Forward Thinking meet Islington Mayor, Cllr Rakhia Ismail, 17th June 2019

On 17th June 2019, Jordan Morgan, UK Programme Manager, and Maisie Cook, UK Programme Intern, met with Islington Mayor, Cllr Rakhia Ismail, to discuss the issues currently facing British Muslim communities in the local area as well as potential areas for future cooperation. Cllr Rakhia Ismail was elected in May 2019 to the position of Mayor, after serving as Deputy Mayor for the preceding year. She was first elected to Islington Council in 2012 and prior to this worked in the voluntary sector for over two decades. She is the first Somali-born woman to hold the position of Mayor in the UK. Her experiences highlight that cultural, ethnic and Islamic faith identity should not have to be barriers for young Muslims wishing to enter civic and political life. However, there is a need to create more opportunities to encourage the participation of women from diverse Muslim communities. Experiences of racism and anti-Muslim prejudice impede Muslim women, particularly ‘visibly’ Muslim women who wear the hijab, from participating more fully in the public sphere.Insights were also shared from Forward Thinking’s recent community visits to Manchester and Stockport in which bilateral meetings were held with a range of diverse Muslim individuals and organisations. Potential points of collaboration with the Mayor were discussed as part of FT’s ‘Pathways into Politics’ and ‘Building Bridges’ programmes. These seek to develop the next generation of young Muslim leaders and help grassroots Muslim communities have voice at the national and local political levels respectively.