This European city had a Muslim mayor before London

The election of Sadiq Khan as the first Muslim mayor of London was welcomed by many as a a sign of the city's positive attitude to multiculturalism.

While Khan may be the first Muslim mayor of a major European capital, he is not the first Muslim mayor to be elected by a European city.



In 2008, Rotterdam in the Netherlands appointed Moroccan-born Ahmed Aboutaleb as mayor, a role he holds to this day.

Further, four Muslims have held London borough mayoralty positions to date: Karamat Hussain was the first mayor of Brent, between 1981-82, Saleem Siddiqui was twice the mayor of Hackney in 1995 and 2001, and Lal Hussain was Sutton's mayor from 2000-2001.

Last year, Rotterdam’s outspoken Muslim mayor Aboutaleb called for the “total destruction” of the Islamic State  in the wake of the weekend’s deadly Paris attacks.

“We must completely destroy Islamic State. These barbaric acts cannot be left alone. It’s clear that Islamic State will not negotiate,” Aboutaleb told popular daily Algemeen Dagblad in an interview.

Aboutaleb, 54, already well-known in his adopted homeland of the Netherlands, shot to international fame in the wake of the attacks on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in January.



He stunned a live television audience saying Muslims who disliked western culture should “pack their bags” and “**** off.”

Although the mayor of Europe’s largest port says he passionately defends individuals’ rights to believe in what they want, he has insisted that no-one has the right to shatter democracy and use violence to impose their beliefs.

His outspoken stance earlier this year won him wide praise and invitations to the White House and the United Nations General Assembly to meet global leaders grappling with the rise of the IS group.

Aboutaleb called on all moderate Muslims to “make your voices heard and reject all violence.”

But he insisted all people should work together for a solution, not just Muslims.

Aboutaleb, who was born in Morocco and in 2009 became Rotterdam’s mayor said: “The worst thing we can do now is to alienate all Muslims.”

This article originally appeared on Independent