Young Muslims In Scotland Seek a Voice - And Rights

May 11, 2010

Author: Roger Hardy

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8673213.stm

In the second part of a series on the conflicts facing Muslims in Europe, the BBC's Islamic affairs analyst, Roger Hardy, discovers strains between younger and older Muslims in Glasgow.

They are young, Muslim and Scottish - and will not take no for an answer.

I met Nazia Iqbal and two of her friends at the student union of Glasgow's Strathclyde University.

Ms Iqbal, who is the equal opportunities officer, has been making waves ever since she went to the city's Central Mosque and asked to become a voting member.

According to the mosque's constitution, Muslim men and women not only have the right to pray at the mosque - if they are over 18, they are entitled to become voting members and have a say in its running.

But Ms Iqbal, who is 20, was turned down, on the grounds that she is female.

Her response was to start a campaign on Facebook, and complain to the body that regulates Scottish charities.