Five years on from 7/7: 'For me, 7/7 was a wake-up call'

Although a lifelong Beeston resident he wasn't actively involved in his community and did not attend mosque very often.

He was "just an ordinary lad" who liked listening to music and socialising but his outlook on life got a profound jolt in the

aftermath of the bombings.

"I was not worshipping and not very focused. I was a typical lad," he said.

"For me 7/7 was a personal wake-up call. Everywhere you looked it was about Islam and how bad it was. Although I was not practising, I knew that the things being said were a total contradiction. 7/7 motivated me to learn more and to do positive stuff."

Now the chairman of Beeston's Abu Huraira Mosque, the 34-year-old's engaging personality is an asset in his new role as a volunteer community worker.

He recalls the horror of discovering that boys he knew had blown themselves up, apparently in the name of his religion.

"It was scary, an absolute shock. The immediate reaction was that we can't believe this has happened. As days went on we just could not believe that these lads had done it. They were just local lads living in the community.

"There was nothing in their character or their traits – some people are just not trouble causers and would be the last people to go out and hurt somebody.

"But this thing has happened in this country – you hear about it in America but you don't think it's going to happen in your own home country.

"The lads are from Beeston – that was a shock. The majority of people were extremely shocked. It was, particularly for our elders, very frightening. They wouldn't speak about it but at the same time they were scared that it could it happen to their child.

"There was no kind of counselling services offered and it was just media after media. Things were not portrayed in our favour, it was made to look as though all Muslims were bad. People stopped speaking in public."

The intense spotlight helped focus his mind, however, and he became involved with the Abu Huraira Mosque in Hardy Street, working with young people, Asian and white, and expanding the services offered by the Islamic school, which now employs 10 English-speaking Islamic scholars.

Mr Nazir and other managers faced difficult decisions in the aftermath of 7/7, not least whether to take money from the Government's Preventing Violent Extremism programme.

They chose to decline the offer of money, deciding not to become embroiled in the politics that such a move would lead to.

Mr Nazir and others have argued that Prevent allows the authorities to view Muslim communities only through the prism of terrorism.

"Some organisations don't let you move on, they don't let you forget about certain things that have happened," he said.

"I am a Muslim who volunteers and we never get any kind of outside help or funding. Prevent funding was thrown at us. They said 'we are willing to help you only if you are willing to prevent terrorism'.

"There were constant reminders all the time even though we want to move on. It was the same with the police. We see police when something has gone wrong. All of a sudden they are interested in wanting to build relationships.

"People are suspicious – is it genuine or is it because they want to spy on us?"

Mr Nazir, who works in a call centre, is not alone in believing the role of the Islamic school and mosque is teaching Islam, not in tackling terrorism.

"It's not something for us to tackle – the true religion of Islam does not teach this (violence)."

But, he says, it is up to everyone to play their part in defeating extremist ideas.

"It's everybody's job. It is a default position to have a sense of moral respect and not to hurt people. These are just general etiquettes people have."

Asked how he would confront extremist ideas, Mr Nazir says he has yet to meet anyone who spouts such views.

"It's not something that happens. I don't think I have ever had someone say 'I'm going to kill a white person'. If I heard that I would take it to the authorities and the police."

He is baffled by the motivations of terrorists.

"I don't know what produces them. I'm not confident about whether it (terrorism) will or won't happen again. I can't understand why it happens, particularly when they are from the Islamic religion, as it's a no-no.

"Our focus is how to help and support people live a life of morals and respect for others and create an atmosphere where we can learn other people's religion and culture.

"We believe and encourage people to believe this is our country, this is our home. We talk to children about the Koran and why it is important to live as civilised British citizens and abide by the law."

Although the desire to move on from the past is strong, he says no-one will forget 7/7.

"I don't think anyone will forget, particularly people from Beeston. What happened was such a shock, you can't forget it."

Mr Nazir's friend and fellow community activist Ed Carlisle, 31, a former public schoolboy who settled in Beeston eight years ago after attending Leeds University, agrees the bombings acted as a "wake-up call" which alerted us all to "the level of anger that people were carrying and the level of disenfranchisement".

"Against the backdrop of the so-called War on Terror and all that, it (7/7] wasn't completely out of the blue, it wasn't even that surprising but it was shocking," he says.

The bombings were, in the words of one council leader, a "challenge and an opportunity", a sentiment which Mr Carlisle agrees with.

"What it comes down to is the courage of people like Mahboob, who has chosen to be courageous and to step out of the comfort of the community.

"People are doing great grassroots neighbourhood work trying to glue the city together. We need more people willing to work for the greater good rather than their organisation and their own 'thing'."

Five years on, Mr Carlisle, who works for Leeds charity Together for Peace, is realistic about where the community is at.

"Beeston does have its problems, the normal problems for an inner-city community. There's some domestic violence, odd bits of tension, mistrust and low-level racism."

The fact that it did not "implode" in 2005 is down to its already established sense of community, he says.

"Beeston is a mixed community with a layout where people kind of live squashed up together, which actually creates more potential for integration.

"Beeston did well after July 2005; people worried it might implode. There was an attempt to provoke the community by the far right but people demonstrated resilience and nobody responded.

"Beeston has a fairly strong identity and quite a few people are proud of the fact that they come from Beeston. I love it here."