Brighton and Hove Muslim Forum News: July 2004

The official launch ceremony of the Brighton & Hove Muslim Forum (BHMF) took place at the Hove Town Hall Banquette Suite on Wednesday 21st July 2004. Over 100 guests attended from various different groups and voluntary organisations around Sussex and London.

Some of our guests included, The Mayor of Brighton & Hove, Councillor Mrs. Pat Drake, the leader of Brighton & Hove; Hove city Council Cllr Ken Bodfish, David Lepper MP,The Bishop of Chichester The Right Revd John Hind,Arnold Lewis (New Synagogue) and representatives from the Worthing Mosque, Sussex Faith Forum Executive Committee, Sussex Police, The Racial Harassment Forum,The Scarman Trust, The Black and ethnic Minority Community Partnership, Community Base, Oxfam, Brunswick Community Development Project, B & H Volunteer Bureau,B & H Business Partnership, the Muslim Association of Britain and many others also attended the ceremony.

The day was a turning point for the Muslim Community in Brighton & Hove, the Policy Adviser Kadeer Arif outlined to the conference that by 2005 the Forum hopes to have a cross city campaign in place, ready to recruit an effective vibrant body of Muslims that will work towards building community cohesion and will aim towards reducing race inequalities which are profoundly important to us all. Kadeer stressed how the forum viewed the importance of improving community dialogue and how voluntary bodies can work with the community on issues of education, employment and Information technology “being digital”.

The Chair Sabri Ben Ameur in an interview said that “we must defeat Islamphobia by informing people about the teachings of the Islamic faith.” He continued to say how the Muslim community should move forward to build acommunity of friends who trust each other and who are willing to respect each other’s views. Sabri Ben Ameur mentioned that “The Muslim community has never been hesitant to move forward and it is time to get the necessary investment into parts of the community that need it.”

The Forum’s executive committee will be releasing plans on “Brighton & Hove Muslim Outreach Project”. This project will hope to register organisations and groups in Brighton & Hove that wish to work with the Muslim Community.

July 12, 2004

The Muslim Community

Exploring Peaceful Philosophy in the Brighton mosque
by Jennifer Pulling, Sussex Life Magazine

Sabri Ben Ameur (Chair, BHMF) and Imam Hanife (Al-Madina Mosque) assisted Jennifer Pulling in writing a piece on the Muslim Community in the July edition of the Sussex life magazine. In her article Jennifer writes about how the community had established itself and how it has developed over the years in Brighton & Hove. With the help of Imam Hanife and Sabri Ben Ameur, Jennifer is able to portray the Muslim community in its true light. The Three page article looks at local, national and international issues and how they have affected and helped the Muslim Community, Sabri Ben Ameur assists Jennifer to write such an exciting piece on the Muslim community as he guides her towards the true meaning of the Islamic faith by sharing his personal thoughts with her. Two thumbs up!

New challenges for race equalities and community cohesion in the 21st century

Kadeer Arif represented the Brighton & Hove Muslim Forum and the Brighton based Racial Harassment Forum on Wednesday 7th July at a conference organised by the Institute for Public Policy and Research in London.

Kadeer took the opportunity to question the Home Secretary David Blunckett MP, Trevor Phillips (Commission for Racial Equalities) and Lord Parekh on the rising problem of Islamphobia, and how the race equalities laws (which the Home Secretary purposed on the day of the conference) will not do much to help genuine Muslim’s who are discriminated against in the work place, but instead the amendment to the race laws is an extension to the Terrorism laws which will make it easier for the Home Office to prosecute against outspoken clerks.

July 10, 2004

A Talk By Abou Alia

July 07, 2004

BHMF Launch - The first for Brighton & Hove!

Brighton & Hove Muslim Forum (BHMF) is a committee of
Mosques and Muslim organisation(s) in Brighton & Hove
that have come together to promote a better
understanding of the Islamic faith and to encourage
more Muslims in Brighton & Hove to continue their
contribution to our city's diversity.

The BHMF committee has organised a launch ceremony to
take place on Wednesday 21st July 2004 at the Hove Town
Hall Banquette room from 11am to 1pm. This will be the
official launch of the forum.

If you would like to attend the ceremony please
complete the attached form and send it back via e-mail
before July 14th to Kadeer
Arif so we can send you an invitation. You may forward this e-
mail to other organisation(s) and voluntary groups who may also
wish to attend to ceremony.

To find out further details about the forum log on to
www.bhmf.org.uk. Please remember that this will be an
invitation only ceremony.

Thank You.

Kind Regards

Kadeer Arif
Policy Advisor
Brighton & Hove Muslim Forum
PO Box 432
Brighton, BN1 6NU

Brighton and Hove Muslim Forum News

July 30, 2004

The Brighton & Hove Muslim community is here to make a difference.