LONDON (AP) – It’s become the rallying cry of many who want the Muslim faith to be separated from the violence some commit in its name: “You ain’t no Muslim, bruv.”
The comment, heard in the background of a bystander’s video following a stabbing at a London Underground station that prosecutors say was a terrorist act, has touched a nerve in Britain and become a trending hashtag on Twitter. Even Prime Minister David Cameron embraced it as a slogan.
“Some of us have dedicated speeches and media appearances and sound bites and everything to this subject,” Cameron said Monday. “But ‘You ain’t no Muslim, bruv’ said it all much better than I ever could. And thank you, because that will be applauded around the country.”
The remark came Saturday night after a man with a knife attacked two commuters in east London, reportedly shouting “This is for Syria.” As the man is wrestled to the ground by police, who first used a stun gun to subdue him, a bystander shouted at the suspect: “You ain’t no Muslim, bruv.” The speaker, whose identity is not known, uses the slang term bruv, for brother.
The remark seems all the more powerful, coming at that heat of the moment, when the blood is literally on the floor. It seemed to touch the anger and frustration that many Muslims feel over being blamed for violence perpetrated by people in the name of Islam.