Muslim moderates fan the fire of extremism in UK

Caught between a rock and a hard place – the majority of law abiding Muslims in the UK are now finding it harder to stay out of the growing fight thanks to the unthinking opportunism of so called ‘moderate community leaders’.

Over the last year or so Muslims in the UK have been subjected to more soul searching than they would wish or had hoped for. Most Muslims in the UK are totally law abiding and just want to get on with everyday living.

But, since 7th July last year when a handful of British Muslim extremist took it upon themselves to blow up innocent fellow citizens (of all backgrounds and creeds) in London, the Muslims in the UK have been dragged into the limelight in a way that most would rather hadn’t happened.

Two factors have raised the stakes to the point where relations between ordinary Muslims and the greater community they live in may soon reach a turning point. First, has been a series of ill-fated raids by the police on Muslims with potentially extreme views, that have largely resulted in a series of intelligence failures – that is failure to carry through to conviction by the police – thus creating a sense of alienation and persecution amongst the community.

Secondly, members of the Muslim community themselves, the so called ‘community representatives’ have staged a series of poorly judged attempts to put their views across that have resulted in, effectively supporting the political blackmail extorted by the would be terrorists themselves.

An open letter, signed by three Muslim MPs, three peers and 38 community groups, said the UK’s stance on the Middle East has put civilians at risk.

UK government minister Kim Howells responded to the letter with the following comments ‘I think it is very, very dangerous when people who call themselves community leaders make some assumption that somehow that there’s a rational connection between these two things.’

The problem with the letter is that, in effect it suggests that the terrorists are justified in their actions because the government does not represent them – as it won’t withdraw from Iraq and Afghanistan. At the same time it ignored the fact that the conflicts in both these two places are mainly Muslim on Muslim – be that Saddam murdering millions or the murderous Shia/Sunni conflict going on at the moment.

However, the main concern is that the letter has effectively put any normal moderate Muslims into a ‘no win’ situation With the UK represented by the process of democracy, that is voting, not blowing people up when they disagree with policy – where can moderate Muslims turn to if there ‘leaders’ are also seen to justify non democratic processes to get their way.

There is a grave danger that the issue will not go away, and if not handled properly by the UK government, will lead to greater problems and friction in years to come. France has been suffering from a similar problem for many years now – perhaps the so called ‘moderate Muslim leaders’ should take heed that their outcry will cause more, not less tension over the coming months and years. A British Mr Le Pen may be waiting in the wings.