UK Muslims Divided Over Syria Intervention

THE GUARDIAN: View from Britain's mosques, Islamic charities and political circles shows conflicting levels of distrust about western motives

British Muslims are in an anguished position over Syria, with profound distrust of western military intervention clashing with a desire to see the demise of President Assad, leaders of the 2.7m strong community said on Wednesday.

"I was in Oldham yesterday talking to a large crowd and people usually think, here we go again, another Muslim nation being attacked," said Lord Ahmed of Rotherham, one of the UK's most senior Muslim politicians. "But here they see it is right for Syria's chemical weapons and air strike capability to be dismantled. People know that there's a real problem and that 100,000 people have been killed. People can see millions of children being moved and being bombed. I have been talking to one charity working in Jordan and they have been dealing with women who have been raped and that is a very sensitive issue."

"On every occasion America has gone to war it has used the same argument that it will be selective," added Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari, chairman of the East London Mosque. "It doesn't wash with the Muslim community. By interfering in Syria it is going to antagonise Iran, Russia and China and open a Pandora's box that will take Syria into a darker age that will leave the Muslim world further divided." » | Robert Booth | Wednesday, August 28, 2013

The Naïveté of the Archbishop Knows No Bounds
Not only do the utterances of this Archbishop show his naïveté, but they also often show his stupidity! Does he really believe that people who are non-believers are inhuman? And if belief in God is a prerequisite of being human, why do Jihadists display such an unquenchable thirst for blood? How “human” is that? – ©Mark

Photo of Imam Williams courtesy of NewsBiscuit
MUSLIM NEWS: The Archbishop of Canterbury has praised Muslims for raising the profile of religion and ethical challenges in society. “I think Islam has made a very significant contribution to getting a debate about religion into public life,” Dr Rowan Williams said. “And I think it’s very right that we should have these debates and discussions between Muslims and Christians and others in public,” he said. 



The Archbishop was speaking in an exclusive interview with the Editor of The Muslim News, Ahmed J Versi. The interview focused largely on the general lack of ethical principles in today’s secular society, emphasising the need to re-discover the “sense of responsible [sic] to each other and for each other.”

“The idea that what’s good for me and what’s good for you belongs together. Both Muslims and Christians have a very strong sense of God’s will being done in community, when we really follow the needs of the community and work for one another on that in the will of God.” 



On the current economic crisis, Dr Williams said it was due to a number of factors and that he did not want to pin the blame on the bankers. “I would blame all of us for having repeatedly voted for governments since the 1980’s that have pushed for growth that doesn’t always deal with poverty,” he said. “If I want to narrow it down, one of the problems in the last round of crisis is that we have lost any sense of trust and relationship and transactions of financial speculators in recent years have gone so far away from any face to face relationships, any real calculation of whether somebody is credit worthy that they have become abstract. So that sense of personal responsibility to one another has been lost, and behind that is the sense of personal responsibility to God that has been lost.” 



Questioned on whether it was because of the kind of society we live in the sense that there is no faith in the public domain, the Archbishop said that at the heart of it, society had “lost the idea that it’s essential to human beings to have some relationship to God.” 



“We can’t really be human unless we have some sort of relationship with God. And in so much of our culture that’s just not there these days, so we do pay the price for it,” he said. Interview: Archbishop Welcomes Muslims Raising Profile of Religion in Society >>> | Friday, March 27, 2009

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”A Victory for the Muslim Community”
ASSOCIATED PRESS OF PAKISTAN: LONDON‑The British Parliament has cancelled the showing of a controversial film “Fitna” by the right‑win Dutch MP Geert Wilders following vociferous protest by the Muslim community.

The screening was to take place on January 29 at the House of Lords.

The decision to cancel the showing was taken on Friday when Lord Nazir Ahmed had a meeting with the Government Chief Whip of the House of Lords and Leader of the House of Lords, together with representatives from the Muslim Council of Britain, British Muslim Forum and other representatives from the British Muslim community. British Parliament Calls Off Screening of Controversial Film >>> APP | Friday, January 23, 2009

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Austrian President: No Need for Concerns about Muslim Community
UAE DAILY NEWS: Austrian President Heinz Fischer said he strongly believed Austria will always be home for multicultural, multi-faith and multi-ethnic co-existence and a model for tolerance, love and harmony among all citizens who follow Islam, Christianity and other faiths of the world.

"Austria will however remain a European country leading openness and dialogue among representatives of the three major faiths Islam, Christianity and Judaism and other cultures and ethnicities based on common aspects", remarked Fischer in a statement to WAM at a reception he held last night for the third year on the occasion of Eid el Fitr.

He said that the message he wanted to get across to Austrians and members of the Muslim community on the occasion is that the new Austrian cabinet will soon be formed and that he hopes it will be a national unity cabinet representing all parties and trends.

Austria, he added will always be prepared to continue dialogue and rapprochement among representatives of followers of faiths and cultures with a focus on commonalities and historical and close relationships and cooperation between Austria and Islamic world. Austrian President: No Need for Concerns about Muslim Community >>> Yusuf | October 2, 2008

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