This is a cross post by Rupert Sutton from Student Rights
Extremism on the UK’s university campuses takes many forms, but perhaps the most frequently ignored is the invitation of speakers who have a history of sectarianism against other Muslims.
This evening the University of Westminster Islamic Society will host its Annual Dinner, including a speech by Dr Khalid Fikry, who has featured at both Kingston and London Metropolitan Universities in the past year.
Virulently sectarian, Dr Fikry has claimed that “Shia are one of the worst and greatest enemies against our Ummah nowadays”, and that they believe “killing the Sunni is to raise your rank in Paradise, raping a Sunni woman is a matter that pleases Allah”.
With Shia students on campus at Westminster likely to feel threatened and marginalised by the invitation of this speaker, we would urge the university to ensure oversight so that Fikry is not able to preach sectarian hatred on campus unchallenged.
The effect this could potentially have on students can be seen in the fact that just days after he was invited to speak at London Met in October 2012, the Islamic Society liked a Facebook page called ‘Reality of Shia’.
This deeply bigoted page claimed that “Shias are not Muslims” and that “we must destroy all false beliefs that were added into Islam after the death of the Prophet”.
In addition to his sectarian beliefs however, Fikry has also shown rhetorical support for convicted terrorists, and is believed to be the author of this tribute to Omar Abdul Rahman.
Rahman is described by terrorism expert Quintan Wiktorowicz as “the former mufti of Islamic Jihad and the Gamiyya Islamiyya who is currently serving a life sentence for conspiracy to commit terrorism in the United States”.
In the tribute, Fikry states that Rahman was convicted as a result of “a false accusation and a political court” and that “all its witness were from the hired agents who have done their role, then the Jew Judge used laws that were dead and never used for hundreds of years to judge him”.
Dr Fikry also spoke in support of Rahman at a Belmarsh Iftar organised in support of those Muslim prisoners held in the maximum security prison in August 2012.
During his speech he described Rahman as “the greatest scholar” and declares that there was “no evidence at all” to support his conviction.
In the same speech he also attacked the detention of Abu Hamza Al-Masri, convicted of soliciting to murder in 2006, Khalid Al-Fawwaz, Osama Bin Laden’s UK spokesman, and Abu Qatada.
That a man who holds these views is considered suitable for a student society’s Annual Dinner is deeply concerning, and we will be contacting the university today to make this point.
