Journey into Europe

Ambassador Ahmed sat down with Paul Smith, the Director of British Council USA, in Washington, DC to discuss British identity and how to improve relations between Muslims and non-Muslims today. Paul Smith, educated at King Edward’s School Birmingham and Queens’ College Cambridge, has worked with the British Council since 1983, where he has served previously as the Country Director of the British Council for both Egypt and Afghanistan.

The British Council is a British organization specializing in international education and cultural relations, with offices in over 100 countries. It has been involved in building bridges between the West and the Muslim world, particularly through cultural-based projects such as “Our Shared Future” which aimed at promoting positive relations between Muslims and non-Muslims through supporting scholarship and cultural exchanges.

While in London, Ambassador Ahmed, accompanied by his team including intern Mina Hoti, visited the Pakistani High Commission on Lowndes Square. The team was joined by Arsallah Khan Hoti from Pakistan. They were welcomed by the Acting High Commissioner His Excellency Mohammad Imran Mirza. Ambassador Ahmed served as the Pakistani High Commissioner from 1999-2000.

During the visit, His Excellency spoke about the Pakistani community in the UK and the Quaid-e-Azam, Mr. Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who was educated at Lincoln’s Inn in London. During the late 1990s, Ambassador Ahmed completed the Jinnah Quartet, examining the life of the Quaid-e-Azam. The Quartet included a feature film, a documentary film, a book, and a comic book.

In London, Ambassador Ahmed visited the Prince Albert Memorial in Hyde Park where he discusses the connection between empire and immigration. Price Albert was the Prince Consort of Queen Victoria, the Empress of India. He died in 1861 after contracting typhoid fever, plunging Queen Victoria into mourning for the rest of her life. A number of public monuments were raised in his honor after his death, including the Prince Albert Memorial.

While in London, the Journey into Europe team went to Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London where they visited the East London Mosque, one of the largest mosques in Western Europe. During their visit, they spoke with Dilowar Khan, the Executive Director of the East London Mosque, and Salman Farsi, the Media Officer of the East London Mosque Trust, about the history of the mosque and the Muslim community of Tower Hamlets.

The Journey into Europe team visited the city of Xanthi in the Western Thrace region of Greece where Dr. Amineh Hoti talked with Nuseybe Bosnak, a member of the Turkish Minority community, about her identity. The European region of Western Thrace, near the Turkish border in northern Greece, has been inhabited by a Muslim population for centuries, even prior to the Ottoman Empire coming in the 14th century. Today, the Muslim community of Western Thrace numbers over 100,000 with some villages having populations which are 100% Muslim.

In Thessaloniki, Greece, Ambassador Ahmed sat down with Professor Angeliki Ziaka of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, a specialist in the history of religions and the study of Islam and Arabic civilization. In the discussion, Professor Ziaka spoke of the history of Islam in Greece, Greek identity, and the interaction of Greek culture with both the Islamic world and Europe, what she referred to as the “Circle of Light.”