Recently some of us have been debating on Facebook whether to take part in a forthcoming coutner-demo to an al-Muhajiroun front group demo, which was to take place on the 31st. The event was titled “Say no to Andy’s fanatics!” (Andy being the nickname of Anjem Choudhary of al-Muhajiroun from the time when he wasn’t practising) and had the fingerprints of “British Muslims for Secular Democracy” all over it (as this website demonstrates), although there were some other elements involved as well. If the event was to be dominated by that group, I wasn’t prepared to be involved in it.
Actually, I wasn’t too happy about the whole idea of Muslim counter-demonstrations against al-Muhajiroun anyway. The problem is that any demonstration would have been seen as too small, and even if the tiny number of fanatics who turn up with Anjem were outnumbered by 400 Muslims, that would still have been 400 out of hundreds of thousands of Muslims in London alone. However, besides that, there was the issue of BMSD being influenced by Shaaz Mahboob, who is well known to Muslims on Facebook as someone who likes to slander Muslims and particularly scholars, commonly using the word ‘mullah’ as if it were a term of abuse. Their board of trustees includes Yasmin Alibhai-Brown and Taj Hargey, both of whose anti-Islamic viewpoints have been discussed amply here in the past.
The Facebook discussion also led to some woman referring to the Muhajiroun as “fake Muslims”, a manner of speaking much more typical of extremists like al-Muhajiroun than of moderate Muslims. However, in response to some of us saying we wouldn’t march or demonstrate under the BMSD banner, someone linked a YouTube video containing a clip of the “Judean People’s Front” scene from Life of Brian. That was a send-up of left-wing groups in the 1970s and 1980s, in which small groups with nearly identical politics, at least as far as outsiders were concerned, fell out over minute differences. Perhaps outsiders would think my differences with the BMSD were insignificant, but the level of contempt they show for practising Muslims and scholars doesn’t seem that way to me.
In any case, it later appeared that the so-called English Defence League were jumping on the bandwagon, and I can understand that nobody wanted a three-way confrontation between the Muhajigoons, the thugs from the EDL and various disparate groups of “moderate Muslims”. Despite being an “administrator” for the event’s Facebook group, I wasn’t certain I was going, but neither was I consulted about pulling it off Facebook; it just disappeared some time this afternoon. Perhaps cancelling was the wisest thing to do, but I thought “democracy” meant that there was a bit of discussion before an event is deemed to be on — or off.
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EDL and Mujahiroon are the same and will not demonstrate against each other.
It was very wise of you to dissociate yourself from this. Notice in a number of photos you have Rashad Zaman Ali who is strongly associated with the Quilliam Foundation, although he claims to be have left them. We have evidence that he works with the Centre of Social Cohesion. A secular agenda is definitely not part of Islam.
Centre for Social Cohesion is Talmudic and has nothing to do with “secular agenda”. Problem is not Islam, it is Islam that needs saving from Muslims. The majority Muslims of today only throw muck at Islam and contribute to nothing whilst having the worst of their muck stick to Islam.
We need more Islam centric groups with accountability and professionalism, not gangsters working for Mujahiroon or racists like the CSC.
Inayat Bunglawala is also organising a counter-demo. In fact, he announced it before the BDSM did:
http://www.muslims4uk.org.uk/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comm.....est-london
So that means 4 demos taking place at the same time. Anyone else want to join in?
@LeedsLad
What I meant is that in Islam their is in principle no separation of religion from public affairs. Any standard work of Fiqh will show this. Obviously, a number of members of the group British Muslims for Secular Democracy do not represent orthodox Sunni Islam.
If you want a standard orientalist work then I suggest a typical SOAS reference as a start i.e.
Rudolph Peters Crime and Punishment in Islamic Law.
Their are plenty of other references as well.Their is certainly an agenda among some groups to divorce the standard relationship in Islamic Law with the public sphere in the form of a “reformation” i.e. what I call a secular agenda.
The event isnot cancelled. The facebook page was deleted by a saboteur by an “admin”. Here is the replacement Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=158649383516
Bunglawala did not announce the March Against Al-Muhajiroun before the BMSD. He did it much later and even says so in his CiF piece.
And here is a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zn2JgvWZJ-0
Anyway, here is the BMSD statement by Shaaz Mahmood: http://www.guardian.co.uk/comm.....31-october
Effendi ´s last blog ..March Against Al-Muhajiroun and for Secular Democracy
This is just another example of how the Sunnis need to become more politically active and aware. “Moderate”, a word I shy away from anyhow, Sunni Muslims do not seem realize that their voices are being drowned out by Secularists and wackos like the goons.
“…in Islam their is in principle no separation of religion from public affairs”
It is not just Islam, but Christianity as well. So you need to ask yourself how others manage to keep their faith and morality at much higher degree than Muslims who continue to destroy themselves.
“Democracy do not represent orthodox Sunni Islam.” Please avoid engaging yourself and other Muslims in mindless sectarianism, and stick to common interests. Whether a group is orthodox Sunni or loony Sunni should not matter unless you are another person who receives $$ from the progress hating Saudis.
My advice to you would be not to make enemies with people whom you are closely related to. This would bring you Islam more than the current obsession one can see from your blog.
LeedsLad- is it just me or did you mention somewhere that you were a murtadd? If so, why presume to advise us about a religion you’ve seen fit to renounce?
lol, it is true. I am a “Murtad”, yet I stand by Muslims because that is my community. I also fast during Ramadan, support mosque funds(something the majority do not do assuming Allah pays the bills and maintenance) and pray whenever the rest of the community is having a gathering.
You expect me to run away and open a lil shop called b*tchislam.com like some people do?
Murtad business is no ones business except Allah. I will suggest you get on with Muslims whether they p you off just because they don’t do what is done in your household.
@LeedLads
Please do not misquote me. I said that the group ” British Muslims for Secular Democracy ” do not represent Sunni Islam! i.e. the group and you presented it as a misquote. i.e. I said “Democracy does not represent Sunni Islam”
I am just baffled by someone who is a murtad claiming to be part of the Muslim community! lol! What next a 4 sided triangle ? Ha Ha! I have no concern about what you think of my blog because obviously we have vastly different moral compasses. Let us start with the basics, murtad.
Do you believe in a God ? I say this because this premise would be a problem, you see i.e.
“Murtad business is no one’s business except Allah”
What are the qualities of this “Allah”? Where did you get this moral imperative from?
Oh, and if you have the term Murtad in quotes, do you care to give us your theology ?
Effendi, we may be have having a counter-counter demonstration against those who use al Muhajiroun and the BNP as a red herring . What do you think ?
:)
Yeah this is going to be wonderful. About 80-100 from al Muhajiroun, another separate demo from Inayat, I would put it at about another 80, and another 30-40 from the CSC-BMSD-CIVITAS-Gay Muslim Front( O.k. I made that one up)-Friends of Israel (I mean Shiraz Maher may be there, who knows ?) alliance.
Oh, because Douglas Murray thinks that the Quilliam Foundation is now the problem, those of the Friends of Douglas Murray alliance may have problems if it is hijacked by “secret spies” i.e. rejects of the Quilliam Foundation (none other than the fraud Rashad himself)
Still, at least it may be entertaining.
:)
Oh can’t forget the English Defense League i.e. the BNP and all the off shoots as well! lol! Now this is definitely a Monty Python sketch!
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Critic.....0955109949
I am glad al-Muhajiround decided to call off their march. I also think its not very constructive to start calling people Murtadh. Interesting book, Abu Yunus. Jzk Salman ´s last blog ..Valley of the Wolves Iraq