On being sort-of Muslim

“Three thousand miles from the fighting in Syria I was sat with Pakistanis who definitely wouldn’t be giving up their lives here in London for Raqqa. They fit somewhere inside the label of Muslim. Muslim can mean what you want it to. I bristle when I’m called one but that’s because I don’t believe, and I don’t think any religion more special than the next. If you’re right, why isn’t the Jew? The Christian? The atheist? So leave me out of your fight. And here right now with these Pakistanis, being Muslim meant trying to get on in the West, working in law and finance, drinking in Mayfair, calling Mum and telling her that yes, you were fasting during Ramadan but what you didn’t tell her was that, more than being a Muslim, you were just trying to live. We talked about the boys and girls going off to join ISIS, and we could only conclude having come from the same background that it was them, not the West. And that their Caliphate is making life harder for Muslims over here as they play out their childish fantasies of empire. Their reasoning is weak. Are Muslims (Pakistanis amongst them) being sidelined? No. They’re like any other population. Some take opportunity, some don’t. Do areas become deprived? Yes. But we have plenty of ways to move. There’s a romantic notion of an Islamic brotherhood, but Islam isn’t going to take over the world, China is. Every empire has had its day and the world is always in flux, who knows who’s next? Who cares?”

…

“I wish the West would stop apologising for itself. You can walk into any restaurant in London and see people from all over the world, being given a chance. Some will make it because they’re smart enough or good enough or try enough. Some of them won’t, that’s life. We’re not equal. I’ve worked in restaurants, I’ve cleaned toilets, I’ve been sworn at and had fights in the street. I could play the victim but I wouldn’t have a reason, just an excuse. There is more than being angry at something that doesn’t exist, there is something else than a weak conspiracy theory. And that’s to live. Here in the West you can live, you can get on.”


http://takimag.com/article/carry_on_adnan_sarwar/print#ixzz3YvSbRUta

Too much the Westerner is Mr. Sarwar. Who cares which empire next rules? Right. If we leave them alone, they will have no reason to bother us. Can’t we all just get along? Surely we can discuss our differences and arrive at a joint conclusion. Have another drink.