{"id":8165,"date":"2015-01-20T10:46:21","date_gmt":"2015-01-20T10:46:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tat.reddaisytrading.co.uk\/index.php\/2015\/01\/20\/muslims-need-to-do-more-to-tackle-extremism\/"},"modified":"2016-01-07T15:02:13","modified_gmt":"2016-01-07T15:02:13","slug":"muslims-need-to-do-more-to-tackle-extremism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/2015\/01\/20\/muslims-need-to-do-more-to-tackle-extremism\/","title":{"rendered":"Muslims Need to do more to “Tackle Extremism”"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Prime Minister Backs Letter Sent to Islamic Leaders <\/h3>\n

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\nA letter written by Communities Secretary Eric Pickles to around 1000 Islamic leaders has courted controversy, the letter outlines how leading Islamic figures must integrate Islam into British identity and help battle extremism. <\/p>\n


\nAn extract reads, \u201cYou, as faith leaders, are in a unique position in our society. You have a precious opportunity, and an important responsibility, in explaining and demonstrating how faith in Islam can be part of British identity.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nAlthough Mr Pickles stressed he was \u201cproud\u201d of the way British Muslims had responded to the Paris terror attacks, he added there was \u201cmore work to do\u201d.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cWe believe together we have an opportunity to demonstrate the true nature of British Islam today. There is a need to lay out more clearly than ever before what being a British Muslim means today: proud of your faith and proud of your country. We know that acts of extremism are not representative of Islam, but we need to show what is.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nThe Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) have criticised parts of the letter such as the \u201cimplication that extremism takes place at mosques\u201d. <\/p>\n


\nDavid Cameron however has defended the message stating it was \u201creasonable, sensible and moderate\u201d and that it was \u201cabsolutely right\u201d to write this letter urging Islamic leaders to help fight extremism. Cameron added, \u201cAnyone who reads this letter – and I’ve read the letter – will see that what he is saying is that British Muslims make a great contribution to our country, that what is happening in terms of extremist terror has nothing to do with the true religion of Islam.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\u201cIt’s being perverted by a minority who have been radicalised.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nMCB general secretary, Shuja Shafi, said Mr Pickles\u2019 letter \u201ccould have been worded differently.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nIn reply to the letter he wrote, \u201cWe take the point that your letter was written in good faith, and we agree with your assertion that British values are indeed Islamic values.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cHowever, we do take issue with the implication that extremism takes place at mosques, and that Muslims have not done enough to challenge the terrorism that took place in our name.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cThis is why we responded to the media, and an assertion in some quarters, that you were somehow endorsing the idea that Muslims and Islam are inherently apart from British society. We reject such notions.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cWe also reject suggestions that Muslims must go out of their way to prove their loyalty to this country of ours.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nHe said the MCB was working to, \u201cbring communities together and defy extremists of all kinds\u2026not out of apology, but because it was the right thing to do.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nChief Executive of the Ramadhan Foundation, Mohammed Shafiq, echoed this statement saying he was \u201cdismayed by the letter\u201d and criticised the government only looking at Muslims through the lens of terrorism and security. He argues that Muslim organisations are already fighting against extremism and promoting British values, a \u201cpatronising\u201d letter was not needed. <\/p>\n


\nSome were not so damning such as Haras Rafiq, of the Quilliam Foundation think tank, who said he was disappointed by the negative reaction of some Muslims.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cWhether we like it or not, there are some mosques, some imams who are preaching hate,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n


\nOther faith leaders offered their views such as the leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, Cardinal Vincent Nicholls who said the letter should have outlined, \u201chow Muslims can contribute to our values, not just have asked how Islam can be part of British identity.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nFormer Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks said the letter was \u201cwell-intentioned” but he understood the frustrations of Muslim leaders. <\/p>\n

\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Prime Minister Backs Letter Sent to Islamic Leaders A letter written by Communities Secretary Eric Pickles to around 1000 Islamic leaders has courted controversy, the letter outlines how leading Islamic figures must integrate Islam into British identity and help battle extremism. An extract reads, \u201cYou, as faith leaders, are in a unique position […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11753,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8165"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8165\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}