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Muslim groups prepare for Downing Street protest

16/02/08

Muslim groups are preparing to stage a demonstration outside Downing Street after what they describe as a week of "bias, prejudice, xenophobia and even borderline racism". It has been organised by the British Muslim Initiative (BMI) and supported by 20 other Muslim groups including the Muslim Council of Britain and British Muslim Forum.

Muslim groups are calling for equal rights under the slogan: Yes to equal citizenship, No to double standards.

The BMI have said the demonstration is a response to the past week's events including the controversy provoked by the Archbishop of Canterbury's comments that adoption of some aspects of Islamic sharia law in the UK seem "unavoidable".

It is also protesting over the Home Office's rejection of Egyptian-born, controversial scholar Yusuf al-Qaradawi's visa application to enter the UK.

The revelation that counter-terrorism officers had secretly recorded discussions between MP Sadiq Khan and a jailed constituent has also led to angry reactions from Muslims.

A BMI statement said the three events "provide further evidence of bias, prejudice, xenophobia and even borderline racism is rampant in wide corners of the media as well as in the corridors of government."

BMI spokesman Anas Altikriti said: "It all gives out a message that Muslims can never be trusted and any discourse must be banned and no-one, not even the esteemed Archbishop of Canterbury, can say anything about Muslims.

"This vigil is about all Muslims coming together and asking to be treated as equal citizens with rights. And at the same time we are calling for issues to do with Muslims to be dealt with in fairness and with balance."

Blah, blah,blah....anyone else notice that if you say anything that muslims don't agree with or don't let them have their way they get on their high horse over it?

"Muslim groups are calling for equal rights under the slogan: Yes to equal citizenship, No to double standards" Is that right? Ok then lets see how far we get if we were to go into the streets with our faces covered with a tea-towel or say a balaclava.

So muslims do not get special treatment then? So why is it that non muslim children are fed halal meat in our schools then? Why is it during ramadan that non muslims are asked not to eat at their desks, in case it causes offence to the muslim? And WHY the erosion of CHRISTMAS by various councils up and down the country? Here is someone else's comments on the matter.

Holding a "vigil" outside Downing Street today, muslims are demanding "Yes to equal citizenship, no to double standards".

Yet another week we hear of how victimised, mistreated, mistrusted muslims supposedly are in this country. Fine (complain all they like), but they really have to understand - trust and respect have to be earned. This isn't done by constantly being "angry" and disrespecting this country's values (such as free speech) when it suits them. I'm afraid I don't sympathise with the muslims agenda to always seemingly wish to invade public life and public space on a religious basis. Just because the nation as a whole vehemently disagree with the Archbishop's view on sharia law, does not necessarily mean that they (British muslims) are subject to "bias, prejudice, xenophobia and even borderline racism" or that they are not getting "equal citizenship" (as they claim). Any British muslim has equal citizenship rights - so I really do not know what they are on about. It's this constant take and take, instead of give and take on the part of "muslims" (as represented by their blocs and organisations) that turn me off. As does the constant conflating of events (essentially anything remotely negative with a muslim angle) with a perceived general victimisation of muslims.

I feel too they often pick the wrong battles. For example, why should they see the rejection of an application for a visa by Yusuf al-Qaradawi (an anti-gay muslim cleric) as anti-muslim particularly? Al-Qaradawi once said it "didn't matter if children were victims of suicide attacks". Besides it isn't the first time a homophobe was denied a visa to enter the UK (e.g. in 2004 - Sizzla Banned in the UK over Homophobic Lyrics]

As for "double standards", I'm afraid I see many muslims quite guilty of this themselves. Hundreds of thousands of muslims in Darfur are being slaughtered by other muslims (who think they're a better type of muslim). Surely that is a much worthier cause to hold a vigil about? Better too, I guess to protest over cartoons ..... (oh, and all that ridiculous nonsense over a teddy bear named Muhammed.. [i.e. equating that to "insulting Islam"] - can anyone take such muslim reaction seriously if not for the constant threat of violence?)"

Yusuf al-Qaradawi, homophobic muslim cleric

Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi achieved a star status with the emergence of the Qatari satellite channel, Al-Jazeera, several years ago.

Thanks to his weekly appearance on the religious phone-in programme Al-Shariaa wa Al-Haya (Islamic Law and Life) he has become a household name for many Arabic-speaking Muslim communities.He is an articulate preacher and a good communicator.

The subtext of the programme, and indeed that of Sheikh Al-Qaradawi's responses to all the issues raised throughout the broadcast, is that Islam has an answer to all of life's problems. That is essentially the ideology of Islamist movements across the region.

According to an Arabic language website dedicated to Sheikh Al-Qaradawi he was born in a small village in the Nile Delta in 1926. He studied Islamic theology at the Al-Azhar university in Cairo, from where he graduated in 1953. Twenty years later he was awarded a PhD for his thesis on how Zakat (Islamic alms) can contribute to solving social problems.

Muslim Brotherhood

He has written extensively on Islam and is regarded as a respected scholar. His website describes him as the most prominent voice of moderation in Islam (wasatiyya), building bridges between traditionalists and modernisers.It is his involvement with the outlawed Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood that has landed him in trouble. The group, founded in the 1920s, is one of the largest and most influential Islamist organisations in the region.It has a history of violence, but now says it is committed to peaceful means to create an Islamic state. Sheikh Al-Qaradawi has been jailed several times in Egypt. But he has lived and worked in the Gulf State Qatar since 1963 where he now heads an Islamic research centre.

Suicide bombings

It is particularly his views on suicide bombings that has courted controversy, but mainly in the West. He has distanced himself from suicide attacks in the West but he has consistently defended Palestinian suicide attacks against Israelis. Recently he told Al-Jazeera that he was not alone in believing that suicide bombings in Palestinian territories were a legitimate form of self defence for people who have no aircraft or tanks. He said hundreds of other Islamic scholars are of the same opinion. In this respect, he is very much in tune with what the vast majority of people in the Arab world believe.

Defending suicide bombings that target Israeli civilians Sheikh A-Qaradawi told the BBC programme Newsnight that "an Israeli woman is not like women in our societies, because she is a soldier. "I consider this type of martyrdom operation as an evidence of God's justice.

"Allah Almighty is just; through his infinite wisdom he has given the weak a weapon the strong do not have and that is their ability to turn their bodies into bombs as Palestinians do".

Despite his popularity, Sheikh Al-Qaradawi is not without his critics in the Arab world. Some see his regular preaching on Al-Jazeera as an uncritical regurgitation of Islamic dogma out of touch with the modern world.

The whole faith is out of touch with the modern world, left in the dark ages, where muslims blame everyone else for their lot, perhaps they should take a good long look at themselves, because even when left to their own devices they cannot get along.

Bishop Dewsbury Immigration 2 3 Ireland Mosques Religion of peace Sharia uk Sharia2 Soldier Students Translations Turkey Writings on the wall