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Response of British Muslims for Secular Democracy (bmsd) to Tony Blair's Speech at the Conference in Lonndon : "Islam & Muslims in the World Today"

05/06/2007

British Muslims for Secular Democracy (bmsd) welcomes the speech by Tony Blair made today at the conference titled Islam and Muslims in the world today in which he has identified the need for moderate Muslims from across the world to reclaim from hard-line and extremist Muslim groups the true essence of Islamic belief and practice.

bmsd believes that the Prime Minister has reiterated once again the view that majority of ordinary law-abiding authentic Muslim groups including bmsd have been rallying in favour of, i.e. for moderate Muslims to become organised in the face of highly vocal and motivated radical Islamic groups who have hijacked the religion Islam and presented its teachings in such a manner that not only does it justify violence and criminal activities, but creates hatred and division between Muslims themselves and members of the British communities belonging to other faiths.

bmsd is strongly in favour of having British trained Imams and preachers serving in British Mosques and Islamic institutions. bmsd also advocates for registration and effective screening by the relevant authorities of any foreign preachers or Imams who are allowed to enter the country to preach to the old and young alike. bmsd feels that at present, in the absence of such individuals undergoing thorough checks and vetting, British Muslim youth are being put to great risk of getting radicalised and exposed to segregationist views that instil a sense of alienation from the rest of the society, all of which is based on deliberate misinterpretation of Islamic teachings.

bmsd would also like the government to introduce a comprehensive programme comprising of registration and reform of all Islamic Madrassas and all religious schools in the UK and stern action against those organisation and educational institutions, which oppose such measures. The adoption of such steps is crucial in safeguarding our future generations from getting exposed to inflexible and orthodox interpretation of Islamic teachings and would ensure the provision of governed religious teachings, which would encourage better inclusion into civic society and political participation.

Furthermore any organisation opposed to such measures would not have the best interest of the future of British Muslim youth as their primary objective and hence need to be identified and isolated as such.

Dr Shaaz Mahboob of bmsd said progressive Muslims who are in majority and are willing to embrace change whilst following a political course as means to presenting their outlook and views need to organise themselves and unite in order to defeat those minority Islamic groups which continue to pursue the path of hard-line teachings and violent extremism as means to create divisions between members of the British society.