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Ghosts of Grenfall, Remembering the Victims

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by Amina Khan

Lowkey, the first time music has brought tears to my eyes.

Questions upon questions come to mind when recalling the fire at Grenfall Tower.

How did it happen? Why didn’t the fire alarm go off? Why were there no sprinklers installed in the building? Could the fire have been prevented?

However, these questions roughly scratch the surface of the horrid catastrophe.

The real questions that need to be asked are alarmingly vivid in a new music video by British-Iraqi rapper: Kareem Dennis, who goes by the name “Lowkey”.

Ghosts of Grenfall ft. Mai Khalil recounts the lives that were devoured by the burning flames of corporate power. The song illuminates how the lives lost at the tower were ultimately victims of injustice. Lowkey, behind his music, questions why the desperate calls of help from the residents and victims were left unanswered. He demands that the authorities be forced to recognize that they have murdered families, children and their parents.

“Did they die for us?”

Did the victims of Grenfall Tower die as martyrs? Did they die as a wake-up call for the future of the lower-class? For the rights of the lower-class? For the rights of immigrants and their families? What will the government do to cover their own backs?

These are the questions that need to be asked and answered.

At the end of the music video, the last line is sung by a young girl signifying that our voices are to be heard for the betterment of the next generation.

“Like a phoenix, we will rise.”

From the flames, we will rise.

In an interview with Double Down News, Lowkey explains how he and others sat and watched the victims die in front of their eyes. Yasin el-Wahabi, a friend of Lowkey’s and a loved individual, was amongst those who did not survive the tragedy.

“This is criminal,” Lowkey states.

“Neoliberalism is discredited, austerity is discredited… It’s a political choice it doesn’t have to be this way, and it is a matter of life or death”, the rapper voices on the matter.

These statements are clearly instilled behind the message Lowkey’s music video brings awareness to, infatuating viewers with the deeply rooted art behind his music.

Although Lowkey does not appear himself in the music video, the video is filled with people of all color. Lowkey stepped down from music back in 2012 to focus on studying as stated from a –since now– deleted account.

He emerged in the music world once again in 2016 with his single “Ahmed”.

As a rapper, Lowkey rejects the policy of gangsterism, which is influenced by corporate labels who profit off of the social concept behind a destructive image, often portrayed in rappers and their music. Lowkey is politically active, which threads with his music as he warns the public against the controlling nature of a higher power.

Through his candidness, Lowkey symbolizes the epitome of inspiration for the younger generation. His music sparks the truth and ignites a strength to overcome ignorance and eradicate brainwashing materialism that is so active in society.

These attributes are openly shown in his newest single Ghosts of Grenfall ft. Mai Khalil which delivers an incredibly raw and powerful message.

May the victims of Grenfall Tower rest in peace.

london

Imams Refuse To Perform London And Manchester Attackers’ Funeral Prayers

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by Aysha Qamar

In a powerful letter, more than 130 imams and Muslim religious leaders from the UK and other Western countries have said they refuse to perform funeral prayers for the London and Manchester attackers which took place at the London Bridge and Borough Market, at Potters Field Park, in London on June 5, 2017.

They emphasized the importance of not associating or performing such prayers for those who “defile” the name of their religion and urged fellow imams to “withdraw such a privilege.”

Muslim leaders have called the acts “cold-blooded murders”, and said they were “deeply hurt” that a spate of terror attacks had been committed in Britain by “murderers who seek to gain religious legitimacy for their actions.”

“We seek to clarify that their reprehensible actions have neither legitimacy nor our sympathy,” they said, alongside their refusal to “perform the traditional Islamic funeral prayer over the perpetrators.”

Both Sunni and Shia Imams supported this response by prominent Muslim leaders.

Imams and faith leaders, including Dr. Timothy Winter of University of Cambridge; Sheikha Selina Begum Ali, the director of the Beacon Institute; and Imam Qari Asim of Leeds mosque, all stated their refusal to perform Salat al-Janazah due to “ethical principles which are quintessential to Islam.”

