Am not sure about the credibility of this but i am knowledgable to know there are some mosques who preach hatred for other muslims, Blackburn the place where i live is a good example, does Mission mosque ring any bells, balaclava mosque etc...

Considering the repeated self proclamations of enlightenment from MPAC, the contempt for the sacred knowledge and practices of Tasawuf and Sufism in the above remarks is disgusting and appalling. The sheer ignorance of orthodox Islamic practices of zikar and retreat is very disheartening – what do you think the Prophet (PBUH) did whilst retreating to the dark cave of Hira for days on end?
While I agree there are many Sufi claimants worthy of much blame and exposure, MPAC should still take greater care in only targeting those charlatans and avoid ridiculing Sufism which has always served Islam greatly.

Brothers and Sisters at MPAC though I'm don't always see eye to eye with your constant generalised Mosque bashing, especially because I am affiliated with a national organisation which has always been pro-active on youth, sisters, local engagement and media issues...I must take my hat of to you for this honest account and summary on the treacherous 'Muslims' who assist those who despise any notion of an empowered, politically aware, principled and progressive community. May Allah (swt) reward you for your efforts MPAC and may he awaken those sleeping Muslims who follow this lethargic, cultish, folk Islam called 'Sufism'.

Easy now.

Aren't you risking alienating Sufi Muslims here? Be careful you don't fall into the trap of dividing the Muslim community further.

MPAC: quite right. We may yet find that these 'researchers' aren't even Muslims. Certainly the PE seems very reluctant to hand over their names.

Perhaps a complaint should also be made to the Charities Commission: click on serious incident reporting.

You may also wish to investigate who Ed Hussein is. Is he a Muslim? WAS he ever a Muslim? Was he really an extremist? Does any one know him? DID anyone know him before? Why is given so much time by the Muslim-hating section of the media?

When we remove the forged receipts the percentage drops from 25% to 20%. You all seem to imply its 0%.

Its interesting how two articles blame "Zionist PE" and now you are pointing at the people who actually produced fake receipts and you acknowledge that.

So which argument do you support?

I guess it will be OK with you if the report is amended to exclude mosques covered by fake receipts - leaving the others NOT covered by fake receipts.

Considering the repeated self proclamations of enlightenment from MPAC, the contempt for the sacred knowledge and practices of Tasawuf and Sufism in the above remarks is disgusting and appalling. The sheer ignorance of orthodox Islamic practices of zikar and retreat is very disheartening – what do you think the Prophet (PBUH) did whilst retreating to the dark cave of Hira for days on end?
While I agree there are many Sufi claimants worthy of much blame and exposure, MPAC should still take greater care in only targeting those charlatans and avoid ridiculing Sufism which has always served Islam greatly.

No "ehs" the figure is 20% maximum. Nesnight only dealt with the obvious forgeries there are reports of other mosques denying Policy Exchange's charges. Please stop lying. PE are a neo-con and Zionist inspired think-tank and their members are radical supporters of Israel. The motive to vilify the mosques was PE's and the poor methodology was both PE and their "researchers" who are on a "Sufi retreat" in "Mauritania". PE have finally been rumbled.

None of the literature is illegal so then PE's argument is one of freedom of speech and how to curtail that freedom whilst at the same time arguing that Salman Rushdie peddling his hate mongering nonsense.

Dear Sir
Some very disturbing activities have been brought to light in this article and I being acutely aware of Policy Exchange I wish you the best in finding these Muslims and exposing them.
Another disturbing issue in this article is its sectarian nature, isn’t MPACUK non sectarian? you certainly propagate this message threw your articles, criticising those who argue on berewli- deobandi issues, saying we have bigger fish to fry, indeed we do.
I am ignorant of whom and what SMC is, but I know who the Sufies are, great Scholars of our time, such as Sheikh Habib Ali (Yemen) Sheikh Yaqubi (Syria) Sheikh Nuh Ha Mim Keller, Sheikh Hamza Yusuf (U.S.A), Sheikh M.I.H Pirzada (England) and many more.
These Scholars would not agree with the actions that have been mentioned, political participation is not something they discourage, in fact Sheikh M.I.H Pirzada is a founding member of the BMF and encourages participation in the political process to bring about the changes which are needed to protect our civil liberties.
Not every sufi is perfect, no one really is, it would have been nice if the examples provided in the article were referenced.
I think it is important to remember that we must never judge the many by the actions of the few, if we do, then there is nothing wrong in saying the sufies are a front for the government who preach abstinence of politics similarly there would be nothing wrong in saying Muslims are terrorists.
Osama bin ladin, bakari, zarkawi, abu hamza and the others are all Muslims and support terrorism but and rightly so, if any one was to ascribe their views on the majority of Muslims we would speak out against it.
It is regretful to see Mpacuk have done what they preach against.
As far as letting Mpacuk do “what the incompetent idiots in the Mosque should be doing, protecting our community.” I am, as well as other young people “in the mosque” and we do our best. But unlike Mpacuk who have the luxury to simply speak about the “idiot village imams” and “backward communities” and mafia style family run committees we actually have to deal with them and try to bring about mosque reform. I would love to see MPACUK run a mosque, not build a new one, but try to reform a moque where you would have to deal with the aforementioned, and then perhaps you would understand why I am particularly hurt to be referred to as “the incompetent idiots in the Mosque”.
Slaam

