The Al Haram Al Sharif Tensions Must Not Spill into the UK

July 21, 2017 Article

We understand the deep impacts that Jerusalem and the Al Haram Al Sharif have on British Muslim communities in the UK. We also acknowledge the thousands of years of Jewish history that are connected to Jerusalem and the Holy Land, as Muslims have a link to the Holy City for over 1,400 years. Each has a stake and each has a history that is written on the other and where each yard of Jerusalem is contested. That is why when tensions rise in Jerusalem, they are felt across the globe and where Islamic history is linked to the Al Haram Mosque and the mosque of Al Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock. Islam’s link to Jerusalem runs deep through association with the Prophet of Islam and with being the first Qibla or point of call for prayer before Mecca. It is a connecting point for Muslims between this earth, the divine and all of the Prophets of faith in monotheism. It is therefore a central part of Islam’s link to the divine and is seen by Muslims in that context.

We know that as tensions rise in the Al Haram Al Sharif, (also known as the Temple Mount), there is the potential for Jewish faith institutions or cultural centres to be targeted for graffiti or broken windows or for online anti-Semitic comments. Jewish communities, through the work of the Community Security Trust, have demonstrated that there are links between tensions in the Middle East and a rise in attacks against British Jews. This is unacceptable and everyone who cares about the future of their children and their communities, should feel a revulsion that this is the case. We are therefore re-asserting the fact that the best of Islam and Muslims are based on campaigning for social justice and for the rights of others and at this time, let us re-enforce the fact that British Jews are not responsible for the actions of the Government of Israel and that they have no way of influencing actions in the region at this time. They deserve to live their lives free from fear, intimidation and harassment. They are also part of our local, regional and national family – a family that is based on the belief that what matters – are people and their dignity and care.

It is also clear that the killings of 2 Israeli policemen in the Old City in Jerusalem has led to this position. The trigger factor and the killings of 2 people on duty cannot and should not be regarded as anything other than murder and the pouring of fuel on the emotions of Jews and Muslims, when the Al Haram Al Sharif and Temple Mount mean so much to local Muslims and Jews.

Furthermore, such incidents do not mean that the Government of Israel can be given a free pass for what is an occupation that has gone on for decades and that impacts on Palestinian lives through checkpoints, barriers, reduction of employment opportunities, travel restrictions and the killings of many Palestinians under circumstances that leave questions for their families which are not addressed. Many are young people whose lives have been cut short in violent circumstances. Yet, we also must acknowledge that Israeli Jews have been the subject of terrorism, suicide, rocket and vehicle attacks that have created enormous fear within a population which feels embattled, just as the Palestinians feel and voice on a daily basis. We therefore cannot accept and will not accept the killings of innocents on both sides which makes no-one safe in the region. Justification for any group that kills innocents in the region for political reasons, irrespective of which faith or community they come from, is justification for terrorism and that is never acceptable. Any group in the UK voicing such support for any groups which back the political killings of innocent men and women going about their lives and duties in Israel or Palestine, should be highlighted in their support for terrorism. Let us call it what it is.

That said, British Jews cannot and should not be seen as anything other than friends, citizens, neighbours and partners for a better society in our country, the UK. Whilst Muslims and Jews may have differences of opinions on Israel and Palestine, they can be conducted in a manner of civility and with a belief that we should stand up for each other’s rights if they are undermined in the UK. So we urge those reading this post, that we do all we can to send messages of trust and re-assurance to each other at this time. We cannot be anything other than agents of positive change, caring for our Jewish brothers and sisters at this time in our country.

The post The Al Haram Al Sharif Tensions Must Not Spill into the UK appeared first on TELL MAMA.

Categories: Al Haram Al Sharif, Israel, Jews, Opinions, Palestine, Temple Mount, Tensions, terrorism

Letters Being Sent to Mosques – Community Re-Assurance

July 1, 2017 Article

We are aware of a number of letters being sent to mosques which seek to promote fear and intimidate those working within the mosques. The letters have been sent to various geographical locations and we have seen the text of the letters.

We understand that the letters threaten demonstrations outside mosques and are signed off using people’s names. This is a malicious campaign that we believe, is simply meant to cause fear.

