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Has our city's diverse
Islamic community integrated? Or does it still prefer to
remain apart? Lyndsey Winship investigates.
 Sitting among richly coloured
cushions, the smell of tangy apple tobacco swells from an
elaborate hubble bubble in the Mem Saab cafe. On a side street
between pubs, hairdressers and a chip shop, a slice of the
Middle East sits behind beaded curtains. "It's a laid
back culture," says Hussein Refahi, the Iranian owner of
the Moroccan café just opened on Baker Street. "When you
go to a normal café people want to eat and go. Here you are
supposed to sit down, relax, enjoy yourself." Hussein
serves up dishes laced with garam masala and turmeric, and
tiny cups of spicy tea that are never allowed to remain empty.
This is a culture in which to
take your time. Mohammed Movahez, owner of the Fountain House
restaurant on Queens Road conjures Lebanese and Persian meals
that take four or five hours to prepare. It's all about hard
work and hospitality.
Like Hussein and Mohammed, most
of Brighton's Arabs are small-business-people running shops
and restaurants in town, while a smaller number are
professional doctors, engineers and academics. Many of the
city's big restaurants are also run by Iranians, but don't
serve Persian food, including Orsinos, Otello, La Piazza and
Piccolos. Often hidden, the community is most visible among
the carrier bag bustle of Western Road where international
food stores like the Taj Mahal line up exotic tastes and
Kambi's Lebanese restaurant cooks up smoky flavours shot
through with lemon and coriander.
While spicy flavours are
welcome additions to a city that likes to see itself as
multi-cultural, international television images regularly
paint an unflattering picture of the Arab world. The
continuing crisis in the Middle East ensures the reiteration
of the words 'Islam', 'extremist' and 'terrorist' in the same
breath, turning a specific conflict into a misrepresentation
of a people. The term 'Arab' has come to describe all people
from the Middle East and the countries of North Africa that
share a common Islamic culture. But many other languages are
spoken as well, and there is cultural diversity from country
to country. Faiths such as Christian and Baha'i thrive, and
there is a large Sudanese population in Brighton who are
Coptic Christians. Farah Mohebadi, from Iran, has lived here
for 25 years and teaches the Baha'i faith. She finds that with
a quickening pace of life there are fewer and smaller
gatherings of the Iranian community, but that the Baha'i
community remains strong and social. This suggests that bonds
of religion are stronger than those of nationality, but
Hussein insists that "we are all one race really."
This tolerant diversity all
adds to the picture we like to have of a cosmopolitan city.
But due to the lack of industry there has never been a huge
influx of immigrants, as in major cities like London or
Birmingham. The 1991 census showed the ethnic population made
up only 3.1 per cent of Brighton and Hove (UK average: 5.5 per
cent) but this year's census is expected to show numbers
doubled. The largest immigrant groups in Brighton come from
India and the Far East, but there are a significant number
from the Gulf and North Africa. It is estimated that there may
be 2-3,000 Iranian families in the area, and there are now
around 2,500 Muslims resident here - most originate from
Pakistan and Bangladesh.
In fact Islam has a long
history in Brighton. The first Muslim contact may have come as
far back as the 11th and 12th centuries when sailors used to
dock in the fishing village of Brighthelmstone. On St James's
Street there is Arabic writing dating back to the 15th century
that states 'This is a prayer place' suggesting that Islam was
well known at that time.
The modern community was
established with the construction of the Dyke Road mosque in
1977, followed by Bedford Place mosque in 1985, and Portland
Road in 1996. As immigrants and asylum seekers often have to
live in cheaper areas, the majority of the community lives
close by on the Brighton and Hove borders. Mohammed Movahez
moved to Hove 12 years ago from Iran, to live with his
brother, honouring strong family bonds. Compared with
dwindling Western churchgoing however, Brighton mosques
"have 300 or 400 people gathering at Dyke Road,"
says Karim Aboutayeb. Karim was born in Britain, of a French
mother and Moroccan father and moved to Brighton two years
ago. He volunteers at Dyke Road Mosque, leads tour visits and
gives sermons at Ford prison. "We try to be active in the
community," says Karim, "but the activity of any
organisation depends on the commitment of individuals."
