Shaikh Abdullah William Quilliam (RA) [1856-1932] was the first [& only] Shaikh-ul-Islam of the British Isles, duly appointed as such by the last true Uthmani Khalifa, Sultan Abdul Hameed II.

c.f. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Quilliam


He was an early pioneer for rooting Islam in the UK &, masha allah, over 150 English intellectuals responded to his Dawah for orthodox Islam, in its pristine purity.

He also published a weekly newsletter, The Crescent, for over 15 years, & patiently endured criticism & opprobrium throughout for his passionate support of the Uthmanis who the British were pitted against militarily - by, notably, consistently advocating the quintessential compatibility of Islam for the British public!

That today we witness so-called former extremists now peddling surmise & conjecture for government money, claiming to foster improved community relations using his good name - turns my stomach!

It spells out for me how we are now closer to Qiyaamah & further from the Golden Era of our Prophet (saw).

Surely the Shaikh, this Forgotten Champion of Islam, will now be turning in his grave at these despicable actions by sell-outs hoping to make a quick killing at his & their more gullible brethren's expense!

I think the QF should more aptly rename itself SOF : Sell-Out Foundation!

Ed was challenged about the research methodology for this report, being asked why so few mosques responded to their questions. His response? Because they could not get hold of them or could not speak to them.

More like they refused to speak to QF because they knew they would not be independent:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_7907000/7907251.stm

[this is a copy of a very interesting email I received today from someone who knew Ed and Maajid at university]

Salaams All!

I would like to make a few comments about the recent rise of the Quilliam Foundation and I must be honest and say that I have been motivated to do so through a combination of frustration and disappointment.

I think it is time that the message be proclaimed loud and clear that the opposition to violent radical 'Islamic' extremism did not begin with Ed Hussain and his book nor with Majid Nawaz's moment of enlightenment in a Cairo prison! Ed Hussain, Majid Nawaz and I have parallel histories within British Islamic activism, you see. Back in the early 1990s, when I was a 'new' Muslim, I was subjected to intense and repeated attempts by Hizb ut Tahrir to recruit me to their movement. I was not alone is receiving such attention, but I was apparently considered to be a 'good catch' as I was relatively eloquent in the English language and white, too! However, I and all my friends saw their shallow, isolationist and intellectually-naive message for what it was and rejected it totally. And practically everyone I have ever met within Islamic circles have rejected the HT call, too. Despite repeated references to Hizb ut Tahrir by the media and the government over the years, they have never been any more than a tiny, extremist entity on the very edge of the British Muslim community, the majority of whom have either ignored HT or treated them with scorn.

Now, while we were using our faculties of intellect and conscience, along with our knowledge of the essence of Islam and the sunnah of the Prophet (saw) to reject HT, Ed Hussain and Majid Nawaz were swallowing it hook , line and sinker! They demonstrated naivete and poor judgement and sustained this position for several years. But now they have apparently 'seen the light' and have fundementally shifted their position - or so one might think! But I will argue that they are essentially the same as they always were.

What characterised Ed Hussain, Majid Nawaz and the rest of the HT 'leadership' in those days was a total disregard for the opinions of the majority of British Muslims. They were happy to plough a lone furrow - studying alone, socialising alone and proud of their position in the Islamic wilderness. They had absolute conviction that they, and only they, were correct in their understanding of Islam and in their analysis of the contemporary Muslim world. They were right; everyone else was wrong!

So, now let us shift forward in time to 2009 and what do we find? We find Ed Hussain and Majid Nawaz still occupying a position on the very fringe of British Islam, unable to carry the majority of ordinary, decent, moderate British Muslims with them and still self-righteously proud of their place apart. Once again, they are right and everyone else is wrong, but this time they have the support of powerful friends within government and the media. This application of 'maleesh', as we might say in Bengali, or 'ego-massaging' in English, by the high and mighty seems to be encoraging our Quilliam brothers to go ever further in their attacks on ordinary Muslims, as evidenced by their recent contributions to the CONTEST 2 agenda and the report on British mosques.

My argument is that it is not so much the content of Quilliam's work that is so offensive to us, but the very character and personality of its leaders, who have demonstrated over the past fifteen years, in both of their guises, that their modus operandi is to dwell on the periphery of our community and attack and criticise their fellow British Muslims, rather than engage in constructive dialogue, accepting the need for patience and compromise. These individuals simply lack the skills, human and strategic, to produce anything good from their work. For sure, they will keep their paymasters happy, along with their rag tag band of neo-con supporters who would like everyone to believe that we are all intolerant, misogynistic zealots. But what postive transformation can they hope to bring about in our communities through a poisonous concoction of lies, exaggerations and insults?

