Stark contrasts

A YEAR has passed since almost 100 innocent lives were lost and many people injured at the All Saints Church. The Peshawar incident still haunts and the shame and guilt linger on.

In Pakistan, the Christian community is associated with practically everyone’s lives. As teachers and nurses, its members willingly serve humanity for a good cause. The majority of them live in rundown dwellings and contribute to the community by cleaning our streets and homes — a task that the majority population would rather stay away from. It is a pity that even though the Christians of Pakistan cause no harm and stay away from incitement of any sort, they, like members of other minority communities, still become victims.

The incident at the All Saints Church in the name of religion was probably a tragedy waiting to happen. Hate is a product of the fire of intolerance, which has spread ever since the advent of born-again followers of the majority faith.

---

UK and Pakistan treat their minorities differently.

---

Some years ago, Eid and Christmas were taking place concurrently. I visited a bakery in Peshawar to buy the usual Eid edibles. Two young Christian boys had come to buy a cake. They requested that ‘Merry Christmas’ be written on it. The owners blatantly refused to do so, saying, “We only write Eid greetings”. The teenagers did not have the courage to question this, as they ‘knew’ their place. The bakery may have had a sweet, honeyed or sugar-coated name but for me it left a bitter taste.

In terms of figures, Christians in Pakistan are believed to number a couple of million or so. The number of Pakistanis in the smaller UK population is not too different. However, these minorities in both lands present a study in contrast.

Muslims in Britain enjoy facilities beyond the rights they ever imagined in their native countries; Pakistani Christians are still waiting for their rights, which Islam guarantees them. In Pakistan, minority places of worship are attacked whereas in numerous places in Britain where the Muslim population has increased, churches are known to have been converted into mosques for the convenience of the community.

In British schools, classrooms during break can become a prayer room led by a nominated imam. Moreover, children at state schools have the choice to ask for halal meals in accordance with their Islamic faith.

In Ramazan, a TV channel broadcast the call to prayer every day during the entire month. The aim was to bring the practice of fasting to mainstream TV as non-Muslims saw Ramazan in terms of only physical hardship rather than as a ‘time of reformation’. Similarly, special programmes are aired, portraying Muslim family life in the UK during the holy month.

The openness to ideas and exchange of religious thoughts is so acceptable in Britain that in the past 10 years, statistics have shown that a large number of British people have converted to Islam, the majority of whom are young women.

Interestingly in finance, the UK has by far the largest number of banks for Muslims interested in Islamic banking. There are fully Sharia-compliant banks in the UK and many leading institutions like Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC and Lloyds Banking Group have set up special branches or subsidiary firms for Muslim clients. In fact, the £12billion worth of assets in Britain’s Islamic banks would exceed the amount in any Islamic bank functioning in Pakistan.

In addition, there are several professional institutions offering education in Islamic finance, perhaps more than anywhere else in the world.

I have been working  helping clients and organisations. Every day is a unique experience. On one particular occasion, along with some social workers, I met a young Muslim teenager who had been under the foster care of a Christian lady of East African descent.

The boy did not appear to appreciate the care and kindness offered by the lady and in fact passed critical remarks about her creed. I was too ashamed to translate the words but his disdain was obvious and had been observed.

After the meeting, when everyone had left, I apologised to the lady on the boy’s behalf. She was calm, remained dignified, and reminded me that she belonged to that land, which was once called ‘Habsha’, and the Christian king, Nijjashi, extended asylum to the newly converted Muslims.

On the other hand, the lady narrated another story of an Afghan boy whom she had taken care of as well as a foster parent, who had recently returned to his country. She praised him and said with a sigh that the young man had given her true respect and she considered him a genuine Muslim.