A review article in Australian Age speculates that not because such elements are “gifted writers but because their tell-all tales of Muslim woe capture the imaginations of morally outraged outsiders who have always suspected something was rotten with Islam but feel better hearing it from a purported insider.”

This also explains why Newsnight’s report leant heavily on views offered by Ed Hussain.

Individuals like Raras Rafiq and Ed Hussain are all about capitalizing with a hiss-and-sell approach as these days literary success is guaranteed for whistle-blowing or outright alarmist Muslims.

Hussian is happy to reinforce sterotypes and justifies this by saying he knows what inspires terrorists - the likely inference being that his book is an educational tool. Husain provides no new answers and no fresh information, and is criticised for being opportunistic and profiteering from the current climate of fear and anxiety. notes Riazat Butt in The Guardian and asks why persons like Ed Hussain are being greeted with an adulation that is both embarrassing and unwarranted?

I hope Haras Rafiq has some clear reasons for singing chorus lines written by Douglas Murray, the author of Neo-Conservatism: Why We Need It. Murray has been strongly criticising Ken Livingstone for promoting multi-culturalism in U.K.

At London’s World Civilizations: Dialogue or Clash Conference in January 2007, Murray speaking as co-panelist for Daniel Pipes claimed that the majority of Muslims were on the wrong side of civilization and “Multiculturalism has been a disaster.” Full text is at [london.gov.uk/mayor/equalities/docs/clash-transcript-murray.pdf]

One wonders who would be more appropriate to talk about “social” and “cohesion” on BBC? None could be farther from these ideals than Douglas Murray who in fact exemplifies an exact opposite of those terms. For Murray’s open neo-conservatist biases see his speech at Hudson Institute: [westernstandard.blogs.com/shotgun/2007/07/douglas-murray-.html]

Later at follow-up studio discussion, one could not get what makes Patrick Mercer relevent or qualified enough for analyzing the influence of extremist books on young minds.

Let’s suppose that the libraries of the Tower Hamlets council take off all those books that M/S Watson, Murray and Mercer find ‘objectionable’. Let’s replace them with equal number of copies of ‘alternate’ works, would it really keep fringe youth safe from extremist influences?

Do we pretend that we are all the same in order to present an image of unity (and therefore strength), or do we truthfully admit how divided we are?

As for the rather simplistic and out-of-touch comments of the TJ Winter partisan of Aylesury, aka Masud Khan, then I am surprised that you entertain his views which are nothing but the source and impetus for fake-umentaries like Undercover Mosque. As for Masud’s views of Salafis hospitalising others - then indeed, within the Sufi orientated mosques associated to the likes of Riyadh ul-Haq some have been implicated in murder and assassination! See: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/3527480.stm While in other mosques serious crimes and abuses of power have taken place: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/4118073.stm

So the views of Masud Khan are not only out-of-date, ill-informed and incorrect, but also devoid of justice which even his own ‘teachers’ (if Masud even studies) say, such as Hamza Yusuf who does not buy into this simplistic Wahhabi blame-game; as he himself stated in his Riz Khan interview on al-Jazeera English on Sunday 13 June 2007.

Allaah says in al-Maa’idah, verse 8: “O you who believe, be persistently standing firm for Allaah, witnesses in justice, and do not let the hatred of a people prevent you from being just. Be just; that is nearer to righteousness. And fear Allaah; indeed, Allaah is acquainted with what you do.”