Nazir-Ali complains of death threats

Posted on 2nd February, 2008 by

BBC NEWS: Threats to ‘no-go areas’ bishop

Michael Nazir-Ali, Anglican bishop of Rochester, has complained of receiving death threats in response to his accusations about no-go areas defined by adherence to Islamic ideology in the Telegraph last month. His chaplain claims that the phoned-in threat came from somewhere in England, but the man himself says that his postbag has been overwhelmingly positive (I wonder if that came from mostly within England, or mostly from Anglicans).

He also laughably claims that he had been surprised at the scale of the debate his article caused. Pull the other one, bish. You made the claims in a major national Sunday newspaper, and it was promoted from the front page and also, prominently, on the paper’s website. People who cause a controversy on this scale often get death threats, particularly when they cause offence related to religion or, less commonly, politics; these threats have never, in recent British history, led to someone actually being murdered. And when you cause controversy by using your position to make unfounded accusations about an entire religious community in a national newspaper, you really only have yourself to blame if this is the result.

That is, of course, assuming that the threat came from people offended, and not by one of his supporters …

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  • Old Pickler

    People who cause a controversy on this scale often get death threats, particularly when they cause offence related to religion

    Really? Have there been instances of Anglicans or Quakers threatening “controversial” Muslims?

  • http://muslimmagic.wordpress.com/ Yunus Yakoub Islam

    Oh, I confess. I laughed when I first read this story. Laughed because it wouldn’t surprise me if its a pack of lies, laughed because I could imagine Bish slapping his PR hands together with glee and laughed at the irony of someone needing police protection from hatred he himself has stirred up through his own stupidity.

  • Old Pickler

    needing police protection from hatred he himself has stirred up through his own stupidity.

    So you equate making critical comments about Muslims and Islam with threats to murder?

  • Indigo Jo

    Nazir-Ali was not criticising Islam; he was making unfounded accusations about Muslims.

  • Thersites

    “Nazir-Ali was not criticising Islam; he was making unfounded accusations about Muslims.”…so it’s acceptable to threaten to kill him.

  • http://www.drmaxtor.blogspot.com DrM

    Ah yes, here comes the generic “death threats” right on schedule. Good to see predictable idiots old pRickler and thershites take the bait usual. Where are these Muslim “no go areas” again.

  • http://alshaw.blogspot.com/ Al Shaw

    I must confess I find it little comfort that only threats have been made against the bishop(and no actual murder yet).

    Threats of this nature are often the precursor to acts.

    This is a very complacent post.

  • Thersites

    “Where are these Muslim “no go areas” again.[?]”

    Well, one example here according to the BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7183465.stm and an example of a friendly muslim welcome to beautiful downtown Banglatown here, Dr. Mabuse: http://www.eastlondonadvertiser.co.uk/content/towerhamlets/advertiser/news/story.aspx?brand=elaonline&category=news&tBrand=northlondon24&tCategory=newsela&itemid=WeED30%20Jan%202008%2020%3A51%3A30%3A863

  • Indigo Jo

    What Nazir-Ali alleged was no-go areas defined by allegiance to some sort of ideology, not just areas where there with Muslim yobs where one attack on a white man who strayed in has taken place. Some of those estates do have Muslims who are into drugs and crime; it is not some sort of Islamist militia. Youths being attacked if they stray into “someone else’s area” is a known problem which is not by any means limited to Muslims; in fact it is probably much less of a problem with Muslims than with blacks in London and whites in Glasgow, as a recent Dispatches programme showed.

  • Old Pickler

    To those who are playing down the death threats, I’d like to clarifiy something. Are you saying that no death threats were made; that Nazir-Ali was making it up? Or are you saying that death threats were made, but he is asking for it because he insulted Islam? Or that he is asking for it because he said untrue things about Muslims?

    Which is it?

  • Thersites

    Surely muslim yobs are defined by allegiance to some sort of ideology, just as fascist yobs are defined by allegiance to some sort of ideology.

  • http://www.drmaxtor.blogspot.com DrM

    Wrong as usual, therShites. You obviously don’t read too well, but your desperation in using a criminal act by druggies to dream up a “Muslim no go area” is laughable. One can easily cherry pick similar acts to designate some part of town as a “white no go area.” On to you, pRickler. Given Nazi-Ali’s history of bigotry, inflammatory statements and general stupidity, I see no reason to believe this prima donna. Why are you playing UP these “death threats”? You’ve openly supported violence against Muslims numerous times on this blog over the years, so why so sensitive about death threats now? Its simply because you hate Muslims as much as Nazi-Ali. Your predictable hypocrisy and lack of character always shine through. You and therShites should shack up. Misery loves company.

  • Random Guy

    Its option 4: ignore wide-eyed posters on this thread trying to knock up a two-bit theory about “all that is wrong with the muslims”.

    If you hadn’t already noticed, making sweeping generalisations about muslims without evidence to back up your claims, or even a reasonable argument (other than you feel upset that Islam is being practiced so devoutly by its followers), is normally counter-productive.

  • Old Pickler

    You’ve openly supported violence against Muslims numerous times on this blog over the years

    Not once. It seems, then,that saying crticial things about either Islam or Muslims “deserves” death threats. That’s cleared that up, then.

