The Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) has slammed an “outrageous” report by the right-wing Henry Jackson Society (HJS) which attacked a substantial portion of the Muslim charitable sector.
“Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing: How Islamist Extremists Exploit the UK Charitable Sector” argued that the British taxpayer has handed over more than £6 million to charities that are currently, or have been in the past, used by “extremists to further their radical agenda.”
But the MAB has called on the Charity Commission’s new Chair Baroness Stowell to ensure that “spiteful attacks by entities such as HJS do not succeed in undermining the tremendous and indispensable work carried out by Muslim charities across all sectors of society.”
The MAB said that the HJS, a charity itself which came under attack in Parliament for refusing to disclose its donors, seems to be entirely dedicated to churning out anti-Muslim material and political propaganda dressed as research.
In a statement it said: “That the HJS sees itself as a censor and regulator of Muslim institutions and behaviour in Britain is ludicrous enough, but when taking into account HJS’ own behaviour, this report becomes of pure comedic quality. However, when considering even the obnoxious title of the report: ‘Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing,’ which could be deemed deeply racist and plays on anti-Muslim tropes of plots and disloyalty, one appreciates that this is far from being a laughing matter.”
MAB President Anas Altikriti added: “It is absurd that an organisation of ill-repute such as the HJS could have the temerity to attack the Muslim charity sector in this manner, while itself unable to respond to accusations of lack of transparency and Islamophobia, if not clear-cut racism.
“This report underlines HJS and its mysterious backers’ absolute contempt for Muslims in Britain and its hatred for when they perform well, and is therefore, literally, not worth the many papers it is written on.”
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The HJS report said that figures from across the “Islamist spectrum” form a network which seeks to delegitimise and push out moderate voices while masquerading as representatives of “true” Islam.
The report made a number of recommendations, including:
– The Charity Commission must urgently exercise the powers given to it to direct the winding up of charities and the removal of inappropriate trustees.
– HM Revenue & Customs should work closely with the Commission to prevent the misuse of Gift Aid.
– Ofcom should be granted more powers – and use its current powers more effectively – to deal with channels providing a platform for extremist content, individuals or fundraising for extremist charities.
– Crowd-funding and event platforms such as Eventbrite, JustGiving and Virgin Giving should do more to prevent extremist charities from raising money and advertising events through their websites.
