AhlulBayt News Agency - Two men who conducted a social experiment to see how the British public respond to scenes of Islamophobic abuse say they're pleased with the results.
Fahim Miah, 17, took to the streets of Cardiff with his friend Kennedy Clink, 20, to film staged 'abuse' as the teen prayed in public.
The pair, who are both Muslims , wanted to see if members of the public would step in to defend a Muslim subjected to verbal abuse while he was praying.
Clink pretended to verbally abuse his friend while he was praying to see how people looking on would react.
Mr Miah, who is in sixth form at Fitzalan High School, said he was pleased with the results, with most people standing up for him and deploring the abusive actions of his friend.
He said: “Obviously, looking at the media these days you’re expecting people to be afraid of Muslims because we have become a sort of stereotype in their eyes and I wanted to show that society could come together and be one.
“Looking at Wales, it’s just a beautiful place and no one really discriminates against us, regardless of their religion.”
A video of the social experiment has been posted on YouTube and has already been viewed more than 300,000 times.
It features four separate incidents when Mr Clink approached Mr Miah while he was praying and captured the reactions of members of the public in locations including just outside St David’s shopping centre and Cardiff Castle.
Mr Miah said: “Of course there was that element of whether people would join in with the abuse but the whole point of the experiment was to find out what they chose to do and people supported us.
“We were really happy to see the people in Cardiff sticking up for us and we weren’t expecting it.”
However, in one of the incidents filmed outside the castle by the bus stops on North Road, a group of people waiting at the bus stop failed to intervene when Mr Clink abused Mr Miah.
But Mr Miah, who lives in the city's Canton area, said he didn’t expect everyone to join in.
He said: “We didn’t expect everyone to join in but to the ones who did we were really grateful.
“We couldn’t have asked for a better reaction from people and it has made me confident that the people of Cardiff are all part of one society.
“It’s about communication and bringing people together and if this video helps to connect people then that is the main thing.”
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