LONDON: Britain’s first Muslim lifestyle magazine has gone mainstream, with its editor eager to boost the self-confidence of an embattled community and counteract negative stereotypes after the London suicide bomb attacks.

“We are on the faultline of international politics and under the gaze of 24-hour news media,” said Sarah Joseph, whose glossy magazine has now gone on sale nationwide at bookstores and supermarkets.

“Either we collapse under this weight or after darkness there comes light,” said the editor of Emel — Arabic for hope.

Joseph is well qualified to bridge the ethnic divide.

Born and brought up a Catholic, she converted to Islam at the age of 16 and later agreed to an arranged marriage to Mahmud, a human rights lawyer whose parents came to Britain from Bangladesh in the 1960s.

When Muslims faced a backlash after the 9/11 attacks, she and her husband toured Britain, lecturing everywhere from community halls to synagogues in a bid to break down cultural barriers.

Then in July, militants based in Britain launched suicide attacks on three London underground trains and a bus.

Joseph believes fear and tension breed isolation. It is vital, she said, to present a positive image of an overwhelmingly moderate community ready to be ‘stakeholders’ in a modern Britain.—Reuters