Action for Race Equality works collaboratively with Black, Asian and Mixed heritage-led organisations to strengthen the community and voluntary sector and improve outcomes across education, employment and criminal justice. As part of our drive, we’re proud to actively spotlight individuals, initiatives and campaigns that share our mission to advance race equity in the UK.
🕒 Estimated read time: 5 minutes
In this spotlight, Bowale Fadare, Policy and Research Officer had the pleasure of interviewing Suleman Amad, Project Manager at Maslaha, an organisation that works tirelessly with Muslim communities at a grassroots local level. They seek to change and challenge the conditions that create inequalities for these communities in areas such as education, gender, criminal justice, health, negative media coverage and a continued climate of Islamophobia.
Maslaha advocates for a more sophisticated approach to understanding the needs of Muslim men and women which will lead to a system that does not discriminate on the basis of religion or ethnicity.
Why or how did you get involved in the CJS?
In the UK, Muslims are over-represented in the criminal justice system. They make up about 18% of the prison, compared to 6% of the general population. This is what spurred us to get involved in this work, we wanted to understand why there is such a high population of Muslims in prison.
Through our report ‘Time To End The Silence’ we examined the experiences of Muslims in prison and their access to services provided by large organisations in prison. One of our key observations is that the prison reports quote Muslim populations as having negative experiences but there is little documented understanding of what those negative experiences are and why are Muslims more affected. We want to highlight what those experiences are.
We have connections with several prisons and our work is rooted in the community. We seek the input of prisoners to inform our work; this means our work is co-produced with people with lived experience ensuring that we always centre and champion their voices at the highest levels.
What does this work mean to you?
Working in the criminal justice system, I want to make sure that people don’t experience what I did while I was in prison. Racism is a big part of the criminal justice system; our communities are continuing to be over-policed and over imprisoned which has become normalised. Where I come from, becoming involved in the system is a part of life and I want to change that.
As an organisation, it’s about recognising and addressing that these inequalities exist, especially with the normalisation of Islamophobia. We need to uplift our community, so isolation doesn’t set in. That’s why when we visit prisons, we’re focused on building trust and sharing faith, to extend hope to people who have lost it. Our work feeds into a solution by speaking to people of colour who have been through it; they tell us exactly how it is and the nuances of racism.
As a led-by and for-organisation, what do you find to be the biggest challenge working in this space and what do you think needs to be done to overcome it?
If we don’t understand and address that racism is at the foundation of the criminal justice system, we’re not going to improve at pace. The focus on ending disproportionality and discrimination can get lost at times, despite it being a huge issue within the system.
What would you want the CJS to look like and how does your work feed into that solution?
I don’t think there should be a criminal justice system. I don’t believe much in prisons much less a prison for children. The criminal justice system doesn’t work for everyone and it’s also costly. There is a better way to utilise that money and improve people’s lives instead of criminalising them. There is no justice in the system.
Through your work, what are some misconceptions you’ve come across?
In policy and government, Muslims become a focal point during talks about extremism and radicalisation in prison but when I go into prisons the reality is far different. What we read about is a symptom of bad evidence and pushing a narrative that serves one part of society and damages another. These ideas become embedded in future policy which leads to harsher attitudes and more violence towards communities. The system is obsessed with this myth which is then fuelled by media sensationalism.
There is a recklessness and a lack of responsibility in protecting Muslim communities from harm; the term ‘Islamophobia’ has been highly contested and as far as the riots go, we saw how Muslim people were predominantly affected following years of consistent messaging about who they are.
How has working in the CJS impacted your understanding of young people and the criminal justice system?
Due to my experience, I know exactly what young people face in prison. It doesn’t change my view on them because I know there are a lot of factors that merge to create a set of circumstances that can push or lead a young person down this path. My lived experience allows me to understand them in a way the prison and criminal justice system doesn’t.
Finally, if you could identify one or two people who could really make a difference in improving the CJS, who would they be and why?
I think the director of Maslaha. He understands the problems and sees them. He works hand in hand with communities that experience these inequalities. I think people like him are the best people to make the changes we all want and need.
DISCLAIMER: The views expressed in this interview reflect the lived experiences of Suleman Amad through the work of Maslaha in the criminal justice space and do not necessarily reflect those of Action for Race Equality. We are committed to amplifying diverse perspectives on race and justice to foster meaningful discussions and reflect on these lived experiences.
Bowale Fadare
Author/ Interviewer
