If any hate group should be proscribed, it is Khatm-e-Nubuwwat.
New Depths
Labour MP Siobhain McDonagh made just that call last Thursday in another statement against the movement dedicated to hatred of Ahmadi Muslims.
The spur was more disturbing news about Tanveer Ahmed. He is the man who murdered Ahmadi Muslim Asad Shah in Glasgow six months ago because Shah “disrespected the messenger of Islam”. Now Ahmed appears to be inciting further violence in “cut their heads off” messages from his prison cell. The messages include a call for support for Khatm-e-Nubuwwat.
The movement knows no shame, no compunction. It will simply carry on until it is stopped.
A London Rally
In fact, a Khatm rally in London next Sunday is being openly advertised. It will be held at the Ghousia mosque in Walthamstow, also known as the Waltham Forest Islamic Association.
The mosque already has a bad record – it is a home for rank antisemitism, poisonous conspiracy theories, hatred of Ahmadis, and proud supporters of Mumtaz Qadri, the religious fanatic who murdered Pakistani politician Salman Taseer in 2011. Taseer’s “crime” was to oppose Pakistan’s benighted blasphemy laws.
By the way, Momentum vicar Steven Saxby is a big fan of this Walthamstow mosque. Of course he is.
Abdul Qadir Jilani
Prominent Walthamstow preacher Abdul Qadir Jilani is given star billing in the event poster. No wonder. He is perfect for the Khatm crowd. Here he is dispensing some exquisite wisdom on TV in 2011:
“The matter of insulting the prophet does not fall in the category of terrorism.
“Those who cannot kill such men have no faith.
“It is your duty, the duty of those who recite the holy verse, to kill those who insult Prophet Mohammed.
“Under the guidance from Islamic texts it is evident that if a Muslim apostatises, then it is not right to wait for the authorised courts; anyone may kill him.
“An apostate deserves to be killed and any man may kill him.”
You can read the whole Ofcom report on this typically ugly episode here.
Jilani really is quite keen on religious murder. Here he is saluting Mumtaz Qadri:
This kind of hate preaching won’t set you back in Walthamstow. On the contrary. In 2013 the Labour Mayor, Nadeem Ali, heaped praise on Jilani and called him his “spiritual guide throughout my year as Mayor”. Mr Ali kept his word – he attended a Khatm conference featuring Jilani later in 2013.
Syed Riaz Hussain Shah
Now here is one thing the Home Office could and should do. Tell Syed Riaz Hussain Shah of Pakistan, another scheduled speaker at the upcoming Khatm rally, that he has been excluded from the UK.
He certainly should be. This is what happened when Mumtaz Qadri struck:
The largest body of the Barelvi group, the Jamaate Ahle Sunnat Pakistan (JASP), whose directions are considered binding on every other organisation that follows the same school of thought, issued a statement saying that “No Muslim should attend the funeral or even try to pray for Salmaan Taseer or even express any kind of regret or sympathy over the incident.”
The statement which has been endorsed by senior Barelvi leaders such as Professor Saeed Shah Kazmi, Allama Syed Riaz Hussain Shah, Syed Shah Turabul Haq Qadri and Hajji Mohammad Tayyab calls the assassin Mumtaz Hussain Qadri ‘Ashiqe Rasool Ghaziye Mulk (Lover of the Prophet, Commander of the Country)’.
“We pay rich tributes and salute the bravery, valour and faith of Mumtaz Qadri,” the statement said, adding that the ministers, politicians, ‘so-called’ intellectuals and anchor persons should learn lessons from the governor’s death. The scholars said that those who insult the Holy Prophet (pbuh), even if they did not intend to, were liable for death.
This is another typical scene:
Speakers at the Sunni Ittehad Council’s (SIC) National Khatam-i-Nabuwat Conference railed against the death sentence handed to Mumtaz Qadri for the murder of Salmaan Taseer, as well as Ahmedis and America, on Sunday.
…
Jamat Ahle Sunnat (JAS) Nazim Aala Allama Syed Riaz Hussain Shah also spoke out against Ahmedis, saying they were “agents of anti-Pakistan forces” and involved in anti-state activities.
Ah, agents! Mr Shah does indeed have a taste for conspiracy theories that are laughable, as you will also see here or here. Well, they should be laughable, but actually they are dangerous. They feed denial among Muslims and increase hatred for the people who are “really” behind terrorism. This is a serious problem in the fight against Islamic extremism.
You can see Mr Shah bellowing his praises of the murderer Mumtaz Qadri in this video. The disturbing and frightening anger and hatred are plain to see.
You can also see Mr Shah on video abusing Salman Taseer here and praising Mumtaz Qadri again here.
The Markazi Jamat-E-Ahle Sunnat UK & Overseas Trust
The Khatm rally’s organiser is Markazi Jamat-E-Ahle Sunnat UK & Overseas Trust. It is a registered charity and its lead trustee contact is Abdul Aziz Chishti.
Mr Chishti also runs the Jamia Islamia Ghousia mosque in Luton. It too is a home for hate preachers and Khatm. Here is its flyer for a Khatm conference last year featuring Mr Shah and Hanif Qureshi, one of the very worst in this field.
Yet Mr Chishti and his Trust have even found a place in Parliament, thanks to Luton Labour MP Gavin Shuker. Mr Chishti is second from Mr Shuker’s right.
Furthermore, Mr Chishti’s mosque has been given almost half a million pounds in “local authority grants” over the last five years.
Red Lines
Thankfully Labour MP Siobhan McDonagh has not been so foolish. Not at all. This summer she also asked the Home Office to stop foreign hate preachers, noting Khatm. Out came the line:
…the Government have resolved to confront all forms of extremism, including by identifying those who may wish to travel to the UK to peddle their hate and ideology. To safeguard our communities and confront extremism in all its forms, we will continue to take action to prevent such people from travelling to the UK.
If Mr Shah is allowed to enter the UK and attend this rally, well, why?
If supporting religious murder is not a red line, what is?