We face huge challenges following recent terror attacks in Manchester and London. But after calls stating we are not doing enough, what should we be doing? And why?

The recent attacks in Manchester and London have ignited a discussion on countering radicalisation and the role that communities and mosques can play. 

There have been strong statements by the Prime Minister that “enough is enough” and Sajid Javid has stated “that it is not enough to condemn but we must also challenge. 

Mac Chishty who recently retired as the Met Commander has gone on to say that “reclaiming the religion of Islam from extremists is no longer a choice – it is an obligation. 

We have to take proactive measures.” 

The challenge for Muslim communities, leaders, activists, organisations and mosques are two fold, firstly challenging the radicalisation of British Muslims whilst facing a growing far right. 

The far right has grown, strengthened and become emboldened; we have seen large EDL demonstrations in Lancashire. 

The EDL are now considered to be a spent force and struggle to draw crowds of 50, however this weekend we saw the beginning of a new movement.  

Over 1500 people attended a demonstration in Manchester organised by Tommy Robinson (former leader of the EDL), Rebel Media and ‘Gays against Shariah’.  

This was reminiscent of EDL demos with chants of “who the f**k is Allah?”, however it is important to note that this is not the EDL. This is a new movement which has managed to bring together people of all creeds and colours, who may not normally attend a demo. 

They use the emotive strapline of ‘We want you to join Britain’s leading counter extremists to stand up for our children, our future and for Britain.’

This anti-Muslim movement “UK Against Hate” has started, it will only grow and normalise the hatred towards Muslim communities in Britain. The challenge for our communities is how do we respond? 

Reciprocal radicalisation can be observed since 9/11 and 7/7, after a terrorist attack the far right narrative is reinforced and therefore attacks on Muslims rise significantly. 

Da’esh strategists want to provoke a backlash; it is a strategic aim to increase Islamophobia, to create a hostile climate in which Muslims do not feel like they belong and thereby creating a grievance which allows for radicalisation to take place. 

The cycle will continue until we find a radical solution to the problem of radicalisation. 

I have argued for over 10 years, that Prevent needs to include countering the far right, I have faced resistance, and change has only been possible through engagement, demonstrating that an alternative is possible. 

Unfortunately far right demonstrations have often been written off as a challenge to cohesion. Under the Labour administration Prevent was delivered on the size of the Muslim population, the coalition government spoke of the need to tackle all forms of radicalisation and the current Conservative government has begun to fund projects to counter the far right. 

Prevent has faced lots of criticism and disengagement over the years, partly due to fearmongering, bad practice, negative perception and a minority with malicious intent. 

The personal impact of working on this agenda has been grave; I have received threats from the far right and jihadists equally.  Certain activists have tried to brand anyone engaging in Prevent as a sell-out, naïve or uninformed, it is these groups and individuals who have maliciously tried to undermine good work

I have worked on countering radicalisation for the last 10 years as a volunteer, working for the third sector, local government and now freelance. I share the criticism of the political narrative that conflates conservatism with extremism. 

I have challenged bad practice; I have fallen out of favour many times for being an outspoken critic, whilst continuing to encourage a constructively critical engagement. Change requires credibility and continual engagement rather than those who make noise from the margins.

The key is meaningful engagement, building trusted relationships and the courage to work with communities as partners. 

We need to be radical in tackling radicalisation; my approach has been to create a third way, an alternative approach which shapes policy and practice through academic research, challenging negative practice whilst being pragmatic in tackling the issues. Unfortunately I have come across denial all too often.  

I emphasise through my training that we cannot alienate, stigmatise and marginalise communities. 

Practice that feeds discrimination and prejudice, further fuels radicalisation rather than countering it. 

I find those that take a sensationalist approach problematic, let’s be clear Muslims in Britain are less than 5% of the population, approximately 3 million. 

The problem of radicalisation within the Muslim community is not widespread; this extreme fringe is a minority who are often isolated, unmosqued with low levels of religious literacy. 

The actions of this minority has had a devastating impact and therefore communities need to work together to tackle the problem. 

My emphasis is to create safe spaces to facilitate conversations about radicalisation, talking about the real issues rather than ignoring the elephant in the room. 

The current public discourse has been polarised, there are some who solely focus on the role of religious ideology whilst others who simply quote foreign policy as a root cause. 

My personal approach is to talk about all factors including ideology, grievances, social factors and personal experience. It is important to note that, without grievances ideology does not resonate and without ideology grievances are not acted upon. 

I have delivered Community Reach for five years in Lancashire, having trained over 300 faith leaders, teachers, youth workers, practitioners and activists. 

I take a community development and empowerment approach to countering the Far Right and Da’esh. 

I take a constructively critical approach, listening to the concerns, criticism and fears of our participants whilst empowering them with skills, knowledge and confidence. 

Reach allows our participants to learn about the complexities of radicalisation and empowers participants to create local solutions. 

There is a demand on Muslim communities to do more to challenge and root out the extremists, it is important to note that Salman Abedi and Khuram Butt had been reported by friends and family using the anti-terrorism hotline, they were not referred to Channel and the Prevent teams were not aware of them. Channel offers a bespoke multi-agency intervention and guidance from a mentor.  

In time we will be able to learn more about their life journey, personal and social factors that contributed towards their radicalisation, grievances that drove them into the arms of the terrorists and their exposure to jihadist ideology. 

The issue of radicalisation is not a Muslim problem, it is a societal problem and therefore we need to take a proactive and holistic approach. 

We need an informed public discussion, which is inclusive, avoids pointing fingers and empowers communities to be part of the solution instead of making them feel like they are the problem. 

The solution isn’t simple; it requires thinking outside of the box however I will refrain from sharing my 10 point plan for now. 

Our priority is to continue to stand united against hate, as grief turns to anger and, to heal the divisions which are being exploited.

This article was written before today's Teror attack outside a mosque in London.

Mohammed Ali Amla is a freelance project manager, trainer and researcher, with over ten years’ experience in working with communities having worked for local government and the third sector across the Northwest.  Ali is the founder of Global Village and Christian Muslim Encounters, with a specialism in preventing extremism, Christian Muslim relations, cohesion, interfaith, women peace building, engaging hard to reach communities and community development.