“This is because such indefensible actions are completely at odds with the lofty teachings of Islam,” the imams said.

In the public letter, the imams mourned the attack and prayed that “the perpetrators be judged in accordance with the gravity of their crimes in the hereafter.” They also stated their dismissal of the perpetrators from “any association with our community for whom the inviolability of every human life is the founding principle.”

“These vile murderers seek to divide our society and instill fear; we will ensure they fail. We implore everyone to unite: we are one community. In the face of such dastardly cowardice, unlike the terrorists, we must uphold love and compassion,” the letter stated.

The letter was written a day after the Muslim Council of Britain, an organization consisting of over 500 religious institutions, held a press conference. During the conference, the secretary of the organization hinted at the decision the organization had made in its refusal to offer burial services.

“The level of our anger is such that some imams from a cross section of Islamic traditions say that these people should be denied an Islamic burial,” he said during the conference.

In the past, various Muslim faith leaders have condemned terror attacks and assigned other letters urging British Muslims not to travel to war-torn regions. Most well known is a 4-minute video by UK Imams condemning ISIS in 2014.

Muslim leaders themselves have been targeted by terrorist organizations like ISIS. Last year, a hit-list published in Dabiq, the terror organization’s English-language magazine, listed high profile UK Muslims as “apostates”.

British Imam and broadcaster, Ajmal Masroor, responded to his name on the list with a statement claiming it was a “badge of honor.”

Imams globally respect the decision by British Imams and continue to condemn such attacks by alleged Muslims.

Read the full letter below:

“Muslim Imams and religious leaders condemn the Manchester and London terror atrocities and urge fellow Imams to refuse to perform Islamic funeral prayers for the terrorists

We, as Muslim Imams and religious leaders, condemn the recent terror attacks in Manchester and London in the strongest terms possible. Coming from a range of backgrounds, and from across the UK; feeling the pain the rest of the nation feels, we have come together to express our shock and utter disgust at these cold-blooded murders.

We are deeply hurt that a spate of terror attacks have been committed in our country once more by murderers who seek to gain religious legitimacy for their actions. We seek to clarify that their reprehensible actions have neither legitimacy nor our sympathy.

Though at no time is it acceptable, that such ruthless violence was perpetrated during the season of Ramadan, in which Muslims worldwide focus on pious devotion, prayer, charity and the cultivation of good character, demonstrates how utterly misguided and distant the terrorists are from our faith and the contempt which they hold for its values.

Alongside our friends and neighbours, we mourn this attack on our home, society and people, and feel pain for the suffering of the victims and their families. We pray to God that the perpetrators be judged in accordance with the gravity of their crimes in the hereafter. Their acts and wilful dismissal of our religious principles alienates them from any association with our community for whom the inviolability of every human life is the founding principle (Q.5:32).

Consequently, and in light of other such ethical principles which are quintessential to Islam, we will not perform the traditional Islamic funeral prayer for the perpetrators and we also urge fellow imams and religious authorities to withdraw such a privilege. This is because such indefensible actions are completely at odds with the lofty teachings of Islam.

These vile murderers seek to divide our society and instil fear; we will ensure they fail. We implore everyone to unite: we are one community. In the face of such dastardly cowardice, unlike the terrorists, we must uphold love and compassion.

Such criminals defile the name of our religion and of our Prophet, who was sent to be a mercy to all creation.

We commend our police and emergency services – with whom we stand shoulder to shoulder – for their rapid response, arriving at the scenes while risking their own lives to protect the victims and public. Their response exemplifies the courage, humanity and honour we must exhibit in such difficult times.

We pray for peace and unity, and for all the victims of terror both at home and across the globe, who are targeted, irrespective of their faith.”

pedestrians

Muslim Pedestrians Struck by Van After Prayers in London

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by Aysha Qamar

“I want to kill all Muslims” Witnesses say they heard the driver shout, as a van rammed into pedestrians in a diverse neighborhood in north London.

