The contribution that Muslim charities make to society is undervalued, especially at Christmas, according to a group of MPs and peers.
A Very Merry Muslim Christmas, published this week by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims, aims to raise awareness of the positive work of Muslim charities.
In the foreword to the report Anna Soubry, Conservative MP for Broxtowe, and Wes Streeting, Labour MP for Ilford North, who are co-chairs of the committee, said: “Muslim charities come to our attention because of negative media coverage of governance issues or bad practice among a handful of individuals working in the charity sector, or, because of latent fears about charities being abused for terrorism financing.”
The report is based on oral and written evidence presented to the group in November and aims to “showcase some of the amazing initiatives developed and delivered by Muslim charities, and to counter the negative stereotypes which mask and distort so much of the wonderful work they do in local communities”.
Soubry and Streeting conclude that: “British Muslim charities haven’t received the kind of attention they deserve. At this time of year, when Muslim charities are working alongside many other faith based charities to spread good cheer, peace on earth and goodwill to all we hope our preliminary findings highlights and celebrates their work. A very Merry Muslim Christmas to all!”
The report features the work of a number of charities such as Penny Appeal, Human Appeal and Muslim Aid and the response of the sector to tragedies like the Grenfell Tower fire.
It particularly highights the activity distributing food parcels, hot meals, thermal clothing and other essential items” over the Christmas period.
“There are silly stories which circulate around this time of year about Muslims wanting to ‘ban Christmas’ or replace Christmas festivities with ‘Winterval’,” the report said. “These are fanciful ideas. The actual story, as we present here in our preliminary findings, is that British Muslims are actually embracing the spirit of the season to spread good cheer among those in need.”
The information is taken from a longer report, Faith as the Fourth Emergency Service, which will be published in the 2018.
APPGs are informal groups of MPs and peers who meet to discuss ideas, often with involvement from outside organisations. The APPG on British Muslims was launched earlier this year and is supported by the Aziz Foundation.
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