Interfaithers tell us we shouldn't say it's Islam

Reactions to recent security alerts have been varied among British communities. Tensions are running high on all sides and we need to keep our minds focused on the critical issues. Issues for which panic is the worst possible reaction. Judging the alleged plotters before the due process of law is given a chance may only compound the problem. Their names and other personal information should not have been released. There is a huge sense of relief amongst all Britons, including Muslims, that the alleged plot was foiled. If such a plot had succeeded it would have been the one of most difficult tests that we as a nation would have faced. It is deeply distressing and doubly painful for us, as Muslims [,] to learn of allegations that some of our youth may be prepared to commit mass murder. While some members of the government and sections of the media are increasingly framing this as a problem pertaining exclusively to the radicalisation of our Muslim youth, there is [a] growing sense of despair and anguish among Muslim leaders over the lack of recognition for their unreserved condemnation of these (alleged) senseless acts of violence and the persistent belittling of their tireless efforts to guide the Muslim youth away from such paths of death and destruction. Let there be no doubt, despite the Prime Minister’s denial, that recruiters for violent extremists exploit the carnage of the Middle East and the suffering of the innocent in Muslim countries.

Read it all here: Blaming Islam for the rise in extremism is counter-productive says Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra, Chairman of the Interfaith Relations Committee of the Muslim Council of Britain

Mark Alexander