Rising to the Challenge A community’s response to Covid-19 Rising to the Challenge • Page 1 The All-Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims was launched in 2017. The Group was established to highlight the aspirations and challenges facing British Muslims; to celebrate the contributions of Muslim communities to Britain and to investigate prejudice, discrimination and hatred against Muslims in the UK. This report was made possible by generous support from Penny Appeal, Aziz Foundation and the World Federation of KSIMC. We thank them all for their support. The views expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the views of the funders. OFFICERS Chair: Wes Streeting MP (Labour) Co-Chair: Mark Eastwood MP (Conservative) Treasurer: The Rt Hon. Baroness Warsi (Conservative) Vice-Chairs: Naz Shah MP (Labour) Steve Baker (Conservative) Tan Dhesi MP (Labour) Kirsten Oswald MP (SNP) Afzal Khan MP (Labour) Mark Logan MP (Conservative) Colleen Fletcher MP (Labour) appgbritishmuslims.org facebook.com/APPGBritMuslims @APPGBritMuslims © The All-Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims. Page 2 • Rising to the Challenge CONTENTS Page Foreword by Co-chairs of the APPG 4 Foreword by Javed Khan, Chief Executive, Barnardo’s 7 Key statistics 9 Introduction 10 Methodology 13 Co-morbidities, health inequalities and BAME communities 15 Mental Health and Wellbeing 27 Dignity in Death 32 Supporting neighbours, serving local communities 36 Islamophobia 42 Charity begins at home 51 Surviving an economic downturn 73 Summary and Policy Recommendations 77 Acknowledgements 79 Appendix 1 - Terms of Inquiry on British Muslim responses to Covid-19 80 Appendix 2 - List of oral evidence sessions and participants 81 Appendix 3 - List of written submissions 82 Bibliography 83 Rising to the Challenge • Page 3 FOREWORD Wes Streeting and Mark Eastwood Co-chairs, APPG on British Muslims We began the work for this report in June 2020, as evidence of faith institutions and faith groups rising to the challenge to serve their communities in their hour of need mounted and we became acutely aware of the fantastic work undertaken by British Muslims. We could not have anticipated at the time that we would be now be living under the third national lockdown in the UK or indeed be facing up to just how devastating a toll the Covid-19 pandemic has taken on the UK population. And we are not out of the woods just yet. With the number of deaths continuing to rise and projections that things will get worse before they start to get better, the past several months since we launched our latest inquiry have been unpredictable to say the least. And yet, despite the difficult days we have lived through and the further hardships ahead, we are now beginning to see the fruits of the massive Covid-19 vaccination programme amid the utmost determination to turn the corner in our fight against Covid-19. We can, with a sober note of optimism and hope, begin to imagine days ahead when our mobility and lifestyles are not subject to such punitive restrictions. It is in this light that we present the findings of our latest report, Rising to the Challenge, because when these days of hardship have passed, we hope the spirit of community care, charity and concern for the elderly witnessed throughout these dark times will remind us of the contributions made by British Muslims during the pandemic and drive forward new initiatives to ensure that our faith-based civil society organisations can flourish in the future. We have seen communities across the country rise to the challenge The global pandemic brought on by Covid-19 has presented our national and global institutions with extraordinary challenges. The scale of transmission, serious infection, death and strained recovery from Covid-19 has caught governments and societies across the globe unawares. The UK has been no exception to the changes to lifestyles, economy and society that we have witnessed over the past year. Nationwide lockdowns which would be anathema to free societies under usual conditions have been endured to protect lives, stop the spread of infection and save the National Health Service. The national economy was forced into a periods of suspension as employers and employees have grappled with the implications of restrictions on movement and travel under lockdown; restrictions that continue to impact jobs and livelihoods in our communities. And our Page 4 • Rising to the Challenge social lives, normally abuzz with the best that the UK’s fund food deliveries; domestic abuse helplines for theatre, cinema and restaurant scenes have to offer, women at acute risk of violence in the home; pop-up have all been severely curtailed as measures adopted mortuaries to shelter the deceased and offer families to reverse community transmission have meant the some assurance that their loved ones will be buried shutting down of hospitality venues and non-essential with dignity and in accordance with religious rites; shops. As we have adapted in recent months