Leeds Metropolitan University
Summer Graduation 2006
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Winter Graduation 2006 |
Sir Iqbal AKM Sacranie
Sir Iqbal AKM Sacranie, OBE FFA, founding Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain, has received an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from Leeds Met during Summer Graduation 2006.
Addressing the graduands and all others present, Sir Iqbal passed on a universal Islamic greeting of peace and blessing upon the audience before beginning his speech:
“I’m absolutely delighted to be present here this afternoon. Not least because Leeds has been a city with which I’ve had very close attachment. When I arrived from Malawi way back in 1969, there was a good friend of mine, who was also in Malawi as a senior government economist, who used to be in Leeds and at that time was one of the professors at the University. At that time, I thought that there was an opportunity to come out of London to see what England was all about after experiencing the rush and the turmoil that we were going through in London, bearing in mind that I come from a locality in Malawi that is quiet, serene and much more docile. So, it was the first visit way back in 1970 that I visited Leeds as the first of the other cities in the UK and of course being here and meeting many of the friends of the Professor really made me feel very, very comfortable. Therefore, Vice-Chancellor, I’m delighted to be here again in Leeds, more so being recognised by a University that is well-known not just as one of the largest universities in the country, but for in terms of the work it has carried out over the years, particularly in the fields of diversity and in seeing the different faculties that are present up here and in the manner in which the successful programmes have been carried out over a number of years. Therefore, I am deeply honoured and privileged to be here and to be presented with the Doctorate Award.
“Mumtaz briefly mentioned in his citation my work, particularly in the field of service to the community and the country. Yes, it has been indeed a very difficult time over the last number of years, particularly over the last twelve months. But these are the challenges that I believe each one of us has to face in life. None of us had ever thought that the difficulties that we had faced since 9/11 would be a regular occurrences, but there again, the tragedy is that we have had the recurrence of the tragic and the criminal acts that have taken place. At the same time, the real challenge we have to face is how do we deal with these issues? How do we confront this crisis that we face? It is indeed tragic that, at times, the entire Muslim community is on the receiving end. When we deal with the issues of criminality, of course we should deal with it where it originates and how it should be dealt with. But, as we see through the media, as we see through the statements coming from different senior figures from government and other places, that somehow, we need to carry out this mass medication on the entire Muslim community. This is the real difficulty; that we need to focus our attention on where the crisis is, where the problem is, where the ailment is. I believe that through my period of time being in the community that the most effective way is when we work together as a team, whether it’s the government, people of other faith communities, people of faith or no faith, people in professions and business, people in social activities and sports – all coming together, because it is clear that when danger strikes, it strikes all of us – none of us are safe from crisis. And it is that partnership that needs to be built and strengthened.
“Sadly, the term Islamophobia has entered into the lexicon. It refers to the new form of hatred, whereby Muslims, who are not a monoethnic or racial group, are nevertheless subject to issues of discrimination, prejudice and other forms of disadvantage. The University is here to deal in a very positive way, to provide opportunities to students from different backgrounds. And one particular area that the Muslim community suffers from is underachievement in education. It is said that the majority of the Muslim community who come from Pakistani and Bangladeshi backgrounds happen to be at the bottom of the education league. Of course it is tragic that unemployment within the Muslim community is three times the national average. These are areas which we need to deal with, so that the issues of marginalisation and disaffection can then be dealt with in a very positive and constructive manner. And I am proud to be present here – to see a a university that does so much for ethnic communities in terms of trying to bring them in, addressing those very serious concerns, giving them the opportunities to do something in life. And today, the graduands present should hear how pleased I am and I offer my congratulations to all of you. Today you have accomplished a phase in your life, a very successful phase, but as you come out from this phase, there is another phase that you have to move into and the challenges that are there. But these challenges can be dealt with with the same determination and commitment with which you had faced those challenges earlier on, that you have passed very successfully, so that in your life, in your years to come, you will be able to deal with in that very positive way.
“Finally, Vice-Chancellor, if I may say that the line of optimism has to be there. We have to see the progress that has taken place. And I recall way back in the late 1980s and early 1990s your involvement in trying to ensure that the faith communities do have a role in the mainstream society. And how appreciative we are now, after 10-15 years, of those very same writings and the very important pieces of material that were being published - and there were not many there at that time, who felt that the faith communities could play the mainstream role. For years they had been on the margins and had been locked into, perhaps, issues of religious areas and moral issues. But today, we are pleased to see that the faith communities are now playing a very important role in the community in terms of advocating, promoting, enhancing education, the economic life, the social life, the very institution of family, the very fabric of society is being promoted and supported by the faith communities as well. And I am confident that as we work together, there are these wonderful multicultural opportunities that exist for all of us to play our role, so that we work for the common good of all of us. May God Almighty guide us in our proceedings and in our work so that we all, wherever we are, benefit from it so that we can have a very peaceful and successful life.”
Biography
Sir Iqbal has been actively involved in a voluntary capacity with community and charitable work for the last thirty-five years, both nationally and internationally. His main interest has been to ensure that faith and ethnic communities are treated fairly, equally and justly and given due recognition of their contribution to the society.
He chairs the Board of Trustees of the Memon Association UK, Balham Mosque and Tooting Islamic Centre. He led the committee of the Memon Association UK in raising £1.2 million pounds from the Asian community to build a unique Sports and Community Centre in South London, which opened in 2001. He also chairs the Al-Rissala Education Trust, which runs independent primary and secondary schools.
He was elected Deputy President of the World Memon Organisation (WMO) in 2004, an international organisation of the world Memon community and was appointed Vice-President of the Family Welfare Association, a national charity in the UK that focuses on helping suffering children around the world, and is a trustee of Muslim Aid an international relief agency serving in more then 45 countries.
In 1999 he was 246 in the Observer magazine’s Power List of 300 most powerful people. The Guardian newspaper named him in 2002 as ‘The most influential Muslim in the UK’.
Sir Iqbal was awarded an OBE in 1999 and is a recipient of the Muslim News Award for Excellence-Good Citizenship, by the Prime Minister Tony Blair. In March 2005 he was presented with the Life Time Achievement Award for community work presented by the World Memon Organisation in Bombay, India. He was knighted in June 2005 for services to charities and community relations. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Financial Accountants and an Associate of the Institute of Administrative Management.
HONORARY AWARDS 2006
Saturday 22nd July
Friday 21st July
Thursday 20th July
Wednesday 19th July