Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; April 21, 1926 – September 8, 2022 (Credit: Julian Calder/Governor-General of New Zealand)

Queen Elizabeth II, the UK’s longest-serving monarch, died at Balmoral aged 96, after reigning for 70 years.She died peacefully on September 8 at her Scottish estate, where she had spent much of the summer. The Queen came to the throne in 1952 and witnessed enormous social change. Her eldest son King Charles III said the death of his beloved mother was a “moment of great sadness” for him and his family and that her loss would be “deeply felt” around the world.

He said: “We mourn profoundly the passing of a cherished sovereign and a much-loved mother. I know her loss will be deeply felt throughout the country, the realms and the Commonwealth, and by countless people around the world.”

The Muslim News presents extracts of tribute paid by Muslim parliamentarians on September 9 and 10.

Shabana Mahmood, MP for Birmingham Ladywood 

Members have rightly praised Her Majesty’s admirable work ethic, her sense of duty, which has never wavered, and her unparalleled dedication to public service. Her Majesty served us right until the very end, forever committed to her people and her country. She lived and symbolised the very best of our constitutional system, the value of a royal family, what it gives to our country and the part that they play in our national life.

One of the proudest days of my life was when my dad was awarded an OBE at Buckingham Palace. My whole family just could not get over the fact that we would get the chance to hang out in the Queen’s house. On that day, it fell to the Queen’s daughter, Princess Royal, to hand out the honours, but the whole occasion was made magical because it followed precisely the exact example of the Queen herself.

As a child of Birmingham, Britain and the Commonwealth I am deeply saddened by the passing of Her Majesty the Queen and I know that sadness will be shared across my constituency, our city and its communities. My deepest condolences to the Royal Family. pic.twitter.com/kxcnK8uvfT

— Shabana Mahmood MP (@ShabanaMahmood) September 8, 2022

I will also never forget arriving in this place for the very first time in 2010, standing in front of the Speaker’s Chair and taking hold of this House’s copy of the holy Qur’an, on which I swore my loyalty to Her Majesty the Queen as one of this House’s first-ever female Muslim Members of Parliament.

The Queen’s relationship with Birmingham was strong and, in return, we Brummies had a deep affection for her and gratitude for the time that she devoted to us in the 70 years of her reign. Over the years, she visited Villa Park, the Bullring, many of our railway stations, the NEC, the International Convention Centre, Pebble Mill and the Hippodrome. Of course, we have just hosted the Commonwealth games, an important moment for our city, which has such a deep connection with the Commonwealth and which is inextricably linked with the Queen.

Like so many thousands of Brummies, as much as I am a child of Birmingham, England and Britain, I am also a child and grandchild of the Commonwealth. Millions of British citizens have a similar family history, making them a part of the Commonwealth family, and we recognise Her Majesty as the loving matriarch of the Commonwealth, its guardian and its guiding light.

Her commitment to the Commonwealth and her championing of it recognised and respected our heritage. She gave institutional and spiritual meaning and the heart and soul of belonging to those of us who are citizens of our great nation, equal before the laws of our land, but who do not have centuries of birthright claim upon these our islands, and we thank her for it.

 For me, the Queen’s Christian faith always stood out. She was a committed Christian and, as we know, Supreme Governor of the Church of England. It might surprise some that her commitment to her Christian faith could mean so much to those of us who practise and observe other faiths and belong to other faith communities, but in a speech at Lambeth Palace to mark her diamond jubilee, the Queen said:

“The concept of our established Church is occasionally misunderstood and, I believe, commonly under-appreciated. Its role is not to defend Anglicanism to the exclusion of other religions. Instead, the Church has a duty to protect the free practice of all faiths in this country.”

She was Defender of the Faith, but she was a Queen for those of us with other faiths and, indeed, for those of none.

May God make it easy for her, may he give her loved ones strength. And if I may, I offer this House an Islamic verse, which Muslims recite when someone dies and which I hope will resonate with the Queen’s Christian faith, too:

“Inna Lillahi wa inna ilayhi rajioon”—to God we Belong, and to God we all return.

