Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Islamic group slams 'out of touch' imams for causing drift towards extremism

Young Muslims are being pushed towards extremism because their mosques are run by elderly and out-of-touch cliques, a report by an Islamic think-tank .

The Quilliam Foundation, an anti-extremist Islamic organisation, accused imams of failing to teach and preach in English and of shutting women out of their mosques.
Only about 3 per cent of Muslim clerics were born in this country and most do not have full command of English, the study said.

The report said that mosque leaderships did not promote British values and allowed young people to drift towards jihadists who speak their own language.
The group called on the Government for stricter limits on visas for Islamic clerics coming to Britain and for an end to state grants for mosques that do not have at least one imam who preaches in English and supports the principles of democracy.

The Quilliam Foundation - which has been backed with almost £1million of taxpayers' money and attacked by some Islamic groups as being a mouthpiece for the Government - also said madrassas, mosques' equivalent of Christian Sunday schools, should be fully inspected by local children's services officials.

The survey was based on responses to five questions given by 512 mosques last autumn.
It found 97 per cent of imams were born overseas and 92 per cent were trained abroad, while more than half of the Muslims in Britain were born here.
'The religious leadership in the vast majority of Britain's mosques are not in full command of the English language, and are likely to be ill-equipped to address the real concerns and everyday experiences of young British Muslims,' the report found.

Nearly half, 44 per cent, of mosques do not hold their Friday lectures or sermons in English, the survey said. A similar proportion have no space for women, and their managements take the view that it is unnecessary for women to come to pray.

The report also accused some mosques of barring Muslims from the 'wrong' ethnic background and other of 'poor educational standards' in the way they teach 100,000 children who go to them for religious instruction.
Many mosques, the Quilliam report said, are run by groups of elderly founding members from a single ethnic background. Few women and young people are on management committees or trustee boards.
The report picked out one mosque in Lancashire with members mainly of Indian Gujarati background which told a prospective member that no Pakistanis would be accepted.
The mosque, the report said, had been given £26,000 in public money and was backed by a local council of mosques which had been financed by more than £500,000 from the taxpayer.
A Home Office spokesman insisted that immigration rules for religious leaders are already tough.
He said: 'A minister of religion would have to be able to communicate to a relatively high level in English. In addition, the Resident Labour Market Test means that religious organisations must ensure that jobs cannot be filled by workers in the United Kingdom.'
But Tory cohesion spokesman Baroness Warsi said: 'These reports demonstrate that mosques have huge potential to play a vital role in the communities which they serve.

'But, in doing so, it is essential that they are responsive to the needs of their congregation. They must have a deep understanding of the national language, culture and society.
'I would like to see them working closer with other faith communities; to develop stronger corporate governance, to improve access for women and to increase the employment of British imams whilst strengthening the work they do in their local community.'

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