Southport Tragedy – 31st July 2024
As a nation we’ve all been shocked and saddened by the murders of the young girls in Southport and those left injured. This horrific incident has also united the nations hearts in collective grief. It goes without saying that collectively our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families.
Unfortunately, in the midst of this grief there were those who weaponised the tragedy for their own nefarious agenda. There were those who wanted to use this tragedy to express their hatred of others through violence and chaos.
We saw this play out on the streets of Southport by thugs who further traumatised a grieving community by their disgusting and violent conduct. Behaviour contrary to the British way of life they were purportedly defending through their criminal actions.
This violence was fuelled by rumours, hearsay, speculation and deliberate misinformation in an attempt to fan the flames of hate and in this case Islamophobia. Those taking part were clearly radicalised to violence through exposure to deliberate misinformation through social media. Sadly, some sections of alternative media also made things worse as well as some of our so-called members of the political establishment who also added fuel to the misinformation.
In these testing times, we all need to show more social responsibility in what we share on social media. Why? Because unfortunately we have people in society who are more susceptible to being influenced in a negative way by what they are exposed to. This is even more dangerous when they are influenced by misinformation and “fake news”.
This responsibility in terms of what is shared is greater for social media companies who need to play a bigger role and show greater social responsibility and accountability in terms of what they allow to be shared on their platforms – especially misinformation and racist material that encourages hatred of others. If only for the sake of social cohesion.
The violence that played out in Southport should be a wakeup call for all us of with regards to how misinformed and hate filled views if not curbed can lead to violent consequences. Ibn Rushd, an Islamic religious philosopher from the past put it best when he said: “Ignorance leads to fear, fear leads to hatred, and hatred leads to violence. This is the equation.”
Those taking part in the violence tried their best to turn this tragedy into a “them” versus “us” situation. But thankfully after seeing the people of Southport come together in the wake of the violence, through their community spirit they showed those who took part in the violence that they failed miserably.
The people of Southport set an example for all of us to follow, that we as a nation should all be rightly proud of by turning the situation from one of “hate” into “hope”. They set an example for all of us to work together as a nation to ensure that hope wins over hate.
May Allah (God) grant ease and comfort to the grieving families and all those affected. Ameen.
May Allah grant justice to those affected. Ameen.
As a nation may Allah keep our hearts united in hope and not divided by hate. Ameen.
Rizwan Ahmed
Bristol Muslim Cultural Society.