Rushanara Ali, MP for Bethnal Green and Bow 

We mourn the passing of an icon. She was admired across the world and touched our lives in so many positive ways. The Queen was a constant example of service, of duty, of wisdom and of dedication to her people, her country and the Commonwealth. These civic virtues are needed now more than ever. She began her life of service as a child and worked until the final days of her life.

The tone was set during world war two when the then King and Queen chose to stay in London during the blitz and the young Princess Elizabeth joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service. When their home, Buckingham Palace, was bombed, the Queen Mother famously said that she could now look the east end in the face. Ever since then, east-enders have embraced the Queen and her family with a particular bond of love and loyalty.

Of course, today’s east end is a very different place. It is more diverse and more connected to the rest of the world and, in particular, the Commonwealth countries. Her Majesty reimagined Britain’s post-colonial place in the world, and the Commonwealth has grown to 54 nations and nearly 2.5 billion people.

I can personally relate to the story of the Commonwealth, as I was born in a Commonwealth country, Bangladesh that joined in 1972. I remember watching with pride as the Queen visited that very new country with Prince Philip in 1983.

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Her state visit was a big moment for a new nation. It was a time and a moment that made us feel proud to be British, and it made us feel that we belonged not only to this country but to the Commonwealth family. Across the Commonwealth, people remember when the Queen came to town with a great sense of warmth and affection.

Here at home, I had the honour of receiving the Queen at the Royal London Hospital in my constituency when its new facilities were opened. Hospitals are the heart of our national life and were the epicentre of coping with the pandemic. The Queen’s words during the pandemic were necessary to give hope and comfort when constituencies like mine were hit so hard.

Other Members have mentioned the Olympic ceremony, one of the highlights of which was when it seemed as though Her Majesty and her most loyal servant, James Bond, were parachuting into the Olympic stadium in London’s east end. We pride ourselves on being the coolest part of the country, and Her Majesty made us the coolest place on earth with that stunt.

On behalf of my constituents, my thoughts are with her children, her grandchildren, her wider family, and her heir and successor, His Majesty King Charles III.

Her Majesty was unique. She radiated warmth and she embodied decency. We will never see her like again. We will never know such a paragon of civic virtue and a shining beacon of public service. May she rest in peace. Long live the King.

Khalid Mahmood, MP for Birmingham, Perry Barr 

When I came to this House in 2001, I was placed on the esteemed Broadcasting Committee, dealing with the media and TV, which was chaired by the right hon. Member for North Thanet (Sir Roger Gale), who is not in his place at the moment.

The only privilege we had, and the only reason anyone knew of us, was that we had an invite to the Christmas reception at the palace. As a new Member, I went along to the palace with my colleagues, and as the Queen was circulating I was lucky to meet her first and introduce myself, and she was pleased to do that. Then, however, I took it upon myself, as the school monitor, to be the representative of the whole Committee and started taking them across to the Queen to introduce her to them.

My petulance did not occur to me until I came home and thought about what had happened, but her greatness was that she was not irritated or annoyed by what I had done. She must have realised that I was a newbie in Parliament and decided to encourage me. I never saw a harsh expression on her face or anything else. That is my enduring memory from when I first became a Member of Parliament.

Her late Majesty was the Head of the Church but, as others have said, she supported all religions. She also supported many other beliefs as well, such as those of the Māoris, the Aboriginal people and some African tribes, and she supported people who had no faith at all. Above all, she supported people. She had trust in people.

She gave her life to service, in dignity and in humanity. We should pay our tribute not just in eloquent speeches but in raising our own levels and standards in this place, if not to emulate her then at least to try to get somewhere close and to see how much better we can be. That would be an enduring tribute.

The Queen was not just the monarch of the United Kingdom; she was also the Head of the Commonwealth. Only last week she wrote a letter to the President of Pakistan sympathising with the suffering of Pakistanis in the huge climate tragedy of floods.

