The Chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE), ‘Sir’ Trevor Philips, has taken it upon himself to comment upon the wave of protests against the cartoons that were published in Denmark attempting to ridicule the Prophet Muhammad (SAW). Speaking on ITV1's Jonathan Dimbleby programme last weekend, ‘Sir Trevor’ has sought to make a series of controversial statements and provide what he thinks are some valuable guidance notes for the Muslim community in Britain.
We are confident in our view that his comments should and must be rubbished. Before considering the commentary, it should be patently clear from his title, that this man is nothing more than a mouthpiece of the British establishment. In Sir Trevor’s worldview, the sun has not set on the British Empire, and ‘natives’ from the colonies can still progress providing they show undying loyalty to their masters in Whitehall. Indeed Sir Trevor has a knighthood for his loyalty to ‘Queen and country.’ We remind Sir Trevor of the position adopted by the poet, writer and broadcaster Benjamin Zephaniah when he was listed in the 2003 honour’s list:
“Me? I thought, OBE me? Up yours, I thought. I get angry when I hear that word "empire"; it reminds me of slavery, it reminds of thousands of years of brutality, it reminds me of how my foremothers were raped and my forefathers brutalized.”
“There are many black writers who love OBEs; it makes them feel like they have made it. When it suits them, they embrace the struggle against the ruling class and the oppression they visit upon us, but then they join the oppressors' club. They are so easily seduced into the great house of Babylon known as the palace. For them, a wonderful time is meeting the Queen and bowing before her presence.”
Benjamin Zephaniah’s stance wouldn’t receive any respect from Sir Trevor as he has no principles or qualms which prevent him from conducting activities on behalf of his masters. Britain, in Sir Trevor’s eyes is the home of the free; land of the brave; a place where the history of slavery and imperialism was nothing more than a tiny blip on the path to civilization.
The Disciple of Blair
With regards to the substance in Sir Trevor’s remarks, we should state from the outset that they were neither original nor remarkable. In reality they were a rehash of the Home Secretary Charles Clarke’s comments at the Heritage Foundation in the United States last October. It is plausible that Sir Trevor’s current master Tony Blair has ordered him to make these comments since he is the Chairman of the CRE and they could be packaged and viewed in the media as helping to advance the cause of race relations. Given the context and careful wording though, his remarks are in part designed to further clarify the civic boundaries that Blair and his cohorts wish to impress upon Muslims residing in Britain. Sir Trevor stated:
“One point of Britishness is that people can say what they like about the way we should live, however absurd, however unpopular it is.”
“What some minorities have to accept is that there are certain central things we all agree about, which are about the way we treat each other. That we have an attachment to democracy, that we sort things out by voting not by violence and intimidation that we tolerate things that we don't like.”
"We have one set of laws. They are decided on by one group of people, members of Parliament, and that's the end of the story. Anybody who lives here has to accept that's the way we do it. If you want to have laws decided in another way, you have to live somewhere else."
Let us consider the implications of what is being advocated here. According to Sir Trevor, if Muslims wish to continue living in Britain they must adopt and accept the following:
Freedom of speech in its liberal context. Namely, this refers to the mocking, ridiculing and even insulting of all organized religion. It has been done for centuries with Christianity and Muslims must accept that Islam will be placed under this attack. Nothing can be considered sacred, so Muslims must defend others rights to insult Islam and the Prophet’s of Allah.
We are confident in our view that his comments should and must be rubbished. Before considering the commentary, it should be patently clear from his title, that this man is nothing more than a mouthpiece of the British establishment. In Sir Trevor’s worldview, the sun has not set on the British Empire, and ‘natives’ from the colonies can still progress providing they show undying loyalty to their masters in Whitehall. Indeed Sir Trevor has a knighthood for his loyalty to ‘Queen and country.’ We remind Sir Trevor of the position adopted by the poet, writer and broadcaster Benjamin Zephaniah when he was listed in the 2003 honour’s list:
“Me? I thought, OBE me? Up yours, I thought. I get angry when I hear that word "empire"; it reminds me of slavery, it reminds of thousands of years of brutality, it reminds me of how my foremothers were raped and my forefathers brutalized.”
“There are many black writers who love OBEs; it makes them feel like they have made it. When it suits them, they embrace the struggle against the ruling class and the oppression they visit upon us, but then they join the oppressors' club. They are so easily seduced into the great house of Babylon known as the palace. For them, a wonderful time is meeting the Queen and bowing before her presence.”
Benjamin Zephaniah’s stance wouldn’t receive any respect from Sir Trevor as he has no principles or qualms which prevent him from conducting activities on behalf of his masters. Britain, in Sir Trevor’s eyes is the home of the free; land of the brave; a place where the history of slavery and imperialism was nothing more than a tiny blip on the path to civilization.
The Disciple of Blair
With regards to the substance in Sir Trevor’s remarks, we should state from the outset that they were neither original nor remarkable. In reality they were a rehash of the Home Secretary Charles Clarke’s comments at the Heritage Foundation in the United States last October. It is plausible that Sir Trevor’s current master Tony Blair has ordered him to make these comments since he is the Chairman of the CRE and they could be packaged and viewed in the media as helping to advance the cause of race relations. Given the context and careful wording though, his remarks are in part designed to further clarify the civic boundaries that Blair and his cohorts wish to impress upon Muslims residing in Britain. Sir Trevor stated:
“One point of Britishness is that people can say what they like about the way we should live, however absurd, however unpopular it is.”