We are aware of the letters, as are partners that work with us. We wanted to re-assure mosques that when we come across such material, and when it is reported to us, we get in touch with police partners and inform them of such activities. We can only do so if people report into us at Tell MAMA and therefore we urge Muslim communities to report in any material that may be anti-Muslim in nature or which targets mosques and Islamic institutions.

We cannot have any community intimidated in our country whose values are based on pluralism and on the rule of law. Rest assured that we within Tell MAMA will work with statutory, police and Government partners to ensure the safety of Muslim communities, whilst also ensuring that we stand together with all communities in our desire to tackle hatred, prejudice and intolerance.

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Categories: anti-Muslim hatred, communities, demonstrations, Far Right groups, Letters, mosques, News, Police

The BBC Should Not Be Promoting ‘Fake News’ About Muslims and Jews

June 29, 2017 Article

The BBC reported yesterday on German Muslim schoolgirls who were racially abused by locals on a trip to visit Holocaust memorials in Lublin in Eastern Poland. The Board of Deputies of British Jews rightly picked up on the following statement that was inserted into the piece on the BBC article. The phrase stated:

The Holocaust is a sensitive topic for many Muslims because Jewish survivors settled in British mandate Palestine, on land which later became the state of Israel.

The relevance of linking the state of Israel to the Holocaust and how it is perceived within Muslim communities was perverse to say the least. Holocaust education and awareness is not linked to developments in the Middle East and the assumption completely disregards the diversity of Muslim communities and the large numbers of Muslims who want to know more about the Holocaust. Indeed, the article cites German Muslim girls travelling to Poland to find out more about the Holocaust.

Furthermore, the assumption that all Muslims cannot somehow empathise and feel the pain of the Holocaust in whatever form that takes, suggests that the writer thinks that all Muslims think the same. Additionally, many Muslims can distinguish between the practices of the Government of Israel and the implementation of policies regarding the Occupied Territories and Jewish communities globally. Linking political decisions made in Israel and Palestine to the genocide of Jews in Europe is frankly, sickening. Wherever such blatant linkages are made, they must be challenged and we therefore welcome the quick action of Muslim and Jewish groups and in particular that of the Board of Deputies, which we fully supported.

The BBC is globally seen as a respected news source. The last thing we need is ‘fake news’ creeping into a publicly funded body which promotes divisions between Muslims and Jews.

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Categories: abuse, BBC, German Muslims, hate crime, Holocaust, Israel, Jews, Lublin, Opinions, Palestine

From “caliph” to fugitive: IS leader Baghdadi’s new life on the run

June 13, 2017 Article

Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is on the brink of losing the two main centres of his ‘caliphate’ but even though he is on the run, it may take years to capture or kill him, officials and experts said.

Islamic State fighters are close to defeat in the twin capitals of the group’s territory, Mosul in Iraq and Raqqa in Syria, and officials say Baghdadi is steering clear of both, hiding in thousands of square miles of desert between the two.

“In the end, he will either be killed or captured, he will not be able to remain underground forever,” said Lahur Talabany, the head of counter-terrorism at the Kurdistan Regional Government, the Kurdish autonomous region in northern Iraq. “But this is a few years away still,” he told Reuters.

One of Baghdadi’s main concerns is to ensure those around him do not betray him for the $25 million reward offered by the United States to bring him “to justice”, said Hisham al-Hashimi, who advises Middle East governments on Islamic State affairs.

“With no land to rule openly, he can no longer claim the title caliph,” Hashimi said. “He is a man on the run and the number of his supporters is shrinking as they lose territory.”

Iraqi forces have retaken much of Mosul, the northern Iraqi city the hardline group seized in June 2014 and from which Baghdadi declared himself “caliph” or leader of all Muslims shortly afterwards. Raqqa, his capital in Syria, is nearly surrounded by a coalition of Syrian Kurdish and Arab groups.

The last public video footage of him shows him dressed in black clerical robes declaring his caliphate from the pulpit of Mosul’s medieval Grand al-Nuri mosque back in 2014.

Born Ibrahim al-Samarrai, Baghdadi is a 46-year-old Iraqi who broke away from al-Qaeda in 2013, two years after the capture and killing of the group’s leader Osama bin Laden.

He grew up in a religious family, studied Islamic Theology in Baghdad and joined the Salaafi jihadist insurgency in 2003, the year of the US-led invasion of Iraq. He was caught by the Americans who released him about a year later as they considered him then as a civilian rather than a military target.