I am afraid your stats are once again wrong (not trying to do another fraud are we), Newsnight did not do an investigation into how many Mosques had which books ..so we dont know if any of the finding were correct or were they mostly doctored. The fact that a respectable think tank all be it well known Islamaphobic one went out of its way to doctor reciepts proves without a shadow of a doubt all their finding and methods can not be trusted.

MPAC has every right to take issue with Policy Exchange and with the Sufis.

What is so unhealthy is the way it puts 'Israel' and 'Zionists' at the centre of everything, including two stories which are really nothing to do with Israel, Jews or Zionists.

By all means support the Palestinians, but bringing the Israel / Palestinian issue into everything to risk becoming deluded conspiracy theory nutters and doing your cause more harm than good.

Dr Mr Choudhry may i take exception at your attempt to lable MPAC as anti sufi, i have been a reader of these pages off and on and have had them hold accountable tablighi Jamaat (my own chosen denomination) and the Salafis (who they often labelled as cave Muslims). It is not the teachings of the Prophet PBUH that is at fault here, it is the way the adherents choose to follow them. In this case sitting in a room repeating the name of Allah is hardly acceptable when many of the very same Sufi's spend almost nothing in time or energy is stopping injustice in the world. One cannot claim the Prophet PBUH did something but forget about everything else he also did - including losing his wife by standing up to Oppression.

ASSALMUALAYKUM

I am quite distrubed at the toxic and corrosive nature of MPAC's comments being issued regarding Tasawwuf.
This blatent disregard for Tasawwuf and its basic ideoligies is flabergsting bearing in mind the scope of work that MPAC alleges it does.
You mention that the Russians used the sufis to control and also pascify the Muslims. This proves your ignorance and hatred of the Main stream Muslim personalities such as Imam Daghestani a Sufi shaikh who started the jihad against the oppresive russians.

I demand an immediate apology from MPAC or i will take this matter further.

MPAC testifies that it is non sectarian but i strongly beleive that it has been infiltrated by sectarinist idelogies.

OK. 20% maximum is not Zero.

So what if PE were owned by Likud itself. It can't be denied that the literature exists. Whether it is legal has not been tested under any law or complaint.

The methodology was not flawed in any way. Go to a Mosque, buy some hate books and bring us the receipts to prove you bought them". Only some researchers decided to scam PE in some way with forged receipts for whatever motive.

The idea that PE decided to wite a report to be backed by fake receipts without ever actually purchasing the books is clearly a lie if it were asserted.

You don't object to MPAC UK having an agenda so why do you find it strange that other organisations have the opposite agenda?

So describe how this report on hate literature at Mosques has any relationship to Israel, Jews or Zionism. Go on, enlighten us!

To assert that PE "one went out of its way to doctor reciepts" is libellous. PE did NOT doctor receipts. The "Sufi" researchers (as outed by MPAC UK apparently) were the ones who doctored receipts and duped the authors.

Newsnight examined ALL the receipts and found inconsitencies with a few, which if reoved from the survey mean that the number is 20% and not 25%.

I am Sufi and Ex-Islamist
by Showkat Ali


I’m an ex Islamist
You see me on the media
Making tawba
For carrying the dawah
I’m sorry
For the sins I committed
While I was an Islamist
I’m ashamed
And full of regrets
I hope MI5 forgive me




I called Muslims to leave jahaliyah
And follow Islamism
Make halal and haram the criteria
Instead of benefit
Now I’m calling to the truth
Reject Islamism
And follow Secular British Values




Support our boys
While they fight abroad
Use their toys
To kill and maim Islamists
Those who resist
And want a Caliphate




At home I see many
Doing dawah
And Calling to Allah
Giving out leaflets
I inform on as many as possible
Doing my citizens duty
No one forced me
I do it by choice




