THERE was no logical reason for anyone to protest the visit to Guyana of His Majesty King Charles III. Ideology and showboating should never be allowed to triumph over basic courtesy and respect. Thankfully, a mere tiny sliver of society, loud, yes, but devoid of wisdom and the common decency that comes with experienced statesmanship, decided to stage an unruly protest.
For this column, I am writing not from a secular point of view, but as a Muslim-Guyanese. I believe Guyanese of all ethnic and cultural backgrounds can take a lesson from the exemplary conduct of President Mohamed Irfaan Ali.
Since taking office, President Ali has amplified the chorus of voices, particularly among CARICOM Heads of State, in demanding reparations. In a September 2023 interview with Richard Madeley on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, a few months after King Charles was crowned, President Ali argued that Britain’s continuing benefits from slavery underpin the case for reparatory justice. His memorable words in that interview were “we are not asking for a palace, we are asking for justice.”
Sky News published a report in August 2023 headlined “Guyana president demands slavery reparations ahead of Gladstone family’s apology.” And more recently, ahead of the King’s visit to Guyana, President Ali told ITV’s Robert Moore that “we will continue to champion the issue of reparation because slavery was the worst indignity to humankind.”
But when a King enters your house, he becomes an honoured guest, received with the respect his office commands and the gracious hospitality that reflects your own dignity, neither of which requires you to surrender your convictions or fall silent on the claims of justice.
In July, amidst a wave of Islamophobia that rocked British society, King Charles did something that surprised the establishment in the UK by becoming the first sitting monarch to visit a masjid. What was described by the media as even more astonishing is that he removed his shoes before entering the prayer hall of the Cambridge Central Mosque, Europe’s first eco-mosque.
Contrast that with the blatant racism, xenophobia and outright hatred that has been directed at the Michigan Senate candidate, Abdul El-Sayed, from the most powerful office in the world down to pea-brained bigoted hosts of television networks. On one side of the Atlantic, the calm composure of a king, and on the other side, racism so vile, it makes me concerned for the safety and security of minorities and the most vulnerable in American society.
Over three decades ago, when President Ali was a student at Saint Stanislaus College, Prince Charles gave a remarkable speech at the Sheldonian Theatre at the invitation of the Oxford Centre of Islamic Studies. His speech was titled “Islam and the West”, and a transcript of it went viral via email years before social media made such things commonplace.
It was read, studied and commented on, not least because it condemned religious extremism and violence, but also because it invited the West to recognise what it owed to Islamic civilisation and what it might still learn from it; it was an urgent appeal for understanding among faiths, cultures and between humanity and the natural world.
These were not merely gracious sentiments for an Oxford audience; the prince offered a vision of leadership that respects difference, resists the arrogance of power and showed an acute understanding that material progress is diminished when it comes at the expense of human dignity or the earth that sustains us.
In his Friday sermon after Queen Elizabeth II died in 2022, Professor Divinity at Cambridge University, Dr Timothy Winter (also known by his Muslim name, Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad), cited the prince’s 1993 speech. Dr Winter, whom I count as one of my teachers, pointed out that King Charles’ intellectual engagement with Islam has led him to learn Arabic and to read the Quran. And he told his congregation that he hoped the King would continue his mother’s “gentle example” to bridge cultural divides, set a high standard for public debate, and serve as a meaningful “defender of faith” in a fractured world.
King Charles’ visit to Guyana reflects his determination to not only carry on the legacy of his mother, but to continue championing a vision of the world that he adopted decades ago.
And remarkably, that vision finds a home in President Ali’s emphasis on national unity, particularly his “One Guyana” vision. There are also echoes of the King’s worldview in the president’s drive to achieve food security and environmental stewardship.
The connection is not that King Charles and President Ali agree on everything, but that both recognise the need to bridge differences without the need to erase them, and to pursue prosperity without neglecting the responsibility towards people or nature.
For me, as a Muslim-Guyanese, welcoming the King does not mean forgetting the wounds of slavery or discarding the demand for reparations. Hospitality requires courtesy, not absolution. In all of Guyana’s faith traditions, respect is a right of the guest, not submission. We can honour our guests and still insist that history’s unfinished business be addressed.
President Ali’s example of gracious statesmanship makes that distinction clear – extend the hand of friendship without loosening his grip on justice.
DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Guyana National Newspapers Limited.