BOUNTY

He is shy and reserved, Hashimi said, and has recently stuck to the sparsely populated Iraq-Syria border where drones and strangers are easy to spot.

The U.S. Department of State’s Counter-Terrorism Rewards Program had put the same $25 million bounty on Bin Laden and Iraqi former president Saddam Hussein and the reward is still available for Bin Laden’s successor, Ayman al-Zawahiri.

Neither Saddam nor Bin Laden were voluntarily betrayed, but the bounties complicated their movements and communications.

“The reward creates worry and tension, it restricts his movements and limit the number of his guards,” said Fadhel Abu Ragheef, a Baghdad-based expert on extremist groups. “He doesn’t stay more than 72 hours in any one place.”

Baghdadi “has become nervous and very careful in his movements”, said Talabany, whose services are directly involved in countering Islamic State plots. “His circle of trust has become even smaller.”

His last recorded speech was issued in early November, two weeks after the start of the Mosul battle, when he urged his followers to fight the “unbelievers” and “make their blood flow as rivers”.

U.S. and Iraqi officials believe he has left operational commanders behind with diehard followers to fight the battles of Mosul and Raqqa, to focus on his own survival.

It is not possible to confirm his whereabouts.

Baghdadi does not use phones and has a handful of approved couriers to communicate with his two main aides, Iyad al-Obaidi, his defence minister, and Ayad al-Jumaili, in charge of security. There was no confirmation of an April 1 Iraqi state TV report that Jumaili had been killed.

Baghdadi moves in ordinary cars, or the kind of pick-up trucks used by farmers, between hideouts on both sides of the Iraqi-Syrian border, with just a driver and two bodyguards, said Hashimi.

The region is well known to his men as the hotbed of the Sunni insurgency against U.S. forces that invaded Iraq and later the Shi’ite-led governments that took over the country.

At the height of its power two years ago, Islamic State ruled over millions of people in territory running from northern Syria through towns and villages along the Tigris and Euphrates river valleys to the outskirts of the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

It persecuted non-Sunnis and even Sunnis who did not agree with its extreme version of Islamic law, with public executions and whippings for violating strict controls on appearance, behaviour and movement.

But the group has been retreating since in the face of a multitude of local, regional and international forces, driven into action by the scores of deadly attacks around the world that it has claimed or inspired.

A few hundred thousand people now live in the areas under the group’s control, in and around Raqqa and Deir al-Zor, in Syria’s east, and in a few pockets south and west of Mosul. Hashimi said Islamic State was moving some fighters out of Raqqa before it was encircled to regroup in Deir al-Zor.

Mosul, with pre-war population of 2 million, was at least four times the size of any other the group has held. Up to 200,000 people are still trapped in the Old City, Islamic State’s besieged enclave in Mosul, lacking supplies and being used as human shields to obstruct the progress of Iraqi forces by a U.S-led international coalition.

The Syrian Democratic Forces, made of Kurdish and Arab groups supported by the U.S.-led coalition, began to attack Raqqa last week, after a months-long campaign to cut it off.

The militants are also fighting Russian and Iranian-backed forces in Syria loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, and mainly Sunni Muslim Syrian rebels backed by Turkey.

The last official report about Baghdadi was from the Iraqi military on Feb. 13. Iraqi F-16s carried out a strike on a house where he was thought to be meeting other commanders, in western Iraq, near the Syrian border, it said.

Overall, Islamic State has 8,000 fighters left, of which 2,000 are foreigners from other Arab states, Europe, Russia and central Asia, said Abu Ragheef.

“A small number compared to the tens of thousands arrayed against them in both countries, but a force to be reckoned with, made up of die-hards with nothing to lose, hiding in the middle of civilians and making extensive use of booby traps, mines and explosives,” he said.

The U.S. government has a joint task force to track down Baghdadi which includes special operations forces, the CIA and other U.S. intelligence agencies as well as spy satellites of the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency.

It will take more than that to erase his influence, Talabany said. “He is still considered the leader of ISIL and many continue to fight for him; that hasn’t changed drastically,” he said, using one of Islamic State’s acronyms.

Even if killed or captured, he added, “his legacy and that of ISIL will endure unless radical extremism is tackled.”

