Shamas Tabrez
Shamas talks about his approach to religion

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I have always been a religious person, religious and strong in my values, but that doesn’t stop me from integrating with others at the same level. I could go into a pub and drink an orange juice and come out feeling great. I didn’t need to hold a glass of beer just to be acceptable, so that’s how strong I am and that’s how strong, hopefully, ‘insh’Allah’ I will remain. 

I respect all religions. I respect Christianity just as much as I respect Buddhism or Judaism or anybody else, because I believe that it is their right to believe in what they want and so let it be. And if they want to search for the truth, then it’s their duty, just as much as it is mine. If they want to learn about me, I will teach them about myself and say what I am about. And if they want to learn about their religion then they should do so themselves.

With the Mosque we felt that it was a historical Mosque and it was being run down through bureaucracy, because the management of it was the responsibility of the Pakistani High Commission, who were not capable of looking after it. And by this time the community had grown very large and it needed the service of the Mosque. And because you have children, so you want to keep your religion and you want to teach them so therefore the Mosque is the vital focus for this. 

So that’s what my aim was. So I started by writing them letters and annoying them. The community was with me. I held a few meetings within the community and everybody said that they would back me to the hilt if I was going the right path. Unfortunately there is always two sides to the story and some members of the community felt that I might be going to one extreme or the other, and I was single-mindedly pressurising the High Commission for the resolutions at the Mosque. It was not to relinquish control, but to include us as a community in its day-to-day management and give us the responsibility for its day-to-day management and have local representation on the Trust.