Muslim community in Bradford praised for Covid-19 efforts

A Cross-Party Parliamentary Report was released yesterday by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on British Muslims.

It covered the challenges Islamic communities across the country have faced during the Covid-19 crisis and highlighted how these obstacles have been overcome.

One of the major issues was the dissemination of crucial information into these communities.

The report outlines that The Bradford Council for Mosques (CfM) took over Bradford Council’s communication strategy to help deliver key messages in diverse ethnic languages.

Al Markaz ul Islami, an educational institute, mosque and community hub in Great Horton, and a group of GPs and A&E doctors connected with the mosque (Al Markaz Medics) also helped this process and became first responders by supporting other mosques in Bradford.

This included informing local congregations of the importance of precautionary measures prior to the first lockdown and holding emergency consultations with Bradford CfM to highlight the potential risk factors specific to Bradford.

All this collaboration led to the collective decision to suspend all daily prayers and large gatherings in mosques across Bradford on March 18, 2020 - five days before the national lockdown was imposed.

The report criticised the Government, at a national and local level, for its own poor engagement.

A spokesperson for Bradford Council said: “We agree that nationally the government messaging to diverse communities has been poor but here in Bradford, we consider the Council for Mosques to be an important partner for the council in getting relevant messages out to people.

"With that in mind throughout the pandemic we have worked through CfM and other organisations to deliver communications to the Muslim community in different languages.

"This has been very effective."

Naz Shah MP for Bradford West and Vice-Chair of the APPG on British Muslims was integral in an amendment being made to the Emergency Coronavirus Bill, which originally raised concerns about the fulfilment of Muslim burial rites in the event of an overcapacity of burials.

She said: "The pandemic has been truly tough on all communities.

"Losing loved ones and being away from them in key moments has made this time especially difficult.

"For Muslims in Bradford, the cancellation of Eid at the 11th hour on Twitter made things even worse.

"This report highlights some of the challenges many British Muslim communities have faced during the pandemic, including the fears of cremation in the early stages of the pandemic.

"The efforts put in to amend the Coronavirus Bill ensured that there was dignity in death and that no one should be cremated against their wishes."

But, despite this change, Bradford CfM felt the local authority did not always understand the specific religio-cultural sensitivities of the Muslim community.

The report stated: “Councils of Mosques within Bradford, Bolton and Birmingham all told us about how they had also consulted with undertakers, funeral directors and city councils to help ensure funeral healthcare guidelines were being adhered to, yet they often felt local authorities did not always understand the specific religio-cultural sensitivities of British Muslim communities.

“These institutions all cited evidence explaining that funerals were naturally a very emotional and sensitive time for families, however families sometimes felt that their rights were not being fulfilled to attend funeral prayers or to say a final goodbye, particularly in the case of those who had large immediate families (more than six members) or lived in multigenerational households.”

A spokesperson for Bradford Council said: “The distress and anguish caused to families who have had to follow the Government guidelines limiting gatherings at funeral ceremonies has been hard for everyone to bear, but they were put in place to prevent the spread of this deadly virus.”

Eid - and other Islamic religious festivals - were another important topic in the report.

Ramadan, and the annual pilgrimage, Hajj, were impacted by various restrictions ranging from large scale national lockdown and travel bans, to regional restrictions and the introduction of tiered regulations.

This ultimately culminated in the Government announcing restrictions for Bradford (and Greater Manchester, east Lancashire and other parts of West Yorkshire), which prohibited individuals from different households from gathering indoors, on the eve of Eid ul-Adha.

The report stated: "Given the nature of the family celebrations that Eid entails, when families gather together to celebrate and some travel distances to be together on the special occasion, the announcement and in particular its timing was met with considerable disquiet."

Health Secretary Matt Hancock appeared on BBC's Today programme following the announcement and denied the restrictions had been consciously applied to prevent Muslims from gathering.

But the report believes this again showcases the poor engagement strategy between officials and Muslim communities.

It outlines that it could have been avoided, but community leaders were not consulted rigorously enough, and in the end the move have adverse effects on the public's consciousness of these communities.

The report stated: "It goes without saying that the adapted practice forced onto Muslim communities at an instance’s notice could have been better managed had the Government consulted community leaders more rigorously prior to the announcement of the decision.

"Some of the mosque leaders we spoke to argued that many local authorities had been aware of the increase in death tolls a week prior and that restrictions could have been implemented earlier to avoid clashing with the night of celebrations marking the festival of Eid ul-Adha.

"The timing of this decision within localities with large Muslim populations gave the misleading impression that these groups were disposed to contravening health regulations."