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Categories: Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Capture, Iraq, Mosul, News, Osama Bin Laden, Raqqa, Run, Sunni

Merseyside Police Aware of Online Video Threatening Muslims

June 4, 2017 Article

We have received numerous reports of a video that has been circulated showing a man with what seems to be a hand grenade with a machete blade, who has been making threats against members of Muslim communities.

Colleagues in Tell MAMA can confirm that Merseyside police are aware of this video. We have spoken to the force in question and we wanted to re-assure community members that the matter is with the relevant force and being reviewed.

We also understand that Facebook has removed the video in question and we thank them for the swift action taken.

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Categories: Merseyside Police, News

North Carolina Pastors Network Sponsors Anti-Muslim Billboards in U.S.

June 1, 2017 Article

This evening we received information from a U.S. resident about billboards in North Carolina that seems to have been sponsored by a group calling itself the North Carolina Pastors’ Network. The billboards have been picked up by mainstream press sources in the U.S. such as CNN. One of the billboards states that “19 Muslim Immigrants killed 2977 Americans”. References are clearly made to September 11th 2001 in what seems to be a campaign running up to the 16th anniversary of the terrorist attack on the U.S.

The reality is that 9/11 was an attack by Al-Qaeda on all Americans, whether they were Christian, Muslim, Sikh or of no faith. Islamist extremists, whether in Afghanistan, Pakistan or within Europe, do not care who they kill or maim and their aim is to attack the very fabric of societies and to create division and death, whist setting communities against each other. Each and every person who lost their life in the 9/11 attack should be remembered for who they were and for the joy and value they brought to their loved ones and to colleagues and communities. Additionally, Muslims were also killed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks who were going about their daily lives as settled U.S citizens.

We also wanted to highlight the wonderful e-mail that we received from the U.S. resident showing that many within the country abhor those who seek to cause division. This is a summary of their text:

“It’s a very misleading billboard in North Carolina posted by the North Carolina Pastors network and it highlights 19 Muslim immigrants who killed “2977 Americans on 9/11″ in order to support Trumps Muslim ban. It is clearly against Muslims. I have a son traveling cross country right now with his Muslim friend and they are heading to North Carolina. It makes me sick to my stomach a young Muslim American man has to see this. It makes me sick knowing his beautiful mom fears for his life in America. There needs to be a way this billboard comes down.”

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Categories: 9/11, Al Qaeda, News, North Carolina Pastors Network, Trump, U.S.

UK police arrest two more in hunt for suicide bomber’s network

May 27, 2017 Article

British police said they had arrested two men on Saturday as they stepped up their efforts to capture a suspected network behind the suicide bomber who killed 22 people in Manchester earlier this week.

Officers used a controlled explosion to gain entry to the address in the north of the city where the latest arrests were made. Detectives are now questioning 11 men over the attack by Salman Abedi at a pop concert in Manchester on Monday.

Some hours later, police cordoned off a large area in the Moss Side area of south Manchester and houses were evacuated with a bomb disposal unit sent to the scene.

A man working in a local shop, who declined to be named, told Reuters he saw three men being taken away from the address.

“As part of an ongoing search at a property in Moss Side an evacuation is currently being carried in the area,” police said in a statement.

While Britain’s most senior counter-terrorism officer said police were confident that they had made “immense” progress and had apprehended a “large part of the network”, extra armed officers will be on duty across the country with security stepped up at some 1,300 events over the long holiday weekend.

Britain remains on its highest threat level of critical, meaning an attack is expected imminently, with the army backing up police and hospitals across the country have told staff to be ready for another incident.

The Times newspaper reported on Saturday that intelligence officers had identified 23,000 jihahist extremists living in Britain.

Earlier this week a source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters the security services were managing 500 active operations involving some 3,000 people who were thought to pose a threat.

However, Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley, the UK police chief for counter-terrorism, advised people to be vigilant but to “go out as you planned and enjoy yourselves”.

There are a number of high-profile events over the weekend including soccer cup finals in London and Glasgow, and the Great Manchester Run.

While police and politicians have praised communities in Manchester for their reaction to the bombing, Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable said there had been a rise in reported hate crimes, from an average of 28 to 56 incidents on Wednesday.

“We can’t directly link these to the events of Monday night and are continuing to monitor the situation,” he said.

Political campaigning for the June 8 national election which was suspended after the Manchester attack resumed on Friday with the bombing becoming a central feature.