I end by reciting a Muslim prayer, as did my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Ladywood (Shabana Mahmood):

“Inna Lillahi wa inna ilayhi rajioon”—to God we Belong, and to God we all return. May the Queen rest in peace.

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, MP for Tooting 

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I am truly humbled to follow what was, quite frankly, one of the most beautiful outpourings of love I have ever had the pleasure of witnessing. [Hon. Members: ” Hear, hear.”]

I rise to add my tribute to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on behalf of the people of Tooting, who are united in grief. So many have been in touch with their own memories and stories, yet one word shines through again and again, and that is “duty”.

That sense of duty underpins everything she did. Some recall her service in the British Army when, at a time with invasion imminent, she could have fled to Canada; instead, she stayed in London and put on a khaki uniform and a tin helmet. I remember best her service during the pandemic.

Suffering the grief of the loss of her dear husband Philip, she cut a lonely figure at his funeral as she observed social distancing. She embodied the pain that so many people were experiencing at the same time and she led, truly, by example. She was a shining beacon of light in that dark moment and never once deviated from her duty.

It is almost 20 years since Her Majesty visited St George’s University Hospital in Tooting to see the work of aspiring doctors and nurses, and to meet NHS staff. When I am there, I often see the plaque she unveiled of two hands clasped in friendship and mutual support. We all need to hold each other’s hands a little tighter and to hug our loved ones a little closer.

I am reminded of the story told by trauma surgeon David Nott after his return from the horrors of fleeing war-torn Aleppo.

When he met the Queen, the doctor was deeply distressed and could not face making polite conversation about his work over lunch. Sensing that, in that special way she had, the Queen touched his hand and brought forth a silver barrel of biscuits.

“These are for the dogs,” she told him. They proceeded to spend the lunch feeding the corgis under the table. “There,” she said, “That’s so much better than talking, isn’t it?” Such intuition, such emotional intelligence, such kindness.

I mentioned Her Majesty’s role in the war as a young princess. During the darkest hours of world war two, she gave a BBC radio broadcast and said:

“when the peace comes…it will be for us, the children of today, to make the world of tomorrow a better…place.”

And she did. She made our world a better place. She showed strength as a woman and the strength to shape modern Britain. So let us commit to carry on that spirit of service and, above all, duty: duty to our constituents, to our country and to making the world a better place.

Rehman Chishti, MP for Gillingham and Rainham

My thoughts, and those of Gillingham and Rainham, are with His Majesty King Charles III and the rest of the royal family.

I will refer to a prayer from St John Henry Newman, a great British saint with a global impact. It was a privilege and honour for me, as the then Prime Minister’s special envoy for freedom of religion and belief, to be part of the 2019 delegation led by His Majesty the King for the canonisation of John Henry Newman.

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The prayer I wish to share, “The mission of my life”, begins: “God has created me to do Him some definite service.”

Her late Majesty’s selfless commitment to public service is an example to us all of definite service. The prayer continues: “He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another.”

God gave Her Majesty all our work and she did it with complete distinction, commitment, and grace, always giving without expectation of any return. John Henry Newman continues: “I have my mission—I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next.” I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. “

Her Majesty was most certainly an amazing link that brought us all together from all parts of the United Kingdom, from all parts of the Commonwealth, from all parts of the world, and from all faiths and none, based on her values of kindness, compassion, respect, and acceptance of others.

John Henry Newman goes on to say: “He has created me for naught. I shall do good.”

Her Majesty certainly did that. Finally, he says:

“I shall do His work; I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place, while not intending it if I do but keep His commandments”.

Her Majesty was most certainly an angel of peace and a preacher of truth. Your Majesty, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Your values—what you stood for—will forever live on and be an inspiration to us all.

I also say this: there could be no one finer than His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, now King Charles III, to take our great country forward, given his values and what he stands for. There is one thing that has not been mentioned so far: for decades, His Majesty King Charles III has been committed to interfaith dialogue.

