Call for study of Islam and Moslems

THE gulf in understanding Islamic issues in Scotland was highlighted by a Dundee-based Moslem academic yesterday.

Professor Malory Nye was marking his appointment as new principal of the Al-Maktoum Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies.

Taking up his post yesterday, Prof Nye called for Islamic studies to be made relevant to the needs of a multicultural society.

He said the study of Islam and Moslems needed to be taken up in schools and higher education.

“The studies should not be taught in isolation or in an insular atmosphere, as that would merely continue to peddle the us-and-them attitudes that need to disappear once and for all,” he said.

“All communities should work together to build mutual understanding, respect and common ground – it is not ‘them and us’, it is ‘us and us’.

“It is clearly the case that most British non-Moslems – and that includes many people in Scotland – do not understand what makes Moslems tick, so it is important for more people to find out. Education is the key for this.”

Prof Nye joined the institute in 2003 as professor in multiculturalism before promotion to the post as depute principal for academic affairs a year later. He has been acting principal for 12 months.

Prof Nye said multiculturalism was not about separatism, ghettoisation or Balkanisation.

“It is, instead, a recognition of both diversity and the need for common ground, mutual respect and cultural engagement,” he said.