Well done MPAC!

Please send this to Ruth Kelly (and suggest that there is Government funding for this).

However, I would add three further points:

6.That no Muslim spokesperson appears in the Media (whether print or broadcast) unless that person is a UK University graduate.

7.Muslim schools/community groups should invite Royal British Legion to send World War II veterans (men and women) to tell their stories.

8.Mosques/muslim charities should establish a fund for free taxi service for OAPs (of all religions) for hospital visits during Ramadan.

should you demand or request mosques to act in the way you suggest? shouldnt the process be co-operative and a matter of compromise.

however what you are proposing is the politicisation of the mosque , which in itself might create more problems rather than resolving them.

the question i have to ask is what are our mainstream schools teaching if not the democratic process and the means to protest and influence the political agenda. shouldnt there be an onus on our state schools to direct that debate?

the other issue i have is what is to be done about governmental extremism (and which is cushioned by the british news media) that largely insults and abuses muslim sensibilities right at this moment. when ordinary moderate muslims are collectively demonised along with extremists as blair and his ministers have stated.

if we have a government that has pawned itself to american neo conservative policies, one which has already set a course for more interventions in muslim countries based on deceit rather than real humanitarian need.

how does your policy help defuse that immediate problem?

The politics of this country are thoroughly opposed to the core tenets of the faith of Islam.

How then can you promote this to muslims anywhere forgetting mosques and schools.

Maybe you should implement a plan to teach the youth ABOUT modern politics and at the same time teach them traditional Islamic sciences which would include Jurisprudence to a higher level ... and then leave them to assist the government in future in making policies that muslims would take to.

What do you think?? I know this goes against your overall mission as MPAC but its just a suggestion.

Has anyone noticed that the news of the 21 terrors suspects about whom John Reid was dancing up and down like a maniac has suddenly disappaered from all the Zionist pereverse news channels in the UK?

Today's BBC presenter jacked off to Israel's recent humiliating defeat at the hands of Hizbullah and the ceasefire and the police's views on anti-social behaviour of Nick Griffin's family...

Whatever happened to the 21 British citizens you racists have imprisoned and are torturing just now ? Have you and the BBC and the ITV and Sky news forgotten about them?

Don't you want to defame Pakistan and Pakis any more you low-life, low-paid, petty "royal" scum?

Lets not forget that the mosques were established by the older generation and they often fund and maintain them. The youth have done little in this respect. The Imam is appointed and paid for by the elders so is it any wonder that the Imam would then follow their agenda and appease them.I pray at a local mosque where the Imam recently finished his sermon and said slowly, seriously and solemnly: 'Now brothers I have some serious news to discuss with you,something which i know continues to worry us ... it's about the heavy rains in Gujurat' (!) Israel has killed over 1000 members of our family and this is what we get. Is it any wonder though given the history of our mosques?

Don't you think it is a little late for this? Who will trust Muslims for the next 100 years?

Generally I agree with most of MPAC's 5 point initiative to prevent Terrorism, however what I am deeply concerned about is implementation. These so called "Imams" and the people in these mosque committes have such a backward mentality. Speaking from experience, having one mosque behind my house and one at the end of my street, which were created as result of internal friction between tribal groups rooted in Bangladesh, how do we approach these committees and imams who have been enjoying 100% autonomy for the past 20 years or so? The very thought of having a discussion with these leaders is quite a scary thought, beacuse we can't even seem to overcome the communication hurdle!I am very sceptical, extremely angry and have adopted the stance that engaging in the political process is crucial. I thank MPAC for all the work they have done so far and am looking forward to their open day in Birmingham on Saturday 19th August 2006. It's about time I got ACTIVE!

Really good article, and I thoroughly agree. But in order to implement this in practice you might want to add the consolidation of all the various muslim groups into one.