He was committed to bringing together people of all faiths and none. Some 80% of our world has one faith or another. If somebody such as His Majesty King Charles III is committed to bringing people together, and people know his commitment to interfaith, he can bring our world together for the common good. God save the King.

Mohammad Yasin, MP for Bedford

Watching the family rushing to the bedside of the gravely ill Queen yesterday will have brought back traumatic memories for many of us who have received the heart-stopping call with news of the imminent death of a loved one.

As we remember the Queen’s 70 years of dedication and loyal service, we first pay our respects to a grieving family; they have lost a mother, a grandmother, a great-grandmother, and a friend who was very special—and so has our country.

This is a profoundly sad moment for the UK, the Commonwealth, and the world. Our Queen Elizabeth II is an icon throughout the world, who makes our nation proud. She earned our respect and embodied all that is good about public service, duty, fortitude, and diligence.

Her reassuring presence, her dignity and constancy, especially in times of discord, bound us in a way that we may only be about to understand. She has been a role model for ages. I pay tribute to her remarkable life’s work; the legacy she leaves and the lives she has touched will echo through the ages.

It was a delight to see our community come together for the jubilee celebrations. The outpouring of love was heartfelt and enduring.

The days and months ahead will be very difficult. May we come together in peace, kindness and respect as we remember our Queen and prepare for the next chapter in our nation’s history. On behalf of the people of Bedford and Kempston, thank you, Ma’am, and long live the King.

Anum Qaisar, MP for Airdrie and Shotts 

It is, of course, with great sadness that we are here today to pay tribute to Her Majesty the Queen.

Over her 70-year reign, she was a figurehead across the four nations and across the world. She worked tirelessly and demonstrated an unwavering commitment to her role as Head of State.

Her Majesty took the throne in her 20s, and in the years that followed, she guided the four nations through monumental changes. She served as a pillar of hope and stability during times of uncertainty, and she was a constant in the lives of many people. Indeed, she is the only monarch that many of us have ever known.

I was born in Scotland, but I am also a grandchild of the Commonwealth. Many people, especially the older generations—including my grandmother, Salamat Begum, and my grandfather, Haji Abdullah—held the Queen in high esteem.

When I was growing up, they often told us stories about when they moved from a small village called Saraba in Pakistan to Rochdale, before settling in Scotland. They told us about how they found the Queen to be an inspiration.

Her Majesty simply meant so much to so many people. She was, of course, a mother, a grandmother and a great-grandmother. I, along with the people of Airdrie and Shotts, send my condolences to her family. They are in our thoughts and prayers. May she rest in peace.

Saqib Bhatti, MP for Meriden 

Her Majesty holds a special place in the hearts of my constituents, because it was on a spring morning in 1971 when she opened Chelmsley Wood shopping centre, and most of the village of Chelmsley Wood turned out to greet her. The royal party was running behind schedule that day, but the Queen was undeterred and took time to speak to local residents.

That same day, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh were shown the proposed site of the National Exhibition Centre. They would return five years later, in 1976, to open the NEC, where excited members of staff stood in line to greet Her Majesty. This is particularly apt, because the NEC was a major venue for the Commonwealth games.

Her Majesty always demonstrated kindness, generosity, and dedication. I have my own experience of this, because, in March 2007, when I was finishing my degree at the London School of Economics, I was invited to meet Her Majesty on Commonwealth Day.

I was nervous and excited, and she was very gracious with her time. It was only later when I asked a friend, “How did I do?” that he said, “You said a lot, but none of it made any sense.” [Laughter.] I hope my tribute is better today, but Her Majesty never let on, and she wished me all the best in my endeavours.

For decades, Her Majesty has been a cool-headed constant steward of our great nation. She was always there when we needed her. She showed us what it meant to keep calm and carry on. I will never forget how, in the pandemic, she gave reassurance to the whole nation and told us that we would meet again.

