Maz Saleem: A life of pain, struggle and charity

I mourn my dear friend and former colleague, the anti-racism and peace activist Maz (Masarrat) Saleem, who passed away on 19th July 2026 after a long illness. She was born on 4th May 1974.

Hatred struck when her 82-year-old father, Mohammed Saleem, was murdered by a neo-Nazi in 2013 in Birmingham, while walking home from evening prayers. His attacker subsequently bombed three mosques in the West Midlands of England.

Deeply traumatised by the murder of her beloved father, Maz committed herself to anti-racism and anti-war activism, working for Stand Up to Racism and Unite Against Fascism, and later for the Stop the War Coalition. Additionally, she established the initiative Education for Peace in Remembrance of Mohammed Saleem.

In the crucible of suffering, she found strength for her steadfast work against anti-Muslim bigotry and violence more broadly, striving to help build a society founded on unity and love. Of humble background - her father worked in a steelworks and then a bakery - Maz illustrated through her life the truth of Martin Luther King Jr's words: "Everybody can be great. Because everybody can serve." 1

I first collaborated with Maz in 2015, when she invited me to read some of my poetry at the Love Music Hate Racism event which she organised. Later we were colleagues at the Stop the War Coalition, working together against war, against anti-Muslim racism and for the rights of Palestinians. We organised a large tour of public meetings across Britain in resistance to anti-Muslim discrimination and war (some of these were titled "Stop Scapegoating Muslims: Islamophobia, Prevent and the War on Terror"). Maz was the keynote speaker at these events, and she also spoke at many conferences and addressed large national anti-war and anti-racism demonstrations, bringing to light the often hidden physical and spiritual harms of social violence.

Maz found inspiration in Badshah Khan, the renowned Pashtun leader of nonviolent resistance to British rule, also known as "the Frontier Gandhi", whom Heathcote Williams called the "Islamic Peace Warrior" in his poem. 2 Extending the hand of compassion to those forsaken by society, she also served refugees and the destitute with works of mercy that included public advocacy for the oppressed and more personal acts of charity. Maz was an animal rescuer and animal rights advocate as well, evoking the rich universalist Sufi traditions of peace and nonviolence.

Committed to challenging the forces of division, Maz wrote numerous articles and gave interviews to British and international media about her family's tragedy and against the scourge of racism and hate. Her voice and work reached further than such advocacy typically does, for they were carried by local, national and international outlets - both independent and mainstream - including The Guardian, The Independent, Middle East Eye, Al Jazeera, Double Down News, the Stop the War Coalition website, and even the BBC.

When her father's murderer, Pavlo Lapshyn, died in prison in 2025, aged 37, she gave the following message of compassion and forgiveness, which countered the venom of hatred and was widely reported by media outlets:

"In the early days after his [her father's] murder, I wanted revenge. I wanted the pain I felt to be felt by the man who killed him. Over time I realised that living in anger would consume me and give the far right even more power over my life.

I've recently come to a place of forgiveness as carrying hate in my heart doesn't help. I'm a very empathetic person and I'm actually feeling for his parents at this time. Parents are parents, aren't they, and his are very elderly.

I miss my father every day. Pavlo Lapshyn butchered him outside our house, where we used to walk five times a day, every day. When I heard that he had died in prison, my first reaction was not joy but reflection. I have lived with the consequences of his actions for more than a decade. I have known anger so deep it kept me awake at night. But I have also spent these years deciding not to let hatred dictate my future.

For me, it's time to forgive, because we need a world of unity. I wish him to rest in peace, and I am keeping his parents in my thoughts. His actions were gravely wrong and he caused immense pain. But I believe holding on to hatred serves no one. What Pavlo Lapshyn stood for - hatred, extremism and racism - is the opposite of everything our community believes in, and we must continue to stand for forgiveness, justice and peace. I refuse to allow hatred to poison my heart.

[...] The fact that we have 150,000 people marching on our streets holding these views is disturbing, very disturbing. We are living in dangerous times. The murder of my father was not an isolated incident. Muslim women have been attacked on our streets, a Sikh woman was allegedly raped, a Bangladeshi boy was assaulted. The far right are emboldened.

Britain must take far-right violence as seriously as any other form of terrorism. That means protecting places of worship, resourcing counter-extremism programmes, educating young people, holding those who spread hate to account, and supporting victims' families beyond the first weeks of tragedy.

I have received overwhelming support and solidarity. Women have reached out to thank me, saying this is the lesson racists need to hear. To those who celebrate anyone's death, I say: I understand the pain and anger, but we must not become what we despise.

My father's story is not just a chapter in the history of far-right terror - it is a warning. His legacy must be more than grief. It must be a call to confront hate, build solidarity, and create a future where no one is targeted for how they look, how they worship, or where they come from. Forgiveness is my way of refusing to be defined by fascism - but my fight for justice is far from over."3

Maz's life, marked by tragedy and trauma, was transformed by her calling to actively participate in the struggle for peace with justice. It was a life filled with pain and tribulations, but also with great-hearted perseverance and countless acts of kindness and benevolence. Even recently, only a few months before her death, though gravely ill, struggling to afford her rent and unable to eat due to her illness, she cooked in large pots for neighbours and the homeless. I believe she would have said that the best way to honour her life is to continue her struggle for a peaceful and humane world. I wish peace and strength to her family, friends, and everyone affected by her death. May the light of peace shine on all.

Thank you, dear Maz!

1. Martin Luther King, Jr., "The Drum Major Instinct", sermon delivered at Ebenezer Baptist Church, 4th February 1968, in A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr., edited by James Melvin Washington, HarperSanFrancisco, New York, 1991, p. 265.

2. Heathcote Williams, Badshah Khan: Islamic Peace Warrior, Thin Man Press, London, 2015.

3. Maz Saleem, quoted in Diane Taylor, "'I Refuse to Be Defined by Fascism': Daughter of Murder Victim Speaks after Death of Neo-Nazi Killer in Prison", The Guardian, 27th September 2025, www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/sep/27/maz-saleem-daughter-of-victim-speaks-after-death-of-neo-nazi-killer-in-jail.

Daniel Jakopovich is a peace scholar, poet and activist. He served as Peace Lead for Quakers in Britain and as a steering group member of the UK-based Network of Christian Peace Organisations. He is the author of the book Revolutionary Peacemaking: Writings for a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence (2019).