Birmingham faith leaders urge people to get Covid jab ahead of Eid celebrations birminghammail.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from birminghammail.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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Sheikh Nuru Mohammed hails from Ghana but these days, he is the imam or resident head at the Al-Abbas Islamic Center in Birmingham, United Kingdom. About one in five people who live in Birmingham are Muslim, making it one of Europe’s most religiously diverse cities.
Religious diversity still does not spare the Islamic community the resentment of many who hold onto the idea that Britain is being Islamized to destruction. Inherent in that thought is that Islam and British identity are at odds or that is no room for positive syncretism.
Mohammed understands this and the responsibility it places on Muslims in Birmingham and the UK to be the best they could be. So, on behalf of his center, Mohammed opened up the mosque he heads to become a COVID-19 vaccination center. Al-Abbas was the first Islamic congregational premises to do this in the entire United Kingdom after the government rolled out a national vaccination program.
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People receive the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine at the Al-Abbas Islamic Center, converted into a vaccination clinic in Birmingham, England, in January. Sheikh Nuru Mohammed, the imam at the mosque, recognized many of his congregants were hesitant to get the jab, as it s called, due to false rumors and distrust of government. So he began to fight disinformation during his sermons.
Editor s note: The fight against disinformation has become a facet of nearly every story NPR international correspondents cover, from vaccine hesitancy to authoritarian governments spreading lies. This and other stories by NPR correspondents around the globe try to tease out how effective certain tactics have been at combating disinformation, and what lessons can be learned from other countries experiences.
How A U K Imam Countered Vaccine Hesitancy And Helped Thousands Get The Jab wglt.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wglt.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.