Five Things The Manchester Airport Incident Can Teach Us

The now viral video of a police officer kicking and stamping on the head of a defenceless young muslim man at Manchester Airport has shocked most who have viewed it. The only reason it is now mainstream news is due to those who recorded the events.

The five things we can take from the incident:

1. This cannot be seen as just an ‘isolated’ incident

The reaction of the police officer, his colleagues, and initially Greater Manchester Police (GMP) clearly shows they all thought kicking someone in the face is seen as reasonable force. For the GMP to initially put out a statement that firearms officers were in fear of their firearms being taken only reinforces the stereotype that the victim, being clearly Muslim and at an airport, could have been a terrorist. The fact that the police officer’s colleagues didn’t intervene shows they have probably seen this kind of thing before. Just like in the George Floyd case in the US, being a silent accomplice does not absolve you of guilt.

2. The police force has a racism problem

Ever since the Stephen Lawrence case and the resulting Macpherson report, policing in the UK has accepted it has a problem with racism. However, this latest incident at the airport shows what was already known: decades since the Lawrence case, nothing has changed. All the community cohesion, recruiting of BAME police officers, and flowery speeches have done little to prevent hatred from coming out in the heat of the moment. Sure, the GMP will claim this incident isn’t race-related, but what is the point of councilors, Muslim MPs, and community leaders drinking cups of tea with the GMP when their officers have not learned the cultural sensitivities in dealing with Muslim women. This according to reports seem to have been catalyst for the whole incident getting out of control.

3. Capitalism breeds barbarity

Police officers are recruited from amongst ordinary people in society, and unless the GMP put them through some special “Kick in the face” training, the root of the problem lies within society. The incidents during the Iraq war, the killing of Baha Musa, and the arbitrary killing of unarmed males, including children as young as 12, during the Afghanistan war, show that when these ordinary people are given a sense of authority, be it a police badge or an army rifle things quickly turn sour. Just as the Muslim community has continually been asked to answer for terrorism, wider British society now must take a look at itself and think why their police officers carry out the kind of yobbery reserved for closing time on a Friday night out.

4. Islam gives a higher standard

As Muslims, Islam teaches us that with power and authority comes accountability. Unlike Capitalism and Democracy, where power is seen as a way of control, police officers, soldiers, and anyone else in authority in Islam is accountable not only to the people they serve but to Allah (SWT). So the animalistic urge to kick someone in the face just because you can is restrained by the fear of Allah (SWT) and not by the fear that someone might video you doing so.

5. Only Islam can provide true justice

So called liberalised societies the world over have tried and failed to implement a true sense of justice. Minorities are always at the end of incidents like the one at Manchester airport, from the African American experience to the Muslim North African bias in France there are numerous examples of institutional racism within police forces.

The examples from Islam show that no matter who the victim or criminal is, justice is served. This is encapsulated beautifully in the hadith of the prophet (saw):

The people of Quraish worried about the lady from Bani Makhzum who had committed theft. They asked, “Who will intercede for her with Allah’s Apostle?” Some said, “No one dare to do so except Usama bin Zaid the beloved one to Allah’s Apostle.”

When Usama spoke about that to Allah’s Apostle (Sallallahu ‘Alaihi Wa Sallam), Allah’s Apostle (Sallallahu ‘Alaihi Wa Sallam) said, (to him), “Do you try to intercede for somebody in a case connected with Allah’s Prescribed Punishments?” Then he got up and delivered a sermon saying, “What destroyed the nations preceding you, was that if a noble amongst them stole, they would forgive him, and if a poor person amongst them stole, they would inflict Allah’s Legal punishment on him.

By Allah, if Fatima, the daughter of Muhammad stole, I would cut off her hand.”