Adnan Al-bar is a Computer
Science DPhil student from Saudi Arabia and head of Sussex
University Islamic Society. Both Universities have a
significant number of Middle Eastern students, particularly on
post-graduate courses on their home university award
scholarships. Compared with London and living in America he
found a smaller, less active Muslim community in Brighton.
"They're doing their basic duties but are not active in
their inter-relations, their social life," he explains.
Basic duties include salaat, or praying five times a day, and
fasting during Ramadan.
Inside Dyke Road mosque is a
peaceful space, shoes are lined up on racks by the door and
there are washing facilities to cleanse feet, hands and face
before prayer. Men and women pray separately and there are no
chairs, but a carpeted floor where they sit or kneel in lines
of 20 or 30. There is no decoration except calligraphy on the
walls so as not to distract from prayer.
"We try to have a weekend
class, and one or two social gatherings in the year at key
times, such as Eid," Karim tells me. There are two major
Eid (festivals); Eid-ul-Fitr celebrates a month of fasting and
the coming of the Quran, and Eid-ul-Adha celebrates the end of
the year. It is a time for visiting friends,and exchanging
gifts. "Most Muslims, like in other faiths, remember
their faith when they get married, when their child is born,
or when they die," says Karim
Karim acknowledges that
assimilation is a problem for Muslim culture and highly
controversial. He would rather have integration. "I'm
against assimilation, where people abandon some of their
culture and religious belief because if we have that, we don't
have a multi-cultural society." But where are the limits?
"If we integrate are we expected to go to the pub?"
he asks. Alcohol, forbidden in Islam is ingrained in British
culture, and a rite of passage for most young people. Do young
Muslims keep their principles? "Even the younger
generation still don't drink alcohol," says Karim.
"They may be more relaxed about their faith but I don't
see them breaking any of the fundamental principles of
Islam."
There are no Islamic schools in
Brighton, so young Muslims have an integrated education, and
attend classes at the Mosque to learn about the basic
principles of Islam. "The Muslim community has a very
young population here, but the elderly who have been here 50
years were living in ghettos. Language was the real cause of
difficulties," explains Imam Dr Abduljalil Sajid, leader
of Brighton Islamic Mission, and an advisor on Islamic and
inter-cultural issues. Imam Sajid moved to Hove 32 years ago.
He founded the Brighton branch of the Inter-Faith Network, an
umbrella organisation which encourages understanding, respect
and communication between different faith communities. He
regularly meets with leaders of all religions including
Christian, Jewish and Buddhist groups.
As recent media furore over
asylum seekers has painted the Brits as unwelcoming hosts, how
well integrated is the ethnic community within the wider
population of Brighton and Hove? "Just by working here
we're integrating to some extent," says Karim. Adnan,
from Saudi Arabia moved here two and a half years ago from the
USA. He has encountered respect for his culture, but settling
into a different society was not automatic. "In the
computer lab where I work, it took me about a year to get
along comfortably with people I worked with every day. I'd be
there for seven or eight hours yet rarely would someone talk
to me."
Cultural trappings, such as the
hijab (scarf) that Muslim women wear, swept around their head
and shoulders and sometimes across their face, bring
inquisitive stares. Whether to wear hijab can be a contentious
issue for Muslim women in Western countries. But there are
more general differences in the British way of life. Abdullah
Al-Medany, a cheery DPhil student from Libya reflects:
"Family social life is different here. In our country you
have to visit your friends, and your family. In England
everyone is independent, even within the same family. We would
never leave our older parents alone. If neighbours have
trouble you never leave them to deal with it alone." Many
Muslims are hesitant about talking to the press because of
past misrepresentation. "The stereotypes are that we're
all terrorists, oppress women, and are extremists,"
offers Karim. "We're just normal people, trying to get a
decent living and taking our kids to school."
At the Fountain House
restaurant, Mohammed Mohavez and group of middle-aged men chat
in Persian, lounging and laughing while MTV flashes in the
corner. Mohammed may be proud that he has had the same
customers for 12 years, but even more loyal are his friends,
who come every day to chat and watch over the World with tea
and cigarettes, relaxing a tradition that dates back
centuries.
Photo Text: Imam Hanief ends
the 30 day fast of Ramadan with a meal of dates and milk at
the Medina Mosque, Bedford Place, Brighton, by Tony Tree.
copyright New Insight
2001
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