Wednesday, January 24, 2007

The Undercover Mosque

Once the video of "Undercover Mosque" has come online, bloggers has started coming up with their views on that. I had a long discussion in a blog. Today, I got the update that MCB and MJAH (Organization that runs Green Lane Mosque) has lashed out against the media for it's bias against Muslims. It was expected but equally unwanted response to the debacle. They said that they were quoted out of context and both side of the view were not aired in a balanced way. But, if one goes through some of the quotes, one can easily decide whether any context can really justify them.

Another person, writing on behalf of UK Islamic mission, claims the greatness of Wahabism(!!) and says that most of UK Muslims practise belong to that sect. He even went onto claim that
"The Saudis did not need to buy British Muslim support. It was worth little and yet had this been possible, considering the trillions they contribute to the British economy, the Saudis were very well placed to buy up the British establishment itself."
I feel the person has a delusion over Saudi money, which is much less in compared to that of UK in all scales - be it defence or science.

I liked the approach that iMuslim took, clarified that the religion does not support the view expressed by the Imams in the video. He also plans to clarify some of the topics.

The required response could have been setting up a panel to investigate inside and then expel those who are already blacklisted in the video. This could have been a minimal face-saving reaction. Or otherwise, they could have made a transparent system of speeches from next time onwards.

Some of them, like Bilal Philips, tried to do a little bit damage control through a video. Even that seems not enough. Lots and lots of bloggers are pouring up their materials in the blog sites. This blogger points out the lack of apologies from the mosque authorities actually proves that they intentionally spread this kind of message. Another blogger sums up as the phobia warnings is the primary objective of C4 investigation.

Some other blogger has importantly pointed out that the section projected here are very small in number and they may not be any real threat to Britain.

For my concern, there was a blink of reference against India - to attack Indian business. May it be peacefully (boycotting) or violently (planting bombs), it's a dangerous ploy for India. The sufferers would be innumerable Indians (both Hindus and Muslims), despite the fact that they contribute very little towards the global sufferings of Muslims (nothing in individual level). I think it's a responsibility for Indians living in UK to lobby in the Govt for a crackdown aginst these hate-preachers.

References
1) The video - Undercover Mosque (48 minutes).
2) The response - Yasir Qadhi's response
3) The response - Abu Usamah
4) The Saudi Archive of Wahabism.