to huge prayer halls which have been put at the disposal of changes to our normal day to day lives, we have also local NHS Trusts; mental health counselling services witnessed extraordinary acts of selflessness, charity offered to those unable to access regular services or and public service. simply seeking a faith-based intervention; and funding donations of essential Personal Protective Equipment British Muslim institutions, both (PPE). These are merely a handful of examples of the charities and Islamic institutions, consummate dedication of British Muslim charities to the national effort during the pandemic. have shown us what ‘being in this together’ means Many faith institutions, which have grappled with their own pressures as the closure of places of We have seen communities across the country rise worship altered their normal operating conditions, to the challenge. Across British Muslim charities and in have mobilised to ensure their duty of care to the civil society more widely, we have seen British Muslim faithful was maintained. Whether providing dignity communities do what they do best: demonstrate faith in death to those who have succumbed to Covid-19 in action. Or what we might simply call ‘living Islam’. As or offering prayer and pastoral care online, faith we identified in our previous reports, A Very Merry institutions have shown their capacity to adapt and Muslim Christmas and Faith as the Fourth Emergency serve in difficult circumstances. A notable example of Service, faith-based institutions play a vital role in exceptional service during this time is Mohamed Omer our civil society. Whether providing care and support of Gardens of Peace. His work at the Muslim burial site to those that are vulnerable and needy or coming to in east London during a period when many families the aid of communities and individuals facing acute have had to endure funerals held under painful hardship, British Muslim charities have consistently restrictions while upholding standards of service and responded to the cry for help in hours of need. This public health guidelines is exemplary of Muslim faith pandemic has been no exception to their tradition leadership in this country. The same is to be said of of sacrifice and service. And never before have their the Muslim Council of Britain and the Mosques and resources been in such heightened demand. Imams National Advisory Board (MINAB), both of whom have shown sterling leadership throughout the British Muslim institutions, both charities and Islamic pandemic and who have continued to demonstrate institutions, have shown us what ‘being in this civic-mindedness and a deep sense of responsibility together’ means through exemplary practice and by engaging in information dissemination campaigns unstinting commitment. Galvanising volunteers and to dispel fears and conspiracies concerning the Covid charity funds, they have moved at speed to respond vaccines in our Muslim communities. to the needs of the vulnerable, the shielding, the lonely, the anxious, and the hungry, in a fast-moving The work of British Muslim civil situation. Bringing to the fore their experience of operating in difficult and challenging terrains abroad society is not often recognised in their regular humanitarian work, they have moved Ramadan, Eid u-Fitr and Eid ul-Adha, major events with agility at a time when normal procedures in the Muslim calendar have all occurred under have been restrained. Small mutual-aid groups, lockdown conditions, national or local and it is looking community-based initiatives, family-supported increasingly likely that at least some of these religious projects and charities, large and small, British Muslim events will be held under lockdown, or at least tiered civil society has been present and active throughout restrictions, this year too. Throughout the last year, the pandemic. Muslim institutions have amplified public health guidelines to protect all communities, Muslims and Phone lines providing essential social contact to others, from the risk of community transmission. shielding groups; food banks which have put food on Closing mosques prior to the government’s the table for families who have struggled to find or Rising to the Challenge • Page 5 announcement of a national lockdown, advising It is uncommon for British Muslims’ contribution to central and local government on the needs of their our country to be acknowledged let alone applauded. communities, translating public health guidelines into We are too readily fed a diet of misinformation about languages spoken within the UK’s diverse Muslim Muslims that we often fail to register the facts in communities, and responding to calls for evidence front of us. But it is our purpose to shine a light on as to the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on these laudable efforts not just because they deserve minority ethnic groups, British Muslim institutions have our gratitude, that is a given, but because national provided a responsible steer in uncertain times.