We were blessed to have her and she really was the best of us. She lived a dedicated life of service and devotion to her husband, her family, her country, and the Commonwealth. Every single one of us in this House would do well to emulate her lifetime of selflessness and public service.

Today, we mourn a monarch, and we pray for her. As we reflect on her legacy and we look to the future, I say only this: may she rest in peace. May we always be grateful to have experienced her reign. To God we belong and to God we return. God save the King.

Sajid Javid, MP for Bromsgrove 

Her late Majesty lived an extraordinary life of service, and the touching tributes that we have heard from right hon. and hon. Members, along with the outpouring of emotion from across the world, including from my constituents in Bromsgrove district, reflect the deep affection and love for her.

For more than seven decades, she was a source of strength and comfort, a representative of our closest-held values and beliefs, a defender of faith and an embodiment of the very best of public service and duty. She was our north star; a symbol of strength in difficult times. To put it simply, she was our Queen.

Many right hon. and hon. Members have shared stories of times when they were privileged to meet Her late Majesty. I did so on many occasions, and I always welcomed the huge wisdom that she would share, the advice, and, of course, the good humour.

I will never forget how, as the formalities of the final Privy Council meeting of 2017 ended, Her Majesty suddenly said, “Gin and tonic anybody?” She proceeded to press a buzzer and, with that, her staff promptly burst through the doors of the 1844 room in Buckingham Palace armed with trays of G and T and nibbles.

Now, I am not much of a G and T drinker, but I was certainly not going to turn down the opportunity of enjoying one with Her late Majesty. I later learned that she liked to make the last Privy Council meeting of the year extra special so that she could wish everyone a merry Christmas.

Our country faces immense challenges at home and abroad, and the person who has always been there is no longer there. However, in the wake of this terrible loss, there is an opportunity for parliamentarians from across this House to renew their commitment to the values that were embodied by Her late Majesty: public service, duty, and the national interest.

If we can leave this place having achieved but the smallest fraction of what Her late Majesty achieved, our country will be the better for it. After a lifetime of service, Her late Majesty is now at rest. May she rest in peace, and God save the King.

Naz Shah, MP for Bradford West

So many of us are trying to find the words to describe the reign of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth. Many have eloquently, philosophically, emotionally and even poetically alluded to her legacy and reign.

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Despite all the great words that have been and will be said, we all fall short, not because of the lack of words or of heartfelt emotion on this momentous occasion, but because even our greatest words fall short when it comes to doing justice to the life, legacy and reign of an extraordinary monarch.

We look around the world and we realise that these are sombre moments not just for the people of Britain or the Commonwealth, but for the entire world. Indeed, the elegant words of President Macron of France,

“ To you, she was your Queen. To us, she was the Queen.”

highlight how she was a worldly figure who existed beyond the nations and realm, in the hearts of people across the world. She was a unifying monarch, who brought people together in a way that was unique to her. That is why, when we look across our nation at the sadness and grief that people and communities are feeling, we see that people of all races, of all religions and of all communities are united in the devotion and heartfelt emotion they are showing at the passing of their Queen.

This unified attachment to Her Majesty did not just appear out of nowhere, but was directly a symbol she expressed throughout her reign. In 1952, in her first  Christmas broadcast, at a time when inclusion and diversity were very much unseen in society, she addressed the nations and asked that people, whatever their religion, pray for her and her reign. We heard the same message of inclusivity and diversity from our new monarch, King Charles III.

In the same way, despite Her Majesty keeping her views close to her heart, her deep-felt connection to the Commonwealth and to justice was obvious.

By summer 1986, the Queen’s apparent objection to the refusal by then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to place sanctions on apartheid South Africa was widely known. It is no wonder that her favourite African leader was Nelson Mandela, with whom she held a deep friendship until he sadly passed.

On a more local front, the Queen made several visits and was welcomed by the people of Bradford throughout her 70-year reign. Eighteen months after her coronation, on her nationwide tour, she visited Bradford, marking the city’s first royal visit since 1942.

