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Emails to the MCB on issues and concerns
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Page 221
| 20/07/2005 |
| Christopher Brown
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I sent an email to your organisation last week which i am not now proud of.
*SORRY*
I was full of anger following 07/07.
I can say sorry now as i understand that the actions were not from the
greater Muslim people but only a tiny minority of people who have abused
your religion.
Please forgive me
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| 20/07/2005 |
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I realize you have been receiving hate mail on your web site but I want
to thank you for taking the initiative and speaking out against these
murderers. I read what your president said to Muslims about not just
condemning but doing something about it. You send a powerful message.
We all just condemed so you alone should not take responsibility it is
all our responsibility, it was wonderful to read your presidents comments.
I hope this note of thanks helps lighten some of the other horrible emails.
kind regards
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| 20/07/2005 |
| Jim Rawe |
Dear Sir/Madam
I guess you have probably received a lot of hate mail recently. Having
just read about Iqbal Sacranie's statement in Leeds I wanted to offer a
message of support. I think his pro-active approach is absolutely right.
Many of us understand that the war in Iraq and Israeli apartheid enrage
some and probably they should. However, those are things that the Muslim
and non-Muslim communities should jointly address (as did happen in the
anti Iraq war movement).
At a time like this it is vital that the message from the Muslim
communities is uncompromising in its condemnation