LONDON, July 3: Disturbed by what appeared to be a brewing backlash in some regions in the UK against Muslims in the wake of three failed terror attacks in London and Scotland last weekend, the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) has called a meeting of key imams to discuss how the community can work better with police to try to undermine and defeat the terrorists.
In a press statement issued here on Tuesday, the MCB, an organisation having the largest membership of UK Muslims, said a meeting of key imams on Saturday at the Islamic Cultural Centre in London would discuss the challenges being faced by the country and its Muslim population from terrorism.
The statement commended Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Home Secretary Jacqui Smith for the calm and reassuring tone of their responses to the recent attacks in which they made clear that it was unacceptable to hold any one faith group or community as being somehow collectively responsible for the actions of a few.
“It is our Islamic duty not only to utterly and totally condemn such evil actions, but to provide all the necessary support to prevent such atrocities from taking place,” said the press statement.
We also appreciate the stance taken by Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond, who re-assured the Muslim community in Scotland in unequivocal terms when he visited Glasgow Central Mosque recently.
It cannot be stressed enough that terrorists actively seek to divide us and to undermine our collective strength. To be successful in our collective effort to deal with the threats of terror it is imperative that we all work together.
We need to have confidence and mutual trust in each other.
The challenges facing us as a nation require us to work together for the joint benefit of all.The events of the past few days have been very disturbing and challenging ones for all of us and we express at the outset our heartfelt gratitude to all the police officers and security experts who were tasked with removing the threat from the explosive devices in London and Glasgow.
It looks sadly as if the terror threat currently facing our country will be with us for some time to come. So let us be absolutely clear about this: those who seek to deliberately kill or maim innocent people are the enemies of all of us.
There is no cause whatsoever that could possibly justify such barbarity. Those who engage in such murderous actions and those that provide support for them are the enemies of all, Muslims and non-Muslims, and they stand against our shared values in the UK.
The police and security services have the enormous responsibility for trying to ensure the safety of all Britons. As such they deserve the fullest support and cooperation from each and every sector of our society, including all Muslims.
