As Prophet Muhammad (saw) said: “Whoever seeks the pleasure of Allah (swt) at the risk of displeasing the people; Allah (swt) will take care of him and protect him from them. But whoever seeks the pleasure of the people at the risk of angering Allah (swt), Allah (swt) will abandon him to the care of the people.” [Reported by Tirmidhi]
Unfortunately we should not be surprised by the attitude of extremist liberals and secular fundamentalists such as the Quilliam Foundation, who have always spearheaded the government and political agenda to bully Muslims into leaving their Islamic values and to conform to liberal norms – as was the case with the attack on the niqab, and Islam’s view on marriage, divorce, homosexuality, politics, Jihad, Western foreign policy and depicting our Prophet (saw). Foundations like Quilliam work in-line with the UK government’s ongoing agenda to attack Islam by labeling our orthodox Islamic beliefs as extreme and unacceptable. The plan is to pressure Muslims into reforming their Deen along Western secular lines to produce a “British Islam” and to embrace a secular, liberal identity rather than an Islamic one. In 2003, CIVITAS, a think tank that advises the government published a report entitled, “The West, Islam and Islamism”, that stated, “It is not enough for the vast majority of decent, peaceful, law-abiding Muslims to renounce terror in principle, including sept 11th and similar events. If they choose to live in Western liberal democratic societies, they must accept the values of liberal democracy – as Jews, Sikhs, Hindus and others have done for many years.” A similar line was repeated in 2009 in the government’s counterterrorism strategy CONTEST where the definition of “Extremist” was widened to include Muslims who are law-abiding and non-violent, but reject democracy and certain western viewpoints to those who label certain Islamic ideas as “extreme” even if non-violent, such as promoting Sharia law, and advocating an Islamic Caliphate for the Muslim world. This was re-enforced in December 2013, by recommendations from an “anti-extremism” taskforce set up by David Cameron that drew up a tightened definition of “Islamic extremism” that also incorporated the rejection of liberal values and suggested introducing new anti-terror civil orders (known as TEBOs), similar to Anti-Social Behavior Orders (ASBO’s) to deal with those who advocate it, including preventing them from entering mosques and community centers.
We are indeed living in testing and hostile times in which the war against Islam is so unrelenting that it reminds me of the hadith of Muhammad (saw):
‘“There will come a time called patience days. To hold onto Islam at that time will be like holding onto an ember of coal. Those people who work for the Deen at those times will receive the reward of 50 men”
Holding on to your beliefs and values is like holding onto ‘the hot ember of coal’ but – Insha’Allah – let us be strong, not feel intimidated and continue to keep our obedience to Allah, carrying the Dawa without fear and remaining steadfast upon the truth. Ameen
(NOTE: CAGE represents cases of individuals based on the remit of our work. Supporting a case does not mean we agree with the views or actions of the individual. Content published on CAGE may not reflect the official position of our organisation.)