No politics in Islam
Quran just a book
Of nice stories
So I join the Labour party
And adopt their solutions
For home and abroad
Colonialism and tyranny
Better known as Democracy




Allah is great
And I am willing to debate
With all and sundry
Especially the fanatics and angry
And recruit as many as possible
To the cause
Secular British Islam




So come and meet me
Embrace and hug
Lets all fight and die
For Queen and country
And destroy those nasty Islamists




Islam is peace and love
Allah wants us to be loyal
To the crown
And country we live in
So let’s learn
God save the Queen




Let’s pray and fast
Jump around and do zikr
Get spiritual and high
And curse those damn Islamists
Giving us all a bad name
And claim
Islam back from the fanatics

The Policy Exchange think tank clearly misled the public, however, we should not forget that these books promoted objectionable views about other religions, homophobic nonsense, anti-women and very disturbing opinions.

Let this unfold in a court, and let us have a court case into this matter.

Forged reciepts ?

Lets take religion out of the equation for the moment, and focus on the straightforward issue, which is financial.

People who have had financial dealings with Asians might be able to make some sort of contribution here.

From my memory it was the sufi movements that kept Islam alive amongst Muslims during Russian occupation; like the Nakshibendis who resisted the Russian attempt to destroy Islam totally during the communist/athiest period. So why does mpac say it is an old russian trick. Please research your history.

I don't think MPACUK are against Sufis - only Neocon Sufis!!

PE have clearly been duped into producing a report that is accurate in its target and basis but not accurate in its statistics because they cannot prove that SOME books factored into their report were actually bought at the locations they requested purchases be made from.

There are people who use the name sufi to further their own aims.
so we should not fall into the terms sufi council or whatever,we shoud say groups or people claiming to be sufis. sufis are people who shun materialism to comcentrate on prayers and remembering Allah.
the word sufi has recently been hijacked by people who have a dislike of real islam and have no other way of potraying their dislike so they use word such as sufi.

I took the trouble to find out what Sufism stands for. I found:-

What is a Sufi?
One who does not separate himself from others by opinion or dogma;
and who realizes the heart as the Shrine of God.

What does the Sufi desire?
To remove the false self and discover God within.

What does the Sufi teach?
Happiness.

What does the Sufi seek?
Illumination.

What does the Sufi see?
Harmony.

What does the Sufi give?
Love to all created things.

What does the Sufi get?
A greater power of love.

What does the Sufi find?
GOD.

And lose?
self
------------

Why that's beautiful man! Far Out! Love & Peace!

So what have people got against it?

MPACUK are now the neo-takfirists.

Doku Umoruv who is fighting against the russian is sufi. The ulema of deoband who have members in the MCB also follow sufism, The BMF follow sufism, Martin Lings, Sidi Le Gai Eaton, Shaykh Ibrahim, Shaykh Abdul Hakim Murad of Cambridge Uni, Shaykh Nadwi of Oxford. Bro Musa and Sis Aliyah i hope you are reading all this information as if you are going to have digs against sufism then just remember that you are criticisng some of the top scholers in U.K. Now if you are talking about some other sufies who have come around that are siding with the government on issues then thats diffrent. I think people need to be clear about authentic sufism and some of these so called sufis.

Its the same with the wahabi brothers. Some of them just follow a strict interpretation of islam whilst other are terrorist or terrorist sympathesiers. We cant put them in the same league.

Bro Musa dont over do it about UKIM.

Reading your articles you are missrepresenting the facts you claim. First there is only evidence presented that five of twenty five recieps were forged. Assuming you are correct that all five are forgeries we still have 20% of mosques selling hate literature and an accusation that is 80% correct. So you want to begin a hunt for 8 people who published a report that is not even substantially disputed? What result against the either people do you hope to bring about by labeling them "sufi zio-con frauds"? I mean if you are interested in disproving the acusations why not examine the other 20 reciepts and write an article disputing the fundamental claim of the accusation?

I think its easier to beat a drum and call names to stir up distrust. Five forgeries is five too many but it doesnt change the substance of the claim nor does trying to track down those who made it.