  • http://www.drmaxtor.blogspot.com DrM

    Rubbish, pRickler. You can deny it all you want but your comments are crystal clear when it comes violence against Muslims. Going off on racist, loony rants is not “critique.” You giddily approve of same tactics which you claim are being used against your little colored mascot of the month, Nazi-Ali. That makes you a first class hypocrite and a liar.

    Now where are these fabled Muslim “no go areas” you little Nazis are so afraid off? Pitiful. You are a bore, and a very dull one at that. Looking at you, Darwin would NOT be pleased to see how inefficiently evolution sometimes works.

  • Thersites

    How do you know the ‘yobs’ are druggies, Dr Mabuse? We do know thy’re muslims, however, and that they justify their behaviour on muslim grounds because they say so. The BBC report makes it plain that- equally disgracefully- the estate was ‘a “white no go area”’ twenty years ago- or didn’t you read that far?

    There are ‘yobs’ who justify their behaviour on muslim grounds and there also are muslims who become yobs on muslim grounds. Nonmuslims aren’t very enthusiastic about such occasions when ‘Islam is being practiced so devoutly by its followers’

  • Indigo Jo

    We know they are Muslims because they have Muslim names. That does not mean they are practising, let alone that they are into any ideology whatever. They are criminals, by anyone’s definition, who come from (and identify with) a Muslim background. It still does not equate to what Nazir-Ali alleged: that there are no-go areas where acceptability is defined by adherence to Islamist ideology.

  • H

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7183465.stm

    Just read the link, a few quick questions. 1) “No go area for whites” what about white converts who aren’t dressed in Islamic garb? 2) It says “two young Bangladeshi girls in headscarves say they’d never go out alone at night”, if the area’s run by Muslims, why not? Maybe the religious police would beat them. 3) A quote from a resident named Mohammed “We often chose different routes, like bunking off school, experimenting with different types of drugs, drinking alcohol”, so I see the area is being run under sharia law. 4) Another quote “It is still not clear what pushed Sodrul Islam, Delawar Hussain and Mamoon Hussain to set upon John Payne.” - Perhaps Thersites thinks they had a fatwa from a Shaykh. Sorry about the sarcasm, but this bbc report only proves that the area is being run by wannabe gangsters, not fundamentalists.

  • Thersites

    I didn’t say they were fundamentalists, only that they are muslims and that they identify themselves as muslims. People find it much easier to tolerate the sins they indulge in themselves. As for the “two young Bangladeshi girls in headscarves say they’d never go out alone at night”, a likely reason is that because they too perceive the area as run by muslims- the sort of muslims described above.

  • H

    Hello Thersites, In response to your latest post, I’d say we are in agreement. But the fact that you mentioned the point about the two Bengali girls, you have shown that Muslims suffer too. It’s not simply “white” against “muslim” in those areas. And why does it matter how the punks in question identify themselves, anyone can identify themselves however they please. The BNP identify themselves as “white” and “christian”, does this mean I should start bringing up the fact that they are “white christians” everytime I mention them. The KKK identify themselves as “christian”, and there are plenty of no-go areas in the USA for non-whites, christian or otherwise. How do you think Nazir-Ali would feel if I kept refering to the KKK as his co-religionists. I know what you’re going to say, that he wouldn’t threaten me with death if I said anything offensive, but there is no short supply of “white christians” that would. I am not trying to get one over on you in all this, but at least you got to admit your argument isn’t quite fair.

  • Thersites

    Well, given the history of what christians did to nonchristians and to the wrong sort of christians when they could, I’d say that the KKK are nore firmly in the christian tradition than Bishop Nazir-Ali.

  • Random Guy

    H, thats a superb point. Thersites and people of his mindset cannot wrap their heads around the simple fact that just because an people claim to represent something, (a) means nothing if their actions are at odds with what they claim to represent and (b) does not allow other uninformed or troublemaking persons to then go and extend that generalisation to everyone else, especially when they have ZERO understanding of how Islam should be practiced.

    Its like turning around and calling all white british people BNP members, or by extension attaching them to an imperialist, colonialist ideal. This is clearly ignorance. Give your ignorance a rest please.

  • H

    But are they more firmly in the Christian tradition of the Biblical Jesus (alayhi salam)? I don’t think the Biblical or Qur’anic Jesus would have tolerated the lynching of blacks (e.g. KKK) or the tabloid-style incitement against minority communities (e.g. Nazir-Ali).

  • http://www.drmaxtor.blogspot.com DrM

    Where does it say drugs were involved, therShites? Read the article for which you provided the link, imbecile. Apparently English is your second language, you don’t have a first. Now, where exactly are these fabled Muslim “no go areas” of yours?

  • Thersites

    What does the quranic Jesus have to do with the opinion of Christians? The biblical Jesus was pretty enthusiastic about most of the human race being tortured in hell for ever, an innovation in Jewish thought, I think.

    As the history of Christianity until Christians were forced to behave otherwise consisted of the intolerance and torture of people they disagreed with whenever they could get away with it then the KKK- despite their aberration of killing on racial rather than doctrinal grounds- are for more firmly in the ancient- “intolerant and intolerable”, as T. S. Eliot boasted- Christian tradition than those contemporary christians who have been civilised by sceptical influences.