Secretary General of the MCB Muhammad Abdul Bari - Speech on Saturday 7/7/07 at the ICC, London
Thank you all for responding to MCB's invitation at such short notice. It is hardly necessary for me to explain why we have assembled you here today on the seventh day of the seventh month of the two thousand and seventh year. The date, seven/seven resonates in our collective conscience. Two years ago, on this day, our capital city, London, was subjected to an attack of unprecedented ferocity. That atrocity has changed the face of our society forever. Still reeling from the shock and ramifications of that evil action, last week we were subjected to a series of new acts of terror.
You have just heard the Qur'anic verses, recited by Sheikh Ahmad Dahduh. They make it absolutely clear that those who seek to deliberately kill or maim innocent people, are the enemies of us all. When they take such actions they fail to comprehend that innocent people, non- Muslims and Muslims alike, fall victims of their heinous actions. These misguided people fail to understand that nothing taints the noble image of our faith -- more than these barbarous acts of senseless terror. Let me say loud and clear:
* British Muslims are united, in unreservedly rejecting such acts of inhumanity.
* We are united in confronting those who engage in such activities.
* We are united in denouncing those who provide support for them.
* The safety and security of our society is NON -NEGOTIABLE
I take this opportunity to express our heartfelt gratitude to the men and women of the police and security services. They took gallant and timely steps to ensure our safety. I would also like to welcome the wind of change blowing into the political circles of our country. We particularly welcome the measured and responsible tone of our new government.
Brothers and sisters! The Qur'an leaves us in no doubt that, 'Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala will never change the affairs of a nation unless it changes itself'. Our task now, is to discuss the challenges we face and chalk out a plan of action to address them. We must not only think about our short-term action but what our long-term goals are. Let us today discuss what practical steps we can take to ensure the security of our nation and what action we can take to build a peaceful society. In the second half of the our discussion we need to look at the root-causes of terror and how we can address these followed by a Joint Declaration 'Together we will defeat terrorism'.
At the MCB we are aware that in not raising the issues of our government's foreign policy at this moment we may alienate ourselves from sections of the Muslim community. Many Muslims believe that addressing foreign policy issues, as part of the root causes of terrorism, must come hand in hand with an unequivocal condemnation of all terrorist acts. In response, I would like to reiterate that it would be wrong, to think that the MCB has abandoned its call for justice and fair play; for the alleviation of the suffering of humanity, both at home and abroad. As such, we will continue to make representations to our government. But I say this, when our house is on fire, we must not busy ourselves in apportioning blame, but try to extinguish the fire first.
It is no secret that this unequivocal condemnation of terrorism by the MCB will not on its own convince would be terrorists to lay down their arms. It is imperative that our government consider the long-term issues and does not shy away from discussing the root causes. By addressing the root causes, we will deprive terrorists of excuses and ammunition to gain recruits and radicalise our youth. More importantly, our common humanity demands that we take a proactive role in the campaign to achieve peace and justice for all, around the world.
I can report to you that as a responsible Muslim community umbrella organisation, in the last seven days, the MCB has undertaken a a range of initiatives that will make a powerful contribution towards facing these challenges together.
In the immediate aftermath, we issued a press statement and convened a press conference to express our strongest condemnation. We also contacted our affiliates and other Mosques, Imams and Community leaders to come forward to speak out. I am pleased to note that many Mosques up and down the country used yesterday's Jumuah Khutba or Friday sermon to reiterate that the killing of innocent human beings is unacceptable in Islam. I thank you for providing this pro-active leadership. We are also asking people to engage with all faith and non-faith communities to achieve more unity and understanding. We must remember that extremists and racists are keenly waiting to exploit such events to demonise and persecute our community.
For the long term, the MCB has been delivering a number of pro-active projects. The Footsteps Project introduces Muslim role models from all professions to secondary state schools with large Muslim student numbers. The objective is to inculcate hope and inspire young people to seek a professional and prosperous future. The Leadership Development Programme is designed to empower and build the capacity of a young Muslim leadership. The 'Mosque 100' project aims to provide capacity and know-how training to at least 100 Mosques this year. This programme also outlines the benefit of engaging young people more, in the affairs of Mosques and creating space for women. This will provide them with the opportunity to benefit from the authentic knowledge and scholarship of our Imams and leaders. Our young people must not be left to the mercy of fringe groups who give them a distorted view of Islam.
Towards the end I express my appreciation to the work and dedication of Muslim doctors and healthcare professionals in the NHS. We hope that the service they provide to the wider society is not tarnished by the reprehensible actions of a few.
Brothers and sisters, our objective is to transform threat and fear into peace and security. The Qur'an states,
'He changes their state, after the fear in which they lived,
to one of security and peace'. (An-Nur: 55)
In these challenging times we must understand that the aim of such acts of terror is to undermine the collective strength of our nation. It seeks to create division, distrust and disunity among us. We have decided we will not allow them to succeed in this evil design.
I conclude with our collective prayer for Britain
'Our Lord Make Britain a land of peace'.
"Parliament at Sunset" by Mgimelfarb - Own work. Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Parliament_at_Sunset.JPG#mediaviewer/File:Parliament_at_Sunset.JPG
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