What is a Sufi?
A pacifist, a defeatist, an apolitical, - a weapon of the Zionists/Neo-Cons and despots to subdue Muslims through ideological warfare

What does the Sufi desire?
To remove the false self and discover God within. – in other words to become God! – a satanic agenda

What does the Sufi teach?
Ignorance

What does the Sufi seek?
Fantasy, illusion and impossibility

What does the Sufi see?
false perceptions

What does the Sufi give?
Love to all created things – including the staunch enemies of Islam – even if it hurts the Muslims

What does the Sufi get?
A greater power of love from the enemies of Islam and maybe some financial benefits

What does the Sufi find?
Insanity

And lose?
Ones mind
-----------

The current debacle of the sufi sell outs should not be taken out of context.
This problem plagues all sects and denominations of Islam, e.g the Salafi scholars in Saudi who were able to somehow justify the attacks on Iraq.
Just as Islam itself is not the source of the treachery demonstrated by the Ummah which purports to uphold it, neither is sufism per se pacifist despite what some of its supposed proponents may claim.
Remember Sufism formed a strong support base for afghan mujahideen even if at the same time the soviets tried (unsuccessfully) to pacify them, and in an era when the arab leaders were fighting the ottoman turks and entertaining imperialist western powers for the sake of their own petty kingdoms, sufi leaders in northern Africa under Omar Mukhtar and earlier by Sufi leader and resistance fighter Abdul Khader fought against this imperialism and were martyred in the process. The Chechen resistance over the past 2 centuries has until very recently been promoted through a sufi doctrine of Islam.
Let us both beware of denouncing what is intrinsically a beautiful form of worship and work to reclaim what it means to be sufi.

Why doesnt MPAC make it clear that their issue is with neo con extreme sufies and not with sufies who follow authentic sufism. Just thought id point out to Bro Musab and Sister Aliyah that the deoband ulema in u.k follow sufism. I can provide refrence if needed.

I think the word you are looking for is pseudo-sufi.
As others have pointed out all the fighting by the Muslims of the Caucuses have been led by members of the Naqshbandi and Qadiri Tariqas often emboldened by their powerful dhikr sessions. In fact it was Sufi orders and practices that kept Islam alive in the Muslim parts of the former USSR during the long night of communism.
It was also the Sufi orders that spread Islam in India, Indonesia, Malaysia etc.
Shaykh Uthman Dan Fodio who was a Shaykh in the Qadiri order created the Islamic sultanate of Sokoto in Northern Nigeria.
Even Salahuddin himself was a member of the Qadiri order- his sword has the inscription "Ya Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilani" on it.
The famous scholars of Islam such as Imam Ghazalli always distinguished between the true Sufis and the pseudo-Sufis and I think we should all recognise the difference.

Those with memories will remember the massive involvement of Sufi Muslims in the following causes in the history of this country: The Barbari Masjid affair, the Rushdie Affair, Protesting over the First Gulf War, the Iraq War, the Danish Cartoons.
I could go on and on, but let's be clear those who claim to be Sufis but spend their time ingratiating themselves with those in power instead of calling them to account for their crimes are nothing of the sort.

Nathan, its not 8 people who published the report its 8 people who were merely researchers and who faked some receipts.

Is it really a conspiracy ?

Asians are well known for their approach to financial accounting. Creative, innovative, with methods old and new.

What works in business for some Asians, might be second nature to them in all other endevours!

...and PE cleared those receipts because they checked them and "stand by the report 100%".

Charles Moore is an Islamophobe and a Zionist and uses PE as a vehicle to bash Muslims whilst at the same time writing empty statements about trying to protect decent Muslims i.e the ones that don't mind the Israelis murdering the Palestinians.

If the literature is merely unfortunate but not illegal what is Mr Moore and his Zionist friends asking for? Censorship? extending censorship? Can we start banning material we don't like? Surely PE attack on free speech is the story.

In the Name of Allah the Merciful the Kind

Let us keep in mind that there are indeed dark and sinister forces operating from within our community. Earlier this year Channel 4 produced the debacle 'Undercover Mosques' whose reporting and investigation was severely criticised by Ofcom for their distorted methods of production. After a continuous year of media ridicule (a recent report showed that in one weeks media coverage over 91% of stories concerning Muslims wereportrayed negatively) we had the publication
of this nefarious Policy Exchange report which un-suprisingly targeted the same institutions as
Undercover Mosques did. Like its terrestrial counterpart it was exposed as an agenda driven farce, researched by so called Muslims who couldn't be interviewed by Newsnight about the fake reciepts, because they were on a 'meditative retreat'.