She visited Bradford Park Avenue during this trip and was sung to by 30,000 schoolchildren. On behalf of all my constituents, I hope I can express their thoughts, feelings and condolences to the royal family at this difficult time.

As one era comes to an end, we pray for the next. As a woman of faith, I admired Her Majesty as she was a person of deep faith and belief. I end with the words of a great Muslim poet, Rumi:

“You are not a drop in the ocean; you are an entire ocean in a drop”.

Her Majesty was an ocean in her kindness, selflessness and humour, and she made herself a drop through her humbleness, sense of duty and service to her people. God save our King.

Dr Rupa Huq, MP for Ealing Central and Acton

I never met Her late Majesty the Queen but I have been in her garden. She was a unifying presence for all of us, and her loss after a remarkable, iconic 96-year life leaves a huge hole. Recent years have seen her starring with Paddington Bear and James Bond, demonstrating her sense of fun alongside her sense of duty.

For me, memories of that remarkable reign start with the silver jubilee in 1977. I remember my five-year-old mind being blown by the fact that I was sitting eating cake in the middle of Pitshanger Lane, a busy thoroughfare in Ealing. It was transformed for my first-ever street party; I went to dozens more as MP for the Queen’s platinum jubilee.

The Queen was a constant comforting presence, from her early days, as Princess Elizabeth, telling evacuated wartime kids not to worry, right up—by that time, she had mastered Zoom—to her covid reassurance, giving the same message to a worried nation.

Her remarkable reign spanned 15 Prime Ministers, from Churchill when she was just 25 years old to her 15th this week, when she was obviously the older and wiser one, with the current PM half her age. She was Head of State to 15 other nations. She oversaw the transition from empire to Commonwealth.

However, for locals my age, it will always be 1985 that we remember, when the Queen opened Ealing Broadway shopping centre. It felt that half the school had bunked off for it—except square old me. Many classmates who pulled a sickie got rumbled when the teacher saw them on the evening news, but she could not get too cross. This year, I actually requested that my sixth-former son be let off lessons for the Queen’s garden party.

The teacher allowed it, making his absence part of their lesson on constitutional monarchy—which, of course, the Queen personified superlatively. Her seemingly limitless work ethic and workload continued until two days before her death—but the signs were there, with her non-attendance at the last garden party and at the Queen’s Speech, both delegated to the now King.

Even sceptics who came into her orbit became converts. Kieron Gavan, mayor of Ealing in 2002, when the Queen came to Gunnersbury Park for the golden jubilee, said:

“I asked if she was ever tempted to take the head off while knighting with her sword someone she didn’t like. She replied that it’d be totally inappropriate. But she might nick the neck a tiny bit if they’re particularly irritating.”

He told me that she was charming, witty, smiley and utterly delightful company. Kieron said:

“I’m a republican but became a huge fan, if she had stood for election I’d have voted for her.”

We will never see her like again. She trained as a mechanic in the war, had children from the 40s to 60s who kept the line going, presided over United Nations and Commonwealth summits and was genuinely beloved. The words “end of the era” cannot sum up 70 years, but as the Elizabethan era ends, another begins. It will take some time to get used to, and there will be new stamps and coins in time. May she rest in eternal peace. God save the King.

Nusrat Ghani, MP for Wealden

Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was loved and respected throughout my constituency, from the villages of Withyham and Eridge in the north to the town of Hailsham in the south. She was adored for her duty, loyalty and leadership in the UK, the Commonwealth and across the world.

I want to share the words of a constituent who lives in Fletching. Libby Buchanan is 99 years old and has lived through the reigns of five monarchs, from George V to King Charles III. She said to me how deeply blessed she felt to have lived through the reign of Queen Elizabeth.

Sometimes, Libby told me, the changes experienced in the world over the Queen’s reign were bewildering, yet the Queen never changed. She was always there, a constant, gentle and ever-present light. That light has now gone out but, as Libby said, the flame has been relit and is held in the safest possible hands: those of King Charles III. Long live the King.