Page 22 - News Autumn_Winter 2024_Print

“God, if you're real,

show yourself to me”

COME INTO

MY HEART,

LORD JESUS

Dr Riaz Mohammed was born in West mother was very godly and she told me to respect every
Pakistan over 60 years ago and, when he was religion, although she said Islam was the best.
six years old, his family moved to the UK. It continued to be difficult for all my primary school time
Arriving in Bridgeton, Glasgow and with very but then something wonderful happened; I was asked to
little money themselves, it was hard. Riaz join the Boys’ Brigade. My mother gave me permission to
go as the meeting was on a Friday, which is a Holy Day for
didn't speak English. He tells how difficult Islam.
the family – and particularly he and two of I had no idea of the difference between a nominal
his brothers, found it to settle. Christian and a born-again Christian, but I thought it
“I had three brothers; one was too young to go to school, would be really interesting to go to the Boys’ Brigade
and learn more about things. How wrong I was – it was
but the others were not, so we ended up going to the dreadful, with under-age drinking, stealing, fighting and
local school. I thought “whoopee – that will be great”. little or no respect for the Leaders. I was asked to be in
However, it was one of the worst experiences of my life. the Boys’ Brigade football team and, while I was putting
At the first play time, all the other children were running on my football boots, a young man came in. He spoke to
around me and my two brothers, shouting and screaming the other boys but not to me. Then one of the leaders
and calling us names – it was like the cowboys going came over and told me I had been dropped for another
around the indians for a change. It was just terrible, and player who wasn’t even in the Boys’ Brigade but who,
I kept having the same experience, I had no friends, apparently, played better than I did. I thought to myself
nobody wanted to know a brown person. “well if that's Christianity forget it” and I never played

I asked myself, “Why have we come here, why have we football for the team again.
been brought here?”
With a name like Riaz Mohammed, you can guess which
religion I belonged to. I was in a godly Muslim home my

I HAD NO FRIENDS,
NOBODY WANTED TO
KNOW A BROWN PERSON

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