Witnesses said the vehicle veered off the road into worshippers leaving prayers in Finsbury Park shortly after midnight.

“From the window, I started hearing a lot of yelling and screeching, a lot of chaos outside,” a woman living across the scene told the British Broadcasting Corporation.

“Everybody was shouting: ‘A van’s hit people, a van’s hit people’.

“There was this white van stopped outside Finsbury Park mosque that seemed to have hit people who were coming out after prayers had finished.”

According to witnesses, members of the public managed to restrain the driver after he left the van.

Footage has confirmed this showing injured people motionless on the pavement with angry crowds surrounding a white man believed to be the driver.

One man has died with several more injured during this suspected terror attack following evening prayers at a nearby London mosque.

Counter-terror police are investigating the incident in Finsbury Park as a potential terrorist attack. Eight people have been taken to the hospital and the more were treated at the scene for minor injuries.

The lone suspect is in custody and has been identified as 48-year-old Darren Osborne from Cardiff, Wales area.

“The driver of the van – a man aged 48 – was found detained by members of public at the scene and then arrested by police in connection with the incident,” a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said.

“He has been taken to hospital as a precaution and will be taken into custody once discharged.”

The incident occurred near the Muslim Welfare House, a community center down the road from several local mosques, according to the U.K.’s Muslim Council.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick stated the attack was “quite clearly an attack on Muslims.”

Chief executive of the Ramadan Foundation Muslim organization, Mohammed Shafiq, stated the incident occurred as members of two mosques left Tarawih, late night prayers performed for the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

“It happened outside the Muslim Welfare House but people were leaving Finsbury Park Mosque as well so there’s a lot of confusion at the moment,” Shafiq told The Independent.

“According to eyewitnesses it was a deliberate attack against innocent Muslims, and if that’s confirmed by authorities it should be classed as a terror attack, no doubt about that.”

Ambulances, advance paramedics, special response teams and an advance trauma crew were sent to the scene, according to London Ambulance Service’s deputy director of operations, Kevin Bate.

“Our priority is to assess the level and nature of injuries and ensure those in the most need are treated first and taken to hospital,” Bate said.

The incident reflects the growing fear within the community on the rise of Islamophobia, Miqdaad Versi, the assistant secretary-general of the Muslim Council told the Huffington Post.

“People are shocked. People are terrified,” Versi, who was not at the scene, went on. “It’s an important time. It’s the last 10 nights of Ramadan, and that’s why there are such big crowds.”

This attack is the latest in a series of incidents occurring in the United Kingdom involving vehicles hitting pedestrians.

Preciously, 4 people were killed and dozens were injured after a man drove his car into a crowd on Westminster Bridge and then stabbed a police officer, in March. A suicide bomber killed 22 people during a concert by Adriana Grande in the Manchester Arena, in May.

Three ISIS supporters rammed a van into pedestrians on the London Bridge before stabbing people in Borough Market, killing 8 people in June.

This incident has also been the third major incident in less than a month for London’s emergency services, following the London Bridge attack and Grenfell Tower disaster.

“This is a terrible incident,” British Prime Minister Theresa May said in a statement. “All my thoughts are with those who have been injured, their loved ones, and the emergency services on the scene.”

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has condemned the incident in a statement.

“We don’t yet know the full details, but this was clearly a deliberate attack on innocent Londoners, many of whom were finishing prayers during the holy month of Ramadan,” Khan wrote. “While this appears to be an attack on a particular community, like the terrible attacks in Manchester, Westminster and London Bridge, it is also an assault on all our shared values of tolerance, freedom, and respect.”

While the attack has not yet been classified as a terrorist attack or one of hate witnesses believe otherwise.

“One thing that is clear: This happened after night prayer that us Muslims pray during Ramadan,” a witness told Huffington Post. “It was clearly an act that was planned and an act that was done with full intention.”