Muslim organisations in Britain

Britain’s Muslims have established hundreds of organisations across the country to represent their interests and further the principles of Islam. The last national census in 2001 found that 1.6 million Muslims live in Britain - but recent immigration means that today’s figure probably exceeds 2 million. The great majority are Sunnis of Pakistani or Indian origin.

The leading Muslim organisations in Britain are:

1) Muslim Council of Britain

The MCB promotes itself as the leading voice of British Muslims and has been the main point of contact with the Government. Mohammed Abdul Bari, its secretary general, has repeatedly condemned terrorism and said yesterday that the “challenges facing us as a nation requires all of us to work together”. But critics say that the MCB disguises rather than stifles extremism. It drew charges of anti-semitism by officially boycotting Holocaust Memorial Day. Sir Iqbal Sacranie, its former secretary general, was knighted in 2005 despite saying that “death is perhaps too easy” for the controversial author, Sir Salman Rushdie. After the London bombings almost two years ago, the MCB joined official Government “working groups” designed to curb extremism. But the reports that emerged contained few practical policy suggestions and numerous denunciations of British foreign policy. Since then, the Government has distanced itself from the MCB.

2) Muslim Association of Britain

Far smaller that the MCB, the MAB is an explicitly political organisation. It campaigns against British policy in Iraq and Afghanistan and denounces what it sees as British support for Israel’s repression of the Palestinians. Founded in 1997, the MAB is linked to Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, a fundamentalist party which is banned in its Arab homeland. The MAB urges all Muslims to vote for its chosen candidates and has endorsed Ken Livingstone for mayor of London. It allied with the Socialist Workers’ Party to form the fringe “Respect” party, which is represented in the House of Commons by George Galloway.

3) Muslim Public Affairs Committee UK

This lobby group seeks to present a distinctively Muslim viewpoint to British decision-makers. It aims to “empower Muslims to focus on non-violent Jihad and political activism”. After the attempted car bombings in London last week, the MPAC complained that “some members of the British public” had been “taught to hate Muslims by tabloid hysteria”. But MPAC was criticised for supporting David Irving, the right-wing historian and convicted holocaust denier. Last year, a parliamentary report on anti-semitism in Britain named MPAC for spreading conspiracy theories about Jews.

4) Hizb ut-Tahrir

This fringe group urges British Muslims to boycott all elections, reject the democratic process and campaign for the creation of a single, united Muslim state stretching from Morocco to Indonesia. Hizb ut-Tahrir, which claims to be a non-violent organisation, has been banned by virtually every country in the Muslim world. But it has a legal presence in Britain and has, in the past, commanded a strong following on several university campuses. Despite this, Hizb ut-Tahrir is shunned by all other Muslim organisations.

A BBC show called “Politics of Terror” focuses on Hizb ut Tahrir and their infiltration into British schools and institutions.