Not sure that those points will stop terrorism. Anyone willing to kill others is so extreme they may be beyond help.The government will not fund any syllabus for teaching in mosques or Islamic schools. Funding ultimately comes from taxes and there would be an outcry fom the majority of non Muslims.Some of the points you make would go along way in promoting, for want of a better word, normal Islam.Have an "open" day when non Muslims can see inside a mosque (is this allowed? would it cause issues within your community if non believers enter your place of worship? I have never been allowed to enter a mosque when abroad),It would take the mystery away.Azaad has a very good point about the selection of spokes-people. Making public statements and getting the correct message across requires great skill and in the heat of the moment it is too easy to make statements that can be seized upon by both sides of any argument.

Please, please, please lay off our mosques and our revered religious leaders. Many of these mosques may be run badly and not doing what we or the government would like them to do to fight terrorism, but funds to build these mosques have been collected privately through a lot of hard work, you can not expect to walk in and take over someone elses hardwork.

If you would like to change the way these mosques are run anyone can start collecting to build a mosque from scratch and they will be rewarded for their efforts (inshallah). I sincerely believe that we should only critise our imams if we are better muslims. For example how many of us only go to mosque on a friday and think that this is a license to dictate how the mosuqe should be run.

Thank you

IMO - all faith schools should be closed - without exception.

Nobody in reality trusted zionists in the past or future, you only have to look at the traitors like maxwell, ezra or philby.

I entirely disagree with your proposals, the Mosques are not the place to educate young Muslims or anyone else in matters of citizenship. Mosques are primarily faith institutions. No one would expect churches, temples, synagogues or whatever to carry out this function.

The place to educate young people about the rationale behind the values that this nation espouses is in the classroom and the national state media (BBC). This is not a matter for only Muslims, it is a concern for everyone.

The extremist views that some Muslims voice have their parallels in the Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist and atheist communities. The one element that is most striking is the similarity between opinions voiced by white supremecists and "Muslim" extremists, and that much European racism has been absorbed into sections of Islamicist ideology.

There is a need for open debate where ideas from all groups can be explored and the consequences understood. e.g. Few Muslims in UK would support the ideology of Hamas and Hezbollah if they explored what these parties propose and what the impact would be for all parties concerns.

At the moment the various communties are behaving introspectively and not seeking to really understand the others. There is no way that young Muslims can possibly grasp an understanding of the various perspectives if the debate and education is limited to the mosques.

This issue is about a failure of our education system to address the needs of the majority of pupils and equip them to function as active citizens in this complex and tolerant democracy. If young people are to be educated it should happen in schools so that everyone hears the same message - WE ALL NEED TO BE GOOD CITZENS IF OUR SOCIETY IS TO FLOURISH AND EVERYONE IS TO FEEL INCLUDED.

Aslaam Alkium

I entirely agree with MPAC proposal. What better place, than the "mosque" to teach, and educate the young minds.

However, what the following should also be incorporated :

1. A Stringent recruitment strategy. People (immams) that are recruited to teach, a potential programme, should meet a certain academic criteria. For example, minimum UK degree holder.

By employing, the right calibre of people, then one can raise the standards.

Mashallah, their are so many Muslim Gradautes these days, from UK universities, talent is abundant.

lol. Im a MBA graduate, lol, I ;ll teach !!

Hello Mpac...I just want to ask which census and by whom it was done states that Muslims are the most uneducated community in Britain?? If anything over the last 10 years in particular, I have noticed the change in attitude of migrants who have raised kids born and bred in UK, insisting on how important education is..most people I know that are Muslims are either doctors, accountants, lawyers, dentists, computer scientists, engineers, businessmen, teachers etc...how is that called being uneducated? In addition, many Muslim women are now playing a key role in society as opposed to before as far as education is concerned. I am confused..I shall not name any community or rather RELIGION in particular and yes certain Muslims are very politically inactive or traditional in ideology and in the wrong way but this is not a unique problem to Muslims..I think the census had some ulterior motive or agenda and I thoroughly refuse to accept its implications..if anything, they used to be uneducated a few decades ago (perhaps out of little choice)..but right now, I would say we are doing pretty damn good. Alhamdulillah. (Where professions and education are concerned, that is). Please research the census carefully and name the source. Salams.

