大象传媒

Sarah Joseph, editor of a Muslim lifestyle magazine

听Sunday was my daughter鈥檚 16th birthday. She鈥檚 my youngest child. I now have a full complement of children with 鈥渟pecial birthday鈥� ages: my son is 21, and my other daughter 18.

听It feels very strange for the baby in the family to be 16.听 I remember my own 16th very clearly, and yet again, I鈥檓 amazed by the swift passing of time. I do feel, however, that the world my children inhabit feels very different to the one I grew up in.

听There are the obvious things like mobile phones and social media, which have starkly changed the format of daily lives, but it is more than that. Globally things feel very very different to me.

The decades of my childhood鈥搕he 70s and 80s鈥揹idn鈥檛 feel so polarised; so dangerous I guess.

There was racism when I was growing up. I can remember seeing racist graffiti, and being told very clearly that this was wrong and unacceptable. I can remember a lot of anti-Irish sentiment, as we lived through the troubles. But I didn鈥檛 feel I had to fight Fascism. Fascism was something my grandmother鈥檚 generation had fought, and beaten.

听Yet here we are in 2017, and this weekend in Charlottesville, USA, a 32 year old woman, Heather Heyer, was killed and Five others are in a critical condition. Heather was protesting against a Fascist rally; a rally where swastikas, Nazi salutes, and chants were in abundance.

Such things were supposed to be consigned to the history books. Such things are not supposed to be in my children鈥檚 present and future.

听The Qur鈥檃n reminds that God created us into different nations and races so that we can know one another not hate one another.

听And so on her 16th birthday听along with the jewellery and concert tickets that we bought her, we gave our daughter our unwavering promise that we will continue to fight for a world where we can all live together peacefully, in respect and dignity. And I鈥檓 forever grateful that our daughter has developed into a person who will fight for that too.

听Heather Heyer鈥檚 last Facebook post said, "If you鈥檙e not outraged, you鈥檙e not paying attention鈥�, and to me, the world needs our fullest attention right now, to make sure that my daughter, and all future generations, can know a world where hate and mistrust are not rampant, and where love rules supreme.

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