The opposition Labour Party, emboldened by a rise in opinion polls, argued that Britain’s foreign policy had increased the risk of attacks and criticised Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May for cutting spending on policing.

May said Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was saying Britain was to blame for the bombing.

“I want to make one thing very clear to Jeremy Corbyn and to you, and it is that there can never, ever be an excuse for terrorism,” she said at a summit of Group of Seven leaders in Sicily.

A poll on Thursday put May’s Conservatives five points ahead of Labour suggesting a far tighter race than previously anticipated.

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Categories: Attack, Libyan, Manchester, Mark Rowley, News, Salman Abedi, Suicide Bomber, terrorism

Trump tells Middle East to ‘drive out’ Islamist extremists

May 22, 2017 Article

President Donald Trump urged Arab and Islamic leaders on Sunday to unite and do their share to defeat Islamist extremists, making an impassioned plea to “drive out” terrorists while toning down his own harsh rhetoric about Muslims.

Trump singled out Iran as a key source of funding and support for militant groups. His words aligned with the views of his Saudi Arabian hosts and sent a tough message to Tehran the day after Hassan Rouhani won a second term as Iran’s president.

The U.S. president did not use his signature term “radical Islamic terrorism” in the speech, a signal that he heeded advice to employ a more moderate tone in the region after using the phrase repeatedly as a presidential candidate.

“Terrorism has spread all across the world. But the path to peace begins right here, on this ancient soil, in this sacred land,” Trump told leaders from about 50 Muslim-majority countries representing more than a billion people.

“A better future is only possible if your nations drive out the terrorists and drive out the extremists. Drive them out! Drive them out of your places of worship, drive them out of your communities, drive them out of your holy land and drive them out of this earth.”

The president’s first speech abroad provided an opportunity to show his strength and resolve, in contrast to his struggle to contain a mushrooming scandal at home after his firing of former FBI Director James Comey nearly two weeks ago.

He portrayed the conflict as one between good and evil, not between civilizations, and made clear in a forceful tone that Washington would partner with the Middle East but expected more action in return.

“There is still much work to be done. That means honestly confronting the crisis of Islamic extremism, and the Islamists, and Islamic terror of all kinds,” he said in his speech.

The advance excerpts of the speech had him saying “Islamist extremism.” A White House official blamed Trump’s fatigue for the switch. “Just an exhausted guy,” she told reporters.

The term “Islamist extremism” refers to Islamism as a political movement rather than Islam as a religion, a distinction that the Republican president had frequently criticized the administration of his Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama, for making.

As a candidate, Trump proposed temporarily banning Muslims from entering the United States. In office, he ordered temporary bans on people from several Muslim-majority countries, which have been blocked by courts that ruled they were discriminatory.

The speech in a gilded hall bedecked with chandeliers is part of an effort to redefine his relationship with the Muslim world. Trump’s “America first” philosophy helped him win the 2016 election and has rattled allies who depend on U.S. support for their defence.

Trump received a warm welcome from Arab leaders, who set aside his campaign rhetoric and focussed on his desire to crack down on Iran’s influence in the region, a commitment they found wanting in Obama.

“For decades, Iran has fuelled the fires of sectarian conflict and terror,” Trump said. “It is a government that speaks openly of mass murder, vowing the destruction of Israel, death to America, and ruin for many leaders and nations in this very room.”

Trump did not make overt mentions of human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia or the other Gulf nations in his speech. White House officials has said he did not want to lecture, something they believe Obama did, unsuccessfully.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif fired back at Trump in a tweet that Trump had attacked Iran in “that bastion of democracy & moderation” of Saudi Arabia and suggested he had “milked” his hosts for hundreds of billions of dollars in business deals.

JOINT FIGHT, ROYAL WELCOME

Introducing Trump, Saudi King Salman described their mutual foe Iran as the source of terrorism they must confront together.

“Our responsibility before God and our people and the whole world is to stand united to fight the forces of evil and extremism wherever they are … The Iranian regime represents the tip of the spear of global terrorism,” the king said.

Iran is a Shi’ite Muslim country. The groups the United States has been fighting in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on Washington and New York are mostly Sunni Muslims, and enemies of Iran. Iranian-backed militia are also fighting Islamic State militants in Iraq.

