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UK Muslims Vow to Help Govt. Fight Extremism
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"The
meeting was an important listening exercise for the prime minister
and people across the Muslim spectrum," Sacranie (C) told
reporters. (Reuters)
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Additional
Reporting by Ahmad Maher, IOL Staff
LONDON/CAIRO,
July 19, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – British Muslim
leaders pledged on Tuesday, July 19, active and effective
participation in the government's efforts to combat the poisonous
phenomenon of extremism for the welfare of British society.
"We
recognize we've got to work better at confronting those evil voices --
as minute as they are -- inside our communities," Muslim MP
Shahid Malik told a news briefing following a meeting with Prime
Minister Tony Blair, Reuters reported.
He
said there was "a massive appetite" among Britain's 1.6
million Muslims to weed out radicals.
Iqbal
Sacranie, head of the Muslim Council of Britain, the main
representative body for the country's Muslim minority, praised the
90-minute meeting.
"The
meeting was an important listening exercise for the prime minister and
people across the Muslim spectrum," he told reporters.
"What
really came out ... that there is certainly this criminality in the
community that has to be addressed," Sacranie said, while
stressing that only a "very, very small minority" of British
Muslims espoused extremist views.
Blair
told reporters that there was "a strong desire from everybody
there to make sure we establish the right mechanisms for people to be
able to go into the community and confront this ... evil ideology,
take it on and defeat it."
The
meeting was attended by senior imams, scholars, Muslim politicians and
MCB representatives.
A
statement issued Friday by over forty leading mosque imams, muftis and
scholars representing all sections of Muslims in Britain stressed that
"there can never
be any excuse for taking an innocent life".
The
scholars asserted that those behind the July 7 London bombings, which
killed at least 56 people, can not consider themselves martyrs.
The
British Muslim Forum issued on Monday, July 18, a fatwa signed by more
than 500 British Muslim religious leaders and scholars dismissing
suicide bombings as "vehemently prohibited".
Genuine
Partnership
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"There
must be a genuine partnership between the government and the
Muslim minority," said Bunglawala.
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Inayat
Bunglawala, the media officer of the MCB, underlined the need for a
genuine partnership between the government and the Muslim minority to
combat extremism.
Speaking
to IslamOnline.net by phone from London following the meeting,
Bunglawala said British Muslims and non-Muslims alike have a
responsibility to capture anyone plotting atrocities like the grisly
London attacks.
"Scholars
have made clear that those who committed such an atrocity cannot be
described as martyrs but murderers," he said.
"They
underlined that acts cannot be representative of the Muslim community
in Britain and are motivated by a sheer hatred."
Bunglawala
dismissed reports that Muslim scholars and leaders have suggested a
hotline to report any suspicious activity.
"An
anti-terror police hotline already exists and its number is known for
any Briton whether Muslim or non-Muslim," he said. "All
Briton, Muslims or non-Muslims, indeed have a responsibility to repot
to the police if they have any details about a terrorist plot being
hatched."
Foreign
Policy
But
Bunglawala said that the government should investigate how its
policies contributed to the "radicalization" of young
Muslims in Britain.
He
asserted that social injustices like unemployment and social
deprivation play well into the hands of extremists.
While
vehemently condemning the attacks, British Muslim leaders and scholars
have asked the government to address such problems as economic
deprivation and social exclusion.
Bunglawala
also highlighted the damaging influence, on some British Muslims, of
British foreign policies.
"Those
young Muslims are strongly disenchanted with the UK foreign policy out
there in Iraq and Afghanistan, though this cannot justify the taking
of innocent lives."
He
said it is "undeniable" that the Iraq war serves as a
"bonus" for groups like Al-Qaeda.
"The
government unwittingly helped Al-Qaeda gain recruits for its violent
cause. Until now, the government has been living in denial about its
role in the phenomenon of extremism," maintained the Muslim
activist.
A
Guardian poll published Tuesday showed that two-thirds of
Britons believe the London bombings were linked to Blair's support for
the US-led invasion of Iraq.
In
a report issued Monday, a respected British think-tank said the Iraq
war has given a momentum to Al-Qaeda's recruitment and fundraising and
made Britain more vulnerable to terrorist attacks.
"There
is no doubt that the situation over Iraq has imposed particular
difficulties for the UK, and for the wider coalition against
terrorism," said the London-based Royal Institute of
International Affairs, known as Chatham House.
Respected
Imams
Bunglawala
further said the MCB rejected any restrictions on respected imams and
scholars.
He
lashed out at right-wing media and newspapers for smearing the
reputation of scholars and intellectuals like Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi
and Tariq Ramadan.
"There
is enormous pressure now from the pro-Israeli lobby to prevent highly
respected scholars like Sheikh Al-Qaradwi and Tariq Ramadan from
coming to the UK, and they engage in character assassination of these
prominent figures," he said.
"It
is disgraceful that the pro-Israeli lobby is seeking to further the
interests of Israel at the expense of good community relations."
London
Mayor Ken Livingstone in January called on British media to apologize
for Al-Qaradawi over the hostile campaign that sought to blemish his
reputation during his visit to London in 2004.
The
British government is expected to organize a conference to be attended
by a host of Muslim scholars from across the world in August on means
of addressing extremism and combating terrorism.
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