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| Britain | |||
| Nearly half of UK mosques are controlled by Deobandis | |||
| 2007-09-07 | |||
Mr ul Haq, 36, was educated and trained at an Islamic seminary in Britain and is part of a new generation of British imams who share a similar radical agenda. He heaps scorn on any Muslims who say they are “proud to be British” and argues that friendship with a Jew or a Christian makes “a mockery of Allah’s religion”. Seventeen of Britain’s 26 Islamic seminaries are run by Deobandis and they produce 80 per cent of home-trained Muslim clerics. Many had their studies funded by local education authority grants. The sect, which has significant representation on the Muslim Council of Britain, is at its strongest in the towns and cities of the Midlands and northern England. Figures supplied to The Times by the Lancashire Council of Mosques reveal that 59 of the 75 mosques in five towns – Blackburn, Bolton, Preston, Oldham and Burnley – are Deobandi-run. It is not suggested that all British Muslims who worship at Deobandi mosques subscribe to the isolationist message preached by Mr ul Haq, and he himself suggests Muslims should only “shed blood” overseas. But while some Deobandi preachers have a more cohesive approach to interfaith relations, Islamic theologians say that such bridge-building efforts do not represent mainstream Deobandi thinking in Britain. The Times has gained access to numerous talks and sermons delivered in recent years by Mr ul Haq and other graduates of Britain’s most influential Deobandi seminary near Bury, Greater Manchester. Intended for a Muslim-only audience, they reveal a deep-rooted hatred of Western society, admiration for the Taleban and a passionate zeal for martyrdom “in the way of Allah”. The seminary outlaws art, television, music and chess, demands “entire concealment” for women and views football as “a cancer that has infected our youth”. Mahmood Chandia, a Bury graduate who is now a university lecturer, claims in one sermon that music is a way in which Jews spread “the Satanic web” to corrupt young Muslims. “Nearly every university in England has a department which is called the music department, and in others, where the Satanic influence is more, they call it the Royal College of Music,” he says. Another former Bury student, Bradford-based Sheikh Ahmed Ali, hails the 9/11 attacks on America because they acted as a wake-up call to young Muslims. This, he says, taught them that they will “never be accepted” in Britain and has led them to “return to Islam: sisters are wearing hijab . . . the lion is waking up”. Mr ul Haq, the most high-profile of the new generation of Deobandis, runs an Islamic academy in Leicester and is the former imam at the Birmingham Central Mosque. Revered by many young Muslims, he draws on his extensive knowledge of the Koran and the life and sayings of the prophet Muhammed to justify his hostility to the kuffar, or non-Muslims. One sermon warns believers to protect their faith by distancing themselves from the “evil influence” of their non-Muslim British neighbours. “We are in a very dangerous position here. We live amongst the kuffar, we work with them, we associate with them, we mix with them and we begin to pick up their habits.” In another talk, delivered a few weeks before 9/11, he praises Muslims who have gained martyrdom in battle and laments that today “no one dare utter the J word”. “The J word has become taboo . .. The J word is jihad in the way of Allah.” The Times has made repeated attempts to get Mr ul Haq to comment on the content of his sermons. However, he declined to respond. A commentator on religious radicalism in Pakistan, where Deobandis wield significant political influence, told The Times that “blind ignorance” on the part of the Government in Britain had allowed the Deobandis to become the dominant voice of Islam in Britain’s mosques. Khaled Ahmed said: “The UK has been ruined by the puritanism of the Deobandis. You’ve allowed the takeover of the mosques. You can’t run multiculturalism like that, because that’s a way of destroying yourself. In Britain, the Deobandi message has become even more extreme than it is in Pakistan. It’s mind-boggling.” In some mosques the sect has wrested control from followers of the more moderate majority, the Barelwi movement. A spokesman for the Department for Communities said: “We have a detailed strategy to ensure imams properly represent and connect with mainstream moderate opinion and promote shared values like tolerance and respect for the rule of law. We have never said the challenge from extremism is simply restricted to those coming from overseas.” | |||
| Posted by:Seafarious |
| #18 Seventeen of BritainÂ’s 26 Islamic seminaries are run by Deobandis and they produce 80 per cent of home-trained Muslim clerics. Many had their studies funded by local education authority grants. |
| Posted by: rhodesiafever 2007-09-07 18:16 |
| #17 The first Deoband seminary in India used the cover of British indulgence of Muslims in exchange for non opposition to colonialism, to revive the Madrasa movement. Jamaat-i-Islami and other jihadi groups are mere variations of the Deoband cult. |
| Posted by: McZoid 2007-09-07 15:24 |
| #16 England, we have a problem. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2007-09-07 15:19 |
| #15 The details of the takeover are scary. Unless, that is, one never thought of Islam as "A great religion hijacked by a bunch of extremists". |
| Posted by: gromgoru 2007-09-07 15:11 |
| #14 views football as “a cancer that has infected our youth”. After watching the Saints last night, he may have a point. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2007-09-07 15:05 |