“What some minorities have to accept is that there are certain central things we all agree about, which are about the way we treat each other. That we have an attachment to democracy, that we sort things out by voting not by violence and intimidation that we tolerate things that we don't like.”
"We have one set of laws. They are decided on by one group of people, members of Parliament, and that's the end of the story. Anybody who lives here has to accept that's the way we do it. If you want to have laws decided in another way, you have to live somewhere else."
Let us consider the implications of what is being advocated here. According to Sir Trevor, if Muslims wish to continue living in Britain they must adopt and accept the following:
Freedom of speech in its liberal context. Namely, this refers to the mocking, ridiculing and even insulting of all organized religion. It has been done for centuries with Christianity and Muslims must accept that Islam will be placed under this attack. Nothing can be considered sacred, so Muslims must defend others rights to insult Islam and the Prophet’s of Allah.
Muslims must abandon all the laws and rules of Islam, except in personal matters of worship. Sir Trevor remarked on what he considered the ‘absurdity’ of Muslims wishing to live by the Shareeah and thinking that they can somehow have them introduced in the UK. To remain in the UK entails accepting without question all laws and institutions in Britain. Should anyone not like this status-quo then they must leave.
The Muslim community has been singled out as part of the ‘minority communities’ which will be tolerated only up to a point. The way Muslims must view Islam should be like the way Christianity and Judaism is popularly viewed: a simplistic religion that must be limited to personal acts of worship.
Muslims must accept that their identity is primarily British and that fundamentally entails the quintessentially British liberal values. Islam must be subsumed, failing that, reformed and changed, so that the bastardized religion of ‘British Islam’ takes precedence.
Our Agenda
To provide a concise rebuttal of Sir Trevor’s comments we hereby present what we consider are the basic principles with regards to our identity and our presence in Britain. These principles form our basis and cannot be compromised in any shape or form. Regardless of how many figures and commentators wish to place us within specified categories and restrictions, we hold that none of them are working or indeed can work.
Our allegiance is foremost to Deen al-Islam; to Allah, His Messenger Muhammad (SAW) and the Believers. We do not accept that we are (as Bernhard Lewis terms us) the ‘accident of history.’ Admittedly some of us are the decedents of migrants; others are native and have embraced Islam through interaction and study. Regardless of our ethnic origins, we are united in our common belief in Islam and share a common unyielding affinity to the wider Muslim Ummah.
The Deen of Islam is complete and needs no reform. All efforts at promoting ‘moderate Islam,’ ‘reformed Islam’ or ‘British Islam’ will fail. There is only one Islam and we will cling to it with our all our efforts. Allah has informed us in His noble book the Qur’an that none can change His word we will expose all those attempting to do so.
Islam means submission to Allah. We will not submit to any idea, man, politician or abstract ideal. Our submission and adherence to Islam remains paramount above and beyond that which was out of our control – such as the land in which we were born, or the colour of our skin.
This universe and all its contents are the property Allah, the Lord of the worlds. No one has the right to tell us to leave any land, nor will we be compelled to do so. Globalization has eroded international boundaries and has been making nationalism a thing of the past. We oppose nationalism in all its forms as it is a divisive creed. We have a way of life that if adhered to correctly, has the propensity to extinguish the vile cancer of racism and bigotry that plagues the modern world.
We hold our Deen and all Prophets, including the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) in the highest regard, and will not tolerate insults and mockery. We welcome and will always encourage intellectual debate and discussion concerning all manner of subjects, particularly this, but will always insist on the rule of no insults and no mockery. We do not make and promote vile pictures of anyone held in high regard in Britain as we wish to remain above such petty-minded insolence.
There is no ‘end of history;’ Islam can become your way of life and that of any country. We will propagate the truth and not compromise upon this. The Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was sent as a mercy to all mankind; no people should be deprived of that mercy. We are here in this country to explain that mercy and encourage its adoption. There is no crime in encouraging all people to think independently and carefully ponder over the true meaning of life. People in Britain marvel at our cuisine, but are continually prevented from tasting the beauty and true reality of our Deen. The constant efforts to instill fear amongst people with regards to Islam and the presence of Muslims will not endure and we intend to remain examples of that.
We have an unyielding commitment to establish the command of our Prophet (SAW): to enjoin the good and forbid the evil. If we see something evil and reprehensible we will act and speak against it. For example, we will not let our communities be held hostage by drug-dealers and vice. We are courteous to our neighbours and care for them; we seek to protect our streets from the harm that British society generates and work against the societal ills that are plaguing our streets across the country.
Sir Trevor’s comments are borne as a sign of desperation amongst Tony Blair and his cohorts. Their only desire is to try and blacken the name of Islam and depict all Muslims as an existential threat. With the grace and help of Allah we will demonstrate the fallacy of this and protect and advance our values and ideals wherever we are.
Freelance Activist
28 Feb 2006
No comments:
Post a Comment