I wasn’t surprised to see the usual suspects given air time by the BBC as “prominent” Muslim figures on yesterday’s “Tommy met Mo” documentary, writes Dilly Hussain.
After the Woolwich attack, I tweeted Mohammed Ansar asking him what was being discussed with Tommy Robinson after photos were published of them hugging each other. He responded: “I’m afraid I can’t without compromising some things, which I cannot compromise. I would if I could, so to speak.”
(https://5pillarsuk.com/2013/05/29/mo-ansar-explains-tommy-robinson-hug/)
Initially, I was suspicious of this “compromise”, but he did inform me that a documentary was being made. So when I had the displeasure (once again) of seeing another textbook covert BBC attack on Islam, this time with Ansar taking on more than he could handle, I was quite frankly disgusted but unsurprised.
Mo Ansar
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I vaguely knew of Ansar prior to Woolwich, but it was only after May’s incident that he came to my attention. I have always been suspicious of any Muslim figure/organisation the government or BBC give a platform to.
In the case of Ansar, yesterday’s documentary showed how out-of-depth he was in tackling the issues forwarded to him not only by Robinson and the EDL, but “Sheikh” Maajid Nawaz as well.
He was posed numerous questions about grooming, homosexuality, capital punishment, the Qur’an and the niqab, and on all those topics I felt he did not give sufficient answers to – many were compromised responses lacking evidences.
Compromise and appeasement are two actions that I continue to warn Muslims about. On some matters you have to compromise to reach a practical solution, but I don’t think the Islamic stance on homosexuality, the hudud (punishment system), the reinterpretation of holy scripture or women’s attire (hijab/burqa/niqab) are included in that, especially to appease the likes of the EDL and the Quilliam Foundation.
Ansar’s inability to answer the questions forwarded to him frustrated me for two reasons: did he refrain from stating the orthodox position on those matters so he didn’t get labelled as an “extremist”, or was it genuinely a case of too much to handle? It was certainly not out of fear of being labelled as he clearly said on Twitter: “I have utterly condemned cutting of hands, ancient punishments and implementation of Shariah”.
Personally I believe his performance was a cocktail of theological ignorance and publicity-seeking as a “tolerant moderate figure” – how could anyone not think that it was a matter of seeking publicity after Ansar sulked for not being allowed into the press conference on the day of Robinson’s public defection?
Tommy Robinson
Yesterday the BBC also paved the way for Robinson’s transition into the mainstream – the Islamophobic bigot who was willing to hear out moderates in their mission to reconcile and create a “British Islam”…whatever that means.
Whilst Robinson was on his best behaviour in the mosque and commended MCB’s Ibrahim Mogra as a “respectable moderate” who many Muslims apparently regard as an “infidel”, the same underlying abhorrence of Islam remained, the same revulsion that Downing Street have with Islam – the niqab, reinterpretation of the Qur’an, homosexuality and so forth.
So when the BBC portrayed Robinson as the “all ears good guy” and Quilliam as his saviour from the pits of extremism, a rational thinking human being could only come to the conclusion that all this was in the making for a while.
As one Facebook friend posted on my wall – “Tommy will end up as a Conservative candidate for Luton, the handpicked Muslims are opportunists and publicity seekers.”
Sheikh Maajid Nawaz and Usama Hasan
Last but not least, the knights of Quilliam were on Oscar winning form last night. Usama Hasan openly insinuating that there is a need to reinterpret the Qur’an to fit into British society whilst his sister Khola Hasan became furious over such a suggestion made by Robinson – ironic considering her recent appearance on Channel 4’s niqab debate as Douglas Murray’s and Yasmin Alibhai-Brown’s wing-lady.
Then of course, you had Mufti Maajid Nawaz making Ansar look like a clueless airhead when he posed the question about the amputation of a thief under a legitimate Islamic state when all the Shariah conditions were met – obviously Mufti Maajid was adamant that Allah’s (swt) hukm (ruling) did not apply…that my dear readers is Quilliam in a nutshell!
For the last couple of years, the Quilliam Foundation have been quiet and out of the picture as government funding dried up, whilst the “Quilliam meme” Facebook page has been going strong as ever…the government should actually consider funding that page if they are serious about winning the hearts and minds of Muslims!
Jokes aside, Muslims in the UK remain disunited on many things, even Eid, but one thing Muslims will always unite upon whether you are Sufi, Salafi, Ikhwani, Hizbi, Tablighi, Sunni or Shia is against the Quilliam Foundation – Alhamdulillah to that!
To conclude, don’t be surprised if Robinson is given more airtime during primetime hours and the knights of Quilliam are officially back in the scene, and mark my words, our much-trusted politicians in parliament had a strong whiff of this all along!
One last thing, was it just me or did it not occur to anyone else that every “prominent” Muslim figure that was allegedly threatened with death by Al-Shabaab appeared on yesterday’s pantomime (with the exception of Ajmal Masroor)?
Fishy…
@DillyHussain88