| #13 Perhaps Besoeker is suggesting that British neo-pagans really return to their roots. Full moon sacrifices imprisoned in wicker baskets over a bonfire ... |
| Posted by: lotp 2007-09-07 14:59 |
| #12 Funny, innit, how easily the extremists take over mosques without a fuss? Almost as if those attending don't care, or even prefer extremists. End of story, RC. Hey, folks, Google the news for "muslims condemn new 9-11 plot" or "muslims condemn german plot" and see if you get even a single hit! Confronted with the gruesome prospect of their co-religionists attempting to make the 9-11 atrocities a "tradition", we get NOT ONE PEEP from the global Muslim community. Do they not make things clear enough for us? It is not suggested that all British Muslims who worship at Deobandi mosques subscribe to the isolationist message preached by Mr ul Haq, and he himself suggests Muslims should only “shed blood” overseas. In light of taqiyya, how does ul Haq's "overseas" exception have the slightest significance? Answer: it doesn't. This bastard means "shed blood everywhere" and he means it. End the farce now. Islam brings no value to this world. Stop pretending that there is anything worth preserving with respect to Islam. Stop imagining that peaceful reform or moderation will ever happen within Islam. Islam wants to kill us. Its lunges and feints are not pantomime, they are real. Yet, we continue to pretend that the two of us are playing at charades. One may as well play charades with a serial killer. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-09-07 14:24 |
| #11 Like it matters WHO controls the mosques? The problem is *ISLAM*. The problem has always been Islam. |
| Posted by: Crusader 2007-09-07 13:00 |
| #10 Behind its closed doors boys and young men aged from 12 to 23 study GCSE subjects alongside advanced Islamic studies. Check their test results. If their students aren't keeping up with the private religious schools of other sects, shut them down. After all, if they want a bad education they can get it for free at the tax-supported community schools. Not that I expect the British Dept. of Education to have the gumption to so much as inspect. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-09-07 13:00 |
| #9 “We are in a very dangerous position here. We live amongst the kuffar, we work with them, we associate with them, we mix with them and we begin to pick up their habits.” Working(full stop) and mixing with us infidels is not the norm for Muslims in the UK!!!! |
| Posted by: Paul 2007-09-07 12:15 |
| #8 An old employer of mine - mentor, really - told me on more than one occasion: "some people just need killin'." I think I understand what he meant. |
| Posted by: Mark Z 2007-09-07 12:15 |
| #7 Funny, innit, how easily the extremists take over mosques without a fuss? Almost as if those attending don't care, or even prefer extremists. Naw. Can't be. The majority of Muslims are moderate, right? Clearly they're not responsible for who runs their weekly prayers... |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2007-09-07 12:12 |
| #6 Besoeker, that's all well and good as long as you respect Christians, Jews, Hindus, etc. No need to respect the |
| Posted by: Abu Uluque6305 2007-09-07 12:10 |
| #5 Personally, this doesn't worry me, as the pros balance the cons. It's better to be dealing with an honest islamic clergy unfettered by savvy political smooh talkers (though the Beeb et al would still find them), and truly moderate and westernised members of the muslim community will be discouraged from practising their religion and mosque attendance outright when hate preachers predominate. The muslim community are to be presented with a stark choice... |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2007-09-07 12:08 |
| #4 Brothers UNITE! The Albion Conclave of Druids was first founded in 1992 and provides a highly respected distance learning course with students both here in the UK, America and Canada. The core aim of the Albion Conclave is to support spiritual maturity, commitment/dedication and fresh insight into Druidic practice as the tradition continues to evolve in the 21st century. The Albion Conclave also seeks to move Pagan spirituality forward from the original influence of the alternative counter culture scene that has championed the Pagan revival since the 1980's and start the important process of moving Druidry away from the fringe back into mainstream society. Exciting recent events see the mother grove of the Albion Conclave, the grove of Alban Eiler forming strong links with the Flag Fen Bronze Age village in Peterborough. The Albion Conclave holds workshops within this sacred ritual site which is best described as living archeology. The Albion Conclave also created the Mistletoe Foundation in 2003 to raise awareness and significance of mistletoe within Druidic spirituality. The blessing of the mistletoe harvest at Tenbry Wells in December has now become part of the Druid festival calendar. Contact: The Albion Conclave, 39 Dalby Road, Anstey, Leicestershire, LE7 7DL. Email : stefan.seniuk@ntlworld.com. The Conclave Academy internet group has been set up to support students of the Albion Conclave course only http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Conclave_Academy/ For a description of the course run by the Albion Conclave see our Distance Learning page. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2007-09-07 11:53 |
| #3 Stick a fork in Britian, they're done. |
| Posted by: wxjames 2007-09-07 11:42 |
| #2 Saudis part of the problem? How can this be? |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2007-09-07 11:33 |
| #1 I'll just note that the first Saudi seminary in England was installed roughly 18 months after the OPEC petrodollars started flowing into Arabia. |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2007-09-07 11:31 |