I was lucky enough to be invited to the recent Muslim Youth Festival that bought together hundreds of students from various schools across London and many Muslim professionals, who had excelled in their professional lives.

The festival occurs in the wake of troubling revelations about Muslim individuals, who have left their families in Britain to attempt and join ISIS and there was very much a sense of a coalescing at this event, in order to face a joint enemy: Islamaphobia.

I left this festival filled with optimism. As a British Muslim, privileged enough to have parents who had gone through our education system and are focused on education as a foundation for any successful life, I was struck by the stories of individuals from different roots, who strove to achieve their goals.

It is clear that the next generation of British Muslims is ready to embrace their country and their faith and are no less British, nor less Muslim for doing so.

What was powerful about this event is that it transcended any divergence within the Muslim community. Sects, political persuasions, nationalities and age have become irrelevant in what has become the campaign to assert a peaceful image of British Islam.

Mustafaen Kamal

via email