The United States and Gulf Arab countries announced an agreement to coordinate efforts against the financing of terrorist groups.

Trump’s welcome in the region was put on display during a series of individual meetings with Arab leaders.

He praised Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, telling him: “You have done a tremendous job under trying circumstances.” The Obama administration had a difficult relationship with Sisi, who came to power after leading a military coup in 2013 during which hundreds of demonstrators were killed, and has since jailed thousands of opponents.

Trump promised to schedule a trip to Egypt soon, and he singled out the Egyptian’s choice of footwear, a pair of shiny black shoes. “Love your shoes. Boy, those shoes,” he said.

To Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, Trump declared that the two nations had a lot in common and “there won’t be strain with this administration.”

The king lauded the relationship and said it had led to “great stability in the region and prosperity.” Bahrain is home to the U.S. fleet in the Middle East. Its Sunni Muslim royal family rules over a majority Shi’ite population and was occasionally rebuked by the Obama administration for harsh treatment of opponents.

Trump’s Riyadh visit kicked off his first presidential trip abroad, with Saudi Arabia the first stop on a nine-day journey through the Middle East and Europe.

Soon after Trump embarked on his trip on Friday, he was hit with more accusations that, with Comey’s firing on May 9, he was trying to squelch a federal investigation into his campaign’s ties with Russia last year.

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Categories: Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, Arab, Donald Trump, Islamic, Muslim, News, Saudi Arabia

Mob in India kills two Muslims over suspected cow theft

May 2, 2017 Article

A mob in India beat to death two Muslims who were accused of trying to steal cows for slaughter, police say, the latest incident in a surge of violence blamed on hard-line Hindu groups. Samantha Vadas reports.

A brutal attack in India’s northeastern state of Assam.

A mob of 20 people beating two young Muslims to death with sticks after they were accused of plotting to steal cows for slaughter.

It’s the latest incident in a wave of violence being pinned on the country’s hard-line Hindus.

The religious group regard cows as sacred and many are demanding a ban on butchering them.

Those calls growing even louder over the past 3 years since Prime Minister Narendra Modi came into power.

Most Indian states have banned the slaughtering of cows, though the trade still operates unofficially in northern Uttar Pradesh where hard-line Hindu leader Yogi Adit-yanat has been leading a crackdown, which last month saw 45 thousand small meat shops shutdown in less than 24 hours – in some cases, through the use of violence.

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Categories: Assam, cows, Hardline Hindu groups, Hindu leader Yogi Adit-yanat, India, killing, News

Saudi Arabia’s Death Sentence on Ahmad Al-Shabri is State Sponsored Murder

April 27, 2017 Article

Have you ever heard of the country that the United Kingdom is friendly with and where we overlook their human rights record?

Or have you heard about the country that sentences a man to death for blasphemy? No, we have not been watching the ‘Life of Brian’ recently and this is very real.

Saudi Arabia has rejected appeals by the lawyers of Saudi national, Ahmad Al Shamri, who was initially arrested on charges of atheism and blasphemy, before he was convicted by a local court and sentenced to death in Febraury 2015.

The defence of Mr Al Shamri relied on an insanity plea and they advocated that he was on drugs and alcohol at the time of the postings. Nevertheless, Saudi Arabia is on the verge of executing a man who abused religion and faith. His crime – blasphemy!

Saudi’s Make a Laughing Stock of Faith

This case again highlights how detached the State of Saudi Arabia has become from the rest of the world and from the fact that Islam has always talked about moderation, even with those who don’t believe. This means that life is sacrosanct in Islam and whether people question or leave Islam, their lives and the protection of their lives are still within the responsibility of the State and which Islam protects. The interpretation of Islam by the Wahabbi led Government is precisely the problem that has tainted Islam whose founding principles were based on co-existence and debate and negotiation and not on murdering people as the Saudi state now sees fit to undertake.

If Saudi murders this man, and that is what it will be, just remember this. Our country, the United Kingdom, will be round there touting for business – or – we can make clear that we don’t do business with murderers who are so scared of people challenging faith, that they need to murder them. We say, Islam is strong enough and with enough of a history of debate and dissent, meaning that those who leave and question it should be engaged with, rather than murdered. If we cannot value human life – every human life – than what is the point of faith?

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Categories: Ahmad Al Shamri, Blasphemy, killing, Opinions, Saudi Arabia