Voice of British Muslim Women

Sameea Jonnud, Aldershot

The political landscape has become increasingly bleak over the last decade, with Governments and policies leaning towards the right of the political spectrum. Local elections in early May were another blow, with the anti-migrant Reform party gaining council seats across the country, including in my local area. Just as had happened after the Brexit vote, I found myself walking to and from the polling station glancing at passers-by thinking “did you vote Reform? Do you want to get rid of us?” The day was sunny and the flowers along my way beautiful, so I was able to put any such thoughts out of mind until the next day when I walked to my parents’ house.

I decided to avoid the straight main road and walked the back streets; a few houses down a neighbour was sitting in his front garden and we exchanged greetings. He stood up and asked how my family was and began talking about retirement and how he had planted strawberries and was waiting for them to ripen. “I can’t work but I can’t sit around either” he said. So, he had made a little garden in which he would sit and chat with passers-by. Continuing I passed another neighbour, and said “morning!”; “lovely day, isn’t it?” she replied as we walked past. At the end of the road an elderly man cutting his hedge called to his dog to stop barking. “Behave, Holly” he said, before telling me how friendly she actually was once she got to know people. He commented on his hedge and how he had lived there for 77 years.

Previous walks were often just me with my thoughts, saying prayers in my head, admiring the plants or listening to something on Spotify; other times I encountered people ready to exchange pleasantries and chat. A white lady cleaning her fence called “Salaam o Alaikum” as I drew close; I was taken aback and replied “wa alaikum assalaam” and told her what a surprise it was to hear her say it. She told me about being interested in learning greetings of other cultures and how her Christian faith taught her to connect with neighbours. Islam teaches us to greet those we meet or pass by with words of peace, and I would always do this, modifying it to a good morning for my non-Muslim neighbours; here I found myself pleasantly surprised to be receiving the greeting. Later I remembered she had greeted me two years previously with “Nameste” and a hope that she got the greeting right! Further along a friend passed with a very quick hello. She explained her hurry, “I’m off to Zumba” but then turned and asked how I’d been before rushing off.

By the time I arrived at my parents’ house my thoughts had become positive, the result of a few very short greetings and smiles. Whatever the result of the election was, people in my area were friendly and wanted to connect. It made me reflect on numerous walks over the years, encountering the same and other neighbours as well as passers-by, and many little exchanges of pleasantries, most often a greeting, comment on the weather and smiles, on one occasion a hug of sympathy, on another an expression of condolence to my Muslim Community after the Christchurch attack, because we’re Muslim and would be sad. In all the years I’ve lived here, very little negativity, just neighbourly greetings.

After the EU Referendum, my local council invited representatives of local community groups to a meeting with police and army representatives, the purpose being to see how to counter hatred stirred up by the divisive Brexit. We discussed ways to bring the community together and agreed that food was a great unifier; the result was a food festival, bringing together cultural and religious communities from across the area.

There is a tradition of the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, which teaches that if you are cooking meat, increase the broth so that you can share it with your neighbours. We send food to our next door neighbours every Eid and on one occasion packed plates of biriyani which my husband delivered to all the surrounding houses; afterwards, as well as a passing comment about the weather, there were often smiling comments saying “ooh, that biriyani was lovely!”

As I reflect on the world today and walking around my own local area, I find the little interactions with people being comforting as they show a simple friendliness which is a reminder that despite any bleak election outcomes, most people are neighbourly and want to exchange pleasantries which make the day brighter for all of us.

So, whatever is going on in the world, it’s only positive to build a little community spirit in these simple ways, and if at a loss for what to say, we can all rely on that great, British unifier – the weather!