'Misrepresented' NI muslims feel vulnerable says academic

Muslims in Northern Ireland feel vulnerable because of misrepresentation in the West of the true nature of Islam, a law professor at the University of Ulster has warned.

Javaid Rehman says Northern Ireland must heed the lessons of the peace process and bolster minorities such as Muslims and Asians who have felt the pressure of racism since 9/11.

“Islamic law is not pro-terrorism and does not encourage violence or terrorism,” Professor Rehman said. “The problem arises through erroneous interpretations of the Islam faith which are picked up by non-Muslims. The interpretation that is often demonstrated in United States foreign policy is distorted.

“The interpretation that the man-in-the-street receives dictates whether he believes that Islam endorses or condemns terrorism. But there are many examples of how Classical Islam has been positive and powerful in promoting peaceful co-existence.”

Professor Rehman voiced concern that Islamic believers had been tarnished in the wake of the 9/11 attacks and said the problem had deepened in Northern Ireland, which has some 4,000 Muslims.

“I regret that this problem is worse in Northern Ireland. In the two years that I have spent here I hear complaints,” Professor Rehman continued. “I feel this is all bound up with racism, and with non-Muslims’ insecurities, which are impacting on minority communities.”

A member of the International Law Association’s Committee on Islamic Law and International Law, and a Professor of Law at the University’s Magee campus, Professor Rehman is one of the organisers of a major London conference in March which will examine the operation of Islamic states’ legal frameworks and how Islamic law deals with issues such as human rights and terrorism.

It is jointly sponsored by the Magee-based Transitional Justice Institute and the British Institute of International and Comparative Law.

(MB/SP)