We have hate-filled individuals and fatasists like 'Ed' Hussain who having returned to traditional Islam/Sufism privately blog that Sufi Shaykhs should not wash their dirty linen in public, yet spend every waking hour in the media, attacking orthodox, mainstream Muslim groups who consider Islam to be a holistic and comprehensive way of life. The Neo-cons have declared thier intentions openly, the Sufi Muslim Council affiliated (http://sufimuslimcouncil.blogspot.com/) renowned and influential RAND institute in America has regularly stated in its documents the corrupt and diversionary means by which the West can reform Islam:

-Encourage the popularity and acceptance of Sufism, a traditionalist form of Islamic mysticism that represents an open, intellectual interpretation of Islam.
-Increase the presence and profile of modernists in traditionalist institutions.
-Encourage the traditionalists who support the Hanafi school of Islamic law as a way to counter
the conservative Wahhabi-supported Hanbali school of Islamic law.
-Make their religious opinions and judgments available to a mass audience to compete with the
conservatives, who have web sites, publishing houses, schools, institutes, and many other vehicles for disseminating their views.
-Use the media and educational curricula in suitable countries to foster within Islamic youth an awareness of their pre-Islamic and non-Islamic histories and cultures.
-Encourage disagreements between traditionalists and conservatives.

With such clearly articulated anti-Islamic strategies being concocted against our Ummah, using Sufism as a tool, two poignant questions come to mind. Why is it the Sufism is the chosen vehicle for the twisted Neo-cons and why are sections or members of our community hell-bent on assisting the likes of Policy Exchange, who no doubt have a hotline to their friends at RAND. Alhamdulilah as we saw each time in these well publicised attacks, Allah (swt) is the best of Planners, He always protects the principled, truthful and sincere Muslims who Worship Him in His Oneness alone. Personally I believe that Allah (swt) revealed a complete and perfect system of life in the Qur'an and Sunnah which any layperson can follow and practice with alittle assistance from the scholars of this faith, hence doubtful methodologies which developed later and have clearly
evolved and mutated in some cases to Shirk (View: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Sufism )are best avoided. The least our Sufi brothers can do is openly challenge the trecherous charlatons amongst us. The Prophet (pbuh) authentically stated:

'Know that the people never introduce an innovation until they abandon its like from the Sunnah.
So, beware of newly invented matters, since every newly invented matter is an innovation and
every innovation is misguidance and misguidance and its people are in the Fire.'

May Allah (swt) unite our heats and foil the plots of the scheming ones amongst us. And Allah (swt) knows best.

PRESS RELEASE
Monday 17th December 2007

The East London Mosque and London Muslim Centre is pleased to see the following, fulsome apology published in today’s issue of The Times regarding stories the newspaper published based
largely on the Policy Exchange report entitled ‘The Hijacking of British Islam’:

Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari
We would like to make clear that the bookshop situated near the East London
Mosque (“Lessons in hate found at leading mosques” and “Studies in Hate”,
30 Oct) is a commercial tenant of the Mosque and is situated on different
premises. The Chairman of the Mosque, Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari has no
responsibility for or control over the material that is being sold there. We
apologise to Dr Bari for any distress caused.

Following publication by The Times of the articles complained of, Dr. Bari and the East London Mosque took stern action and instructed Adam Tudor, a partner at prominent libel firm Carter
Ruck.

The above apology has been published prominently on The Times website as well as in the print version.

Dilowar Hussain Khan, Executive Director of the East London Mosque & London Muslim Centre, said: “We remain committed and steadfast to uphold an institution that is the most open and welcoming Muslim institution in the country. We take great pride in our pioneering projects that helps Muslim men, women and young people to be active British citizens. This
episode only shows that those who cynically attempt to slur our good name have no interest in community cohesion whatsoever.”

END

Mohammad Shakir
Media and Communications Officer
London Muslim Centre
46-92 Whitechapel Road
London E1 1JQ
(D) 020 7650 3006
(M) 07708 681 014
(F) 020 7650 3002
mshakir@londonmuslimcentre.org.uk

Bro Ismael i had no idea that the great Salahudin Ayubi was a qadri and had those words inscribed on his sword. I knew that his brother in law would organise big gatherings to celebrate the birth of Prophet Muhammed(peace and blessings be upon him)and obviously the great Salahadin Ayubi would attend. I mean with examples with that who would want to criticise real sunni sufies.

I must stress that some so called sufies give the practices a bad image.

Alhamdulillah. Couldn't agree more brother. This article is a disgusting display of the typical mindset that is unfortunately penetrating the minds of young Muslims today.

MPACUK also reflects this attitude in it's appointment of moderators and it's allowance/promotion of such bigoted views on it's forums and it's silencing and ridicule of Muslims who are Shia and/or Sufi.

The ummah is in a very bad state and these sort of people play right into the hands of the kafir's divide and conquer tactics. Pathetic.

May Allah forgive them for their evil ways.