The NCM is committed to challenging any form of Islamophobia. In Nottingham, all our Mosques are united in their approach to dealing with the incidents of Islamophobia and its impact on our communities. Our mosques are working with the approach of spreading islamophobia awareness and how to deal with it.
When any Islamophobic incident has occurred, (hate letters being sent to Mosques) the NCM has used its peaceful protest rights and acted as a liaison between Police and member Mosques to ensure that these incidents are promptly investigated, and the community is kept aware of all developments. We will work with the Police to scrutinise their responses to Islamophobic crime.
NCM Management Committee members have visited schools to educate children about Islam and to promote unity and cohesiveness within our communities. We plan to develop Islam awareness seminars in the Community, Public and private sectors in the future.
The NCM has worked with one of our member Mosques, The Green Academy Trust, to hold an event for MPs, Council Leaders, Senior Police, interfaith misnisters and other Agency Officers to discuss Islamophobia. Most importantly several victims of Islamophobia were invited who spoke of their harrowing experiences and collectively we worked to find solutions to ensure people feel confident in reporting Islamophobia as a hate crime. NCM as an Islamic education centre will work closely with public bodies to bring the perpetrators of Islamophobia to justice in Nottingham.
In September 2022 Hindu / Muslim tensions arose in Leicester and threatened to spill over to damage community relationships in Nottingham. A speech, of a known hate preacher, had been planned at a Hindu temple in Nottingham.
The NCM liaised with Police, MPs, Councillors, and interfaith ministers to ensure that the talk did not go ahead which could have led to community tensions. Through Dialogue and partnership working, the event did not go ahead. The reason given by the organisors was the speaker had, allegedly, become ill. The NCM issued two statements to member Mosques and the community keeping them up to date on the matter and the cooperation of the Hindu community in agreeing not to invite the speaker in the future.
NCM Management Committee members met with the Hindu temple leaders and the Chief Constable of Police, to ensure we work together in identifying any hate speakers, or extremists and prevent them from having a platform to spread extremism in our city. We have worked on Islamophobic issues, which impact the residents of Nottingham due to extended family and community relationships.
On International events when Muslims are being oppressed, The NCM has worked closely with the Palestinian Solidarity Council to support peaceful marches in Nottingham, against the attacks taking place against Palestinians in Gaza. Our actions include writing to MPs and we have met them to explain the oppression and genocide of Muslims in Kashmir, China, Africa and the Middle East.
NCM trustees worked very closely with the Nottingham Together board to push the endorsement and adoption of the APPG (All Party Parliamentary Group) definition of Islamophobia.