At the beginning of this post I wrote that I was motivated to write through a mixture of frustration and disappointment. I am frustrated that throughout my sixteen years as a Muslim, many many committed brothers and sisters have struggled without any real funding to run activities, events and institutions that are the height of Islamic moderation and good sense, only to see our Quilliam brothers receiving vast governmental grants and paying themselves eye-watering salaries to undermine our work. We were combatting radical extremism when Ed Hussain and Majid Nawaz were the radical extremists; now they are preaching to us!

And I am disappointed that we, the vast majority of decent, moderate, hard-working, sensible, committed Muslims, have been unable to convince our government that they are badly misguided in throwing in their lot with these people. I am disappoited that Quilliam are being allowed to portray themselves as the only answer to radical extremism, when for most of their lives they have been the problem rather than the solution. We could and should do more. I open this next stage of the discussion to the group for suggstions and comments.

I apologise for the length of this post!!

Best wishes

Your brother in Islam

Geraint Evans

Well said, brother - jazakallah for that insight!

If 'those two & crew' have a viewpoint, I guess, they are free to express it AS INDIVIDUALS -

but they categorically do not deserve such an elevated platform, because, in essence, its obtained under false pretences, [as they represent no-one but themselves] & nor should they be allowed to misappropriate such a great, saintly & pioneering Muslim's name & legacy in this way!

Brother & Sisters, having tolerated these Munafiqs long enough, a few sincere community members have come together to write a comprehensive expose on this nest of treacherous hypocrites, and to circulate this to all major Muslim institutions throughout the country, in the various community languages.

We have approximated that this will cost approximately £2500 and the translations about £800. This a noble endevour for the preservation and protection of our Deen, would anybody be interested in arranging campaign fund to collect donations?

'Of course, the truth of the matter is that the mosques that are the most advanced in ensuring that English lectures are provided and that youth and women in particular are allowed the proper space and facilities to get involved in the running of mosques are actually administered by the very organisations that Ed and his Quilliam Foundation have been so loudly vilifying as 'Islamists'!'

Alhamdulilah, my local for Jummah is an example, www.wliconline.org over 25 years of devoted and unfeigned community service, yet these imbeciles would probably label them with such scorn. These people are causing alot of harm to community relations...

Re : Bro Muhammad's comment; 2009-02-26 20:44

I agree that a misleading narrative trajectory is unhelpful.

Reinforcing this via a false narrative consensus, by govt-funded, self-styled experts-cum-poodles is distinctly diabolical.

Tho I'm unsure about a campaign fund, I DO know some excellent professional Translators....... perhaps, you'll leave some info/draft scripts for me, courtesy of this site administrator?

BELOW IS A COPY OF AN EMAIL I RECEIVED TODAY:
[clearly this topic will run & run]

'Ed and Majid are only saying what there masters want them to say and building their arguments to justify their funding for next year!!!

I'm a professional mother and send my children to the Masjids on a daily basis not just to learn Quran, but for extra maths and english...in addition they attend another Masjid whereby they are part of the youth group...learning to play snooker, and air hockey...

Why do I send them to the Musjid?...because its a safe environment..they wont learn to swear, what the latest fashion craze is, or who kissed who or whatever rubbish is in the mainstream playgrounds...but rather they are being taught skills, morals and feel a sense of belonging!!!

For your information Ed and Majid...my children are taught by professionals and, guess what, I dont really care if the teachers can't speak English...because - you know what - my children have picked up French and Urdu....so my dear imams/teachers...THANK YOU!'

I attended Hizb Tahrir events during the 90s when I was studying in the UK.

I found their understanding of politics accurate and reflected the sharia position accurately in advocating the Caliphate system for the Muslim world - whilst unfortunately those who criticised them were being led by secular or socialist values and ideas.

It was sad to see many sincere muslims taken in by trying to become British Muslims and campaigning for ever more rights and opportunities whilst ignoring the rest of their brothers and sisters who languish in poverty their children have not even a fraction of the opportunities they have in life...

It is even sadder to see Muslims have not learnt from history of how the British have tyrannised the poor around the world for over a century... and are continue collaborating with them by taking their funds and dancing to their tune...