‘We have to stand united together’: Manchester imam on synagogue attack

Imam Sabah Ahmedi, a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community joined us. He was born and raised in Greater Manchester and is one of Britain’s youngest Imams. He visited the Jewish community in Crumpsall after the synagogue attack.

Jackie Long: What have you been saying to the Jewish community in this terrible moment?

Imam Sabah Ahmedi: It’s showing solidarity and unity with the Jewish community. Look, an innocent life is an innocent life, regardless of what faith you come from. The Holy Qur’an says that killing an innocent is akin to killing the whole of mankind, so it’s important we stand with our Jewish brothers and sisters in faith, in unity and solidarity.

Jackie Long: It’s very difficult, isn’t it, because these can be dangerous moments, can’t they? Devastating for the Jewish community. But just as the Jewish community can’t be responsible for what the Israeli government does, individual Muslims cannot, your community cannot be responsible for the acts of one individual. But nevertheless, these are tense times, aren’t they?

Imam Sabah Ahmedi: It is, I think it’s in times like this, regardless of your differences, we should come together. Actually, the Holy Qur’an teaches that if someone treats another one who is different to them with love and compassion, they become close friends. And that teaching just shows you the importance of building bridges of love and coming together.

“The Holy Qur’an says that killing an innocent is akin to killing the whole of mankind, so it’s important we stand with our Jewish brothers and sisters in faith, in unity and solidarity.”

– Imam Sabah Ahmedi

Jackie Long: Are you worried, though, about how this pans out over the next weeks and months? Because we know that often terror attacks can lead to more terrible incidents. We saw after Southport, the dreadful riots. Are you worried about the next few weeks and months?

Imam Sabah Ahmedi: After something like this, it can go two ways; either hostility and division, or as we saw five or six years ago, the coming together of people in Manchester, the unity, and the oneness of the community. So we should strive to make Manchester, as it is, a city united together, stronger together, and a city of peace.

Jackie Long: How do you do that in a specific day-to-day way?

Imam Sabah Ahmedi: The motto of our community is love for all, hatred for none. If we were to live and strive by that, we wouldn’t be stood on the top of a hotel on a roof talking about such sad incidents. So I think it’s trying to live your life based on morals and teachings that can stem from your religious upbringing and values, and to live your life understanding and respecting other people’s way of life.

Jackie Long: But a great deal has been talked about how that isn’t always being done at the moment. We see a lot of anger in the country. Jewish people have talked to me about how they feel demonised. We know also that Muslim people, asylum seekers, migrants, have also been demonised, and that talk can be dangerous, can’t it?

Imam Sabah Ahmedi: It can, but I think it’s uniting on our commonalities. We all might have different walks of life. We all may have different viewpoints in life or come from different faiths in life, but we all share the common understanding. We all bleed red. We have more in common than not. So just because we’re different and we have differences, we shouldn’t target or marginalise the community because they’re different to us.

Jackie Long: Are you confident that people won’t be marginalised, that people won’t be targeted though?

Imam Sabah Ahmedi: I can’t give an answer for sure, but I think if we lead by our own example and try our best to lead with strong values and strong morals and have an understanding of the way people live, that’s a step in the right direction and we can only pray for the best.

“We all may have different viewpoints in life or come from different faiths in life, but we all share the common understanding. We all bleed red. We have more in common than not.”

-Imam Sabah Ahmedi

Jackie Long: A great deal has been said in the last 24 hours how political rhetoric needs to change. We heard that before, when Jo Cox was killed, the MP. What’s your view about the tone that should be set by all politicians?

Imam Sabah Ahmedi: As a religious leader, it’s difficult for me to comment on politics. I’m not here for that. I’m here to talk about the sense of humanity and the coming together of a community and to grieve the loss of our fellow Jewish members of the community. So that’s hard to navigate as a faith leader, but when it comes to a sense of humanity, we’ve got to stand united together.

Jackie Long: But we know the public debate is very often very hostile. We’ve seen some very ugly protests over the summer. How do you keep that dialogue positive? How do you keep people who have very, very different views making their arguments politely and calmly and not aggressively?

Imam Sabah Ahmedi: That’s the answer right there, politely and calmly. You can’t fight fire with fire. Through conversation and dialogue, we can achieve peace. And we’ve never seen peace through violence. And that’s what we can’t forget.

Jackie Long: And what about the role of social media in all of this?

Imam Sabah Ahmedi: Social media, I’m on there. It can be a very dangerous world. It’s really important to fact check the stuff that you have, get your news from different sources and make sure you’re not caught in a cycle of misinformation, which can lead to terrible acts of violence and terror.

“You can’t fight fire with fire. Through conversation and dialogue, we can achieve peace. And we’ve never seen peace through violence. And that’s what we can’t forget.”

– Imam Sabah Ahmedi

Jackie Long: I know you’re here as an imam. One of the things that has been most difficult over the last two years has been the very divided opinion on the Gaza conflict. You must feel very strongly about that yourself.

Imam Sabah Ahmedi: I do. It’s a very worrying time. It’s important we stand up for justice for the rights of Palestinians. It’s important that Palestinians call out and say what Hamas did was wrong. In the same breath, it’s important Israelis call out what’s happening now as completely incorrect. And actually violence never solves problems. It’s got to come through justice and peace.

Jackie Long: So you’re hopeful, you’re confident?

Imam Sabah Ahmedi: I pray every day that we come to an agreement of peace and love.

‘We have to stand united together’: Manchester imam on synagogue attack – Channel 4 News