R Davies: _ very good points and i tend to agree, i think the politicisation of imams is not a good idea and is open to abuse , not only from the government which is already pressuring imams to sing to their tune.

i however cant see a problem for mpac to have 'educaters' that would use mosque facilities to teach those that want to attend evening or weekend classes. i find that as an 'added' value would be a more constructive way to move.

leave the imams to teaching the tenets of the faith.

however it should be the job of our schools, the mainstream, to emphasise the democratic principle.

What a load of bollocks...These people are killing you and you r gona use their systems designed FOR THEM, BY THEM to implement THEIR policies ???? Wake up....the algerians tried "DEMOCRACY" & now more that a million of them r dead....

If you think you are so good MPAC why don't you set up your own mosques? Or schools? You can then teach what you want.

The simple fact is these elders have worked their backsides off to set up mosques and you want to walk in their and tell them how to run it. Gimme a break!

Set up your own institutions.

If you can.

Some of these comments make me sick.
As a British citizen with no beliefs, I totally respect all Muslims. Even after the troubles that a minority have caused the Muslim population I don't look at Muslims at all differently than I ever have.
What worries me is the comments such as "disappaered from all the Zionist pereverse news channels in the UK".
To me that is just the type of comment that causes problems because that is someone that has an obvious hatred of as a population - the type of negative attitude that gets nobody anywhere.
My final thoughts are sometimes things can get a bit out of hand - like this Orange guy that has been suspended. I'm sure he didn't mean his comments to be racist, it was a joke - you must get that? People can call me whatever they like I don't care because the only thing that matters is that I know I'm unbiased and fair.

Possibly the most sensible set of suggestions I have read anywhere about this issue. You must be coingratulated on setting such a tone for ongoing discussion, I hope that the Establishment will listen and take heed.

Well done.

Community Cohesion
According to Ruth Kelly, migrants must learn English language to integrate. Learning English language is about as useful as learning Arabic, Urdu and other community languages. The British Establishment and society has systematically failed to understand the causes of migration, global terrorism and social and emotional, economic segregation. Muslims suffer different forms of discrimination which reduce their employment opportunities and affect their educational achievements. This can give rise to hopelessness and could undermine Muslims’ sense of belongingness. Islamophobia is a growing reality of racism around the world. The only way to stop it is by respecting the religious diversity. Communities are more divided than ever. The Government presses ahead with flawed policies and anti-terrorist legislation that created further resentment, alienation and criminalization. A dramatic surge of racist and religiously—motivated violence followed the 7/7, London and Glasgow bombing.

Muslim communities are angry at plans to “spy” on Muslim students at universities. The proposal is an act of racism. Universities are not the problem. Just because some of the 7/7 bombers were graduates, does not mean they formed their ideas in a university. It is the western society which is creating extreme Muslims all around the world. Young Muslims are becoming more separated from society than their parents who were not well versed in English while young Muslim generation is notoriously monolinguals. Schools do not encourage and teach Arabic, Urdu and other community languages. They are even discouraged to speak mother tongues at home. They only learn British History not their own history. The British society was and still reluctant to open up its sense of citizenship to all those that have come to live here. Integration is a two-way process. Many Muslims acknowledge that they need to do more to engage with wider society. At the same time British and European politicians must make stronger efforts to promote meaningful intercultural dialogue and tackle racism, discrimination and marginalization more effectively.

The British establishment is wrong in thinking that Imams are to blame for extremism. Imams are not solution to the problem for extremism. Extremism is nothing to do with Imams. Extremism is not created from abroad, it is coming from within. Britain fails to help Muslim communities feel part of British society. Race trouble is being predicted by the Daily Express, because of an ethnic boom in UK major cities. Muslim communities need imams for the solutions of their needs and demands in their own native languages. Muslim parents would like to see their children well versed in Standard English and to go for higher studies and research to serve humanity. The fact is that majority of Muslim children leave schools with low grades because monolingual teachers are not capable to teach Standard English to bilingual Muslim children. A Muslim is a citizen of this tiny global village. He/she does not want to become notoriously monolingual Brit.
Iftikhar Ahmad
www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk