After posting a caricature of Prophet Muhammad and Prophet Isa (peace be upon them) on Twitter last week, I can confidently say that the heat is now on Maajid Nawaz, writes Dilly Hussain.
It was only a matter of time before the founder of the despised (among mainstream Muslims) Quilliam Foundation was going to pull a stunt like this to gain brownie points among his secular liberal fan base.
But this time he has taken his bitter and revolting views too far and angered Muslims on an unprecedented scale, at the same time risking his position as Prospective Parliamentary Candidate (PPC) for the Liberal Democrats.
At the time of writing this article, the petition calling for the removal of Nawaz as PPC for Hampstead and Kilburn had exceeded well over 13,000 in 48 hours, whilst a counter petition led by Chris Moos of London School of Economics (LSE) just about reached 3000.
Playing the victim and liberal martyr
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When Mohammed Shafiq of Ramadhan Foundation tweeted that Nawaz had committed “Gustak-e-Rasool” (blasphemy against Prophet Muhammad), he threw his toys out of the pram and capitalised on this, seeking sympathy from his band of muscular liberal cheerleaders and claiming that he was now the victim of “death threats”.
As one Muslim said on Facebook: “Saudi Arabia and most Salafis are accused of ‘Gustak-e-Rasool’ on social media, but they seem to be alive and well.”
To add to his sob story, anti-Muslim monitoring charity, Tell Mama (government funded) issued a statement that two death threats had been made to Nawaz from Pakistan in response to his tweet…what relevance does that exactly have on the response of British Muslims?
Furthermore, a ridiculous article published in the Huffington Post jumped on the bandwagon in defence of Nawaz.
https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/01/20/maajid-nawaz-cartoon_n_4631609.html
Pressure
Ironically, there has been a change in tone from Nawaz regarding his shenanigans on social media. Initially he was f***ing and blinding at some who questioned his reasons for posting the “Jesus and Mo” caricature. But in the last two days he has been calling upon Muslims for “calm” – “No one’s interests to blow this out of proportion. Will not further integration efforts of my fellow Muslims in UK. May we calm down please?”
All of a sudden, Sheikh Maajid is now tweeting Qur’anic ayats trying to justify his action and asking Muslims to give him the benefit of doubt. This particular tweet had me in stitches, where one of Nawaz’s cultish followers was annoyed when he tweeted a verse from the Qur’an.
Deputy PM, Nick Clegg said yesterday regarding Lord Rennard’s sexual harassment claims that there would be: “No apology, no whip”. However, no official statement has been made by the party regarding Nawaz’s antics or a demand for an apology to keep his position as PPC.
Rumours are circulating on social media that Nawaz asked the Lib Dems to make a statement in his support, which they refused. 5Pillarz contacted the Lib Dem head office to confirm this but they declined to comment on the matter.
Mohammed Shafiq stated on Facebook yesterday: “There have been significant discussions with the Liberal Democrats today about Maajid Nawaz. I won’t be able to go into details.”
Many are also questioning that if Nawaz is removed as the PPC for Hampstead and Kilburn; will this be an opportunity for the Lib Dems to gain political mileage and secure Muslim votes for 2015?
What next?
Even after signing the petition, I was wondering to myself what happens next if the petition does reach or exceed 100,000? Nawaz is removed as Lib Dem PPC or even better kicked out of the party?
I assure you, whatever comes of this, Nawaz and Quilliam will still get significant airtime on the mainstream media. The nationals and other media giants will still give him a platform to spread his vile canards and anti-Muslim rhetoric from behind the façade of “progressive and moderate Islam”.
Some have argued that giving Nawaz this much publicity is counter-productive, and could end up being a case of “any publicity is good publicity”. Others have stated that whilst petitions are a practical and proactive method to counter and mount pressure on the government (in this case the Lib Dems), very rarely has it changed policy or “Muslim related” cases, a prime example being the petition against the extradition of Babar Ahmed and Talha Ahsan to the US.
But the overwhelming majority of Muslims have supported the petition out of genuine disgust and offence over the dishonouring of Allah’s (swt) prophets, and remained relatively calm in their responses on social media among Nawaz’s cyber entourages. The likes of the National Secular Society, Council of Ex-Muslims and British Muslims for Secular Democracy, are just waiting to pounce on emotional reactions by Muslims to rally their cause of nifaq.
If there is one piece of advice I can offer my fellow Muslims, it is that Maajid Nawaz and the Quilliam Foundation, in the grand scheme of things, are small fish who are being propped up and supported by bigger fish; many of whom are the same people we turn to in protest and ask for assistance in making changes on our behalf.
You can sign the petition to remove Maajid Nawaz as PPC for Hampstead and Kilburn by clicking on the link below.
https://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/nick-clegg-remove-maajid-nawaz-as-ppc-for-hampstead-kilburn
@DillyHussain88
