Knife Crime

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:

“Whom do you consider a wrestler among you? The people replied: (the man) whom the men cannot defeat in wrestling. He (ﷺ) said: No, it is he who controls himself when he is angry.”

(Hadith, Abu Dawud)

Islam literally means to live in peace. By that very definition, violence in any form is against the religion of Islam. The Prophet (ﷺ) and his call to Islam was delivered at a time when people would harm each other in personal and even gang-type conflicts, but Islam came to utterly condemn this.

Peace is central to our religion which aims to achieve a world without violence and conflict. Therefore it’s a contradiction of our own beliefs that within our communities our children are experiencing and inflicting violence.

As Muslims, we have the strongest mechanism and support system to overcome issues like this – our faith and our values. The Qur’an, the word of Allah for all humanity, has proclaimed:

“And whoever kills a soul …. it is as if he killed the whole of mankind. And whoever saves one, it is as if he had saved mankind entirely.”

(Surah al Maida 5:32)

No price can be put on a human life. Each and every soul is sacred.

So when one person is affected by violence – be they the victim or the perpetrator – their whole family and their whole community around them is also affected.

Knife crime should be seen not just as an act of violence against the person, but as an evil. Its underlying causes of ego, anger, drugs and gang culture go against the actual spirit of what it actually means to be a Muslim.

Knife Crime has become an epidemic which has deeply infected our community, and whilst government statistics have shown a decline in knife crime over the past 10 years, information provided by the West Midlands Emergency and Trauma team suggests that up to 90 people per month are being seen in hospital for knife wounds. Young people carrying knives or using any form of violent weapons is a growing concern for communities. The devastating effects of the deaths of so many of our young people has served to demonstrate that not enough is being done to prevent young people from carrying weapons and falling victim to such activities.

In England, it is illegal to:

• Sell a knife to anyone under 18, unless it is a knife with a folding blade that is three inches long or less
• Carry a knife in public without good reason, unless it is a knife with a folding blade that is three inches long or less
• Carry, buy or sell any banned knife
• Use any knife in a threatening way, even if it is a legal one

The legal definition of an offensive weapon includes anything intended to be used to harm another person, like a sharpened comb. It’s also illegal to carry a ‘disguised knife’ – anything with a concealed blade or sharp point that’s made to look like an everyday object (like a pen, cigarette lighter or lipstick).

For You:

• Possession of a knife carries a prison sentence of up to 5 years even if you don’t use it
• If you are caught with a knife, whether it was for your own protection or you were carrying it for someone else-you will be arrested and prosecuted. Protection is not an excuse for carrying a weapon and if you carry a knife you are much more likely to use it and get stabbed yourself
• Buying a knife under the age of 18 is a criminal offence
• There is no ‘safe place’ to stab someone. If you get stabbed in the heart, you lose all your blood in one minute, but being stabbed in the arm or leg can still kill you if the knife severs an artery
• If you stab someone and they die, you may face a life sentence
• Even if it isn’t you who does it, if someone is hurt or killed by a knife while you were there, you could be sent to prison for murder or attempted murder under joint enterprise
• If you have a criminal record, you may not be accepted into colleges, universities or even some countries such as Canada or USA

For people around you:

• Carrying a knife doesn’t only have an impact on you, it can also affect your friends and family. No parent or grandparent would ever want to see their child get injured, go to prison or be killed.
• It would also impact your siblings, if carrying a knife leads you to losing your life or having serious injuries.
• If you pull a knife on someone, this puts your family in danger if they come looking for you in return
• It causes fear within your community as people will worry and therefore have to be more cautious as one act of knife crime can potentially lead to revenge crimes

If you believe someone is in immediate danger, dial 999 and get in touch with the police.

Victim Support – 0808 16 89 111

If you have been affected by crime, they can give you the support you need to move forward. The services are free, confidential and available to anyone in England and ~Wales, regardless of whether the crime has been reported and how long ago it happened.

Fearless (Crimestoppers)

Fearless is a service that allows you to pass on information about crime 100% anonymously. They do not ask for any personal or contact details so you can pass on information safely and securely without revealing who you are.

• Young people face all sorts of pressures – finding out why they carry can help lead to a solution
• Simply listening and giving time to a young person can encourage them to think about their decisions and behaviour
• Teaching them the consequences of knife crime can also help them to understand that carrying a knife is not the answer
• Making them understand the impact their actions could have on you/others or if they got injured

If you need support from an organisation:

• Crimestoppers 0800 555 111 – if you suspect somebody is carrying a knife or other offensive weapons, or have information about a crime, you can report it safely and anonymously to Crimestoppers
• NSPCC 0808 800 5000 – The NSPCC helpline is a place that adults can contact by phone or online to get advice or share their concerns about a child, anonymously if they wish.
• Contact your local authority for a list of organisations that can help or activities you can get the young person involved in to offer advice – https://www.gov.uk/find-a-community-support-group-or-organisation

We are grateful to West Midlands Police and the Neighbourhood Strategic Partnership for their support and part-funding of the videos produced for our awareness campaign on community violence.

In particular, thanks go to Inspector Neil Kirkpatrick and Sgt Haroon Chughtai of the Hall Green Constituency, without whose support and encouragement these campaigns would not have got off the ground.

We’d also like to thank our filmmaker Matt Cannon of Planet X Films. Matt heavily subsidised the production of the two video campaigns, on knife crime and domestic abuse, as part of his commitment to social responsibility.

The script was developed by a group of local people who we brought together for this initiative. All the actors are local people who volunteered while others gave up their homes to use as filming locations.

It’s a good example of members of the community coming together to make this happen and produce a very high quality production at minimal cost. We’d also like to thank the following people for their contributions to the campaigns:

Alia Ahmed, Ashfaq Ahmed, Nathanael Ballew, James Barnett, Yasmeen Begum, Saeeda Bi, Shaida Bi, Sophie Broadbent, PC Emad Choudhury, Matt Clewley, Sumayya Fazil, Nicki Ferris, Alice Fish, John Goodliff, Celina Hanif, Daanyaal Iqbal, Mariyha Iqbal, Laura Jerram, Hina Junejo, Isha Khan, Jibrail Khan, Zaboor Mahroof, Tee Morris, Shazia Parveen, Shaida Parveen, Arslaan Ramzan, Abdullah Rehman, Israfiel Sayyad, Kiren Shafiq, Kamran Shezad, Pc Lauren Stopher-Murray, Zain Sultan.