humera Khan of the An-Nisa Society.
The event was hosted by cultural organisation Soul City Arts at its Port Hope venue, located in the Sparkbrook area of the city.
The room was filled with local people from Birmingham, all of whom had thoughts and questions for the report’s author and panellists; about the current state of the city, and the role that Muslim-led voluntary and charitable organisations can play in making the city better for everyone who lives in it.
Birmingham’s Muslims – Conversations on grassroots community and change: An analytical overview captures the experiences, perspectives and emerging issues affecting Birmingham’s diverse Muslim communities, with particular attention to voices that are often underrepresented in policy discussions and internal Muslim debates. These include women, young people, converts, African and Arab Muslim communities, and smaller grassroots organisations operating with limited resources.
The event was chaired by Tahir Abbas, Professor of Criminology and Global Justice at Aston University, and he was joined by Humera Khan, An-Nisa Society & report author, Afro-Caribbean heritage convert Aisha Siddiqua, Mohammed Ali from Soul City Arts and Yasin Erkul, Founder/Director of The Hotspot youth club, Nechells.
From left to right: Panellists Yasin Erkul, Aisha Siddiqua, report author Humera Khan, and chair Tahir Abbas.
The event kicked off with Humera Khan running through the origins, findings and recommendations of the report, and after a brief response from the panel, was opened up to the audience. What became clear is that the economic position and needs of Muslims in the city exist within the wider problems that the city faces and has to find ways to overcome.
At the same time, as evidenced in the report, there are very many people working at the grassroots within the diverse Muslim communities of Birmingham to address those many and complex needs, often on little or no funding, and without routes into much more sustainable sources of local and national government support. The debate from the floor was multi-faceted as one might expect. Every member of the audience got a complimentary copy of the report, and we hope that it will be the starting point for similar discussions within the city, that will encourage support for the initiatives that exist and open up possibilities for future positive change.
The Muslim Institute would like to thank Humera Khan, the chair and panellists, and Mohammed Ali and the team at Soul City Arts for hosting the event, and the audiences who braved a storm to come out and engage so positively with the initiative and make their views heard.
Tahir Abbas has written a blog on the meeting and his wider thoughts on the future of Birmingham: Birmingham’s Muslims: A Call to Action
Download a free pdf of the report here
Photos by Rooful Ali.
Panellist Mohammed Ali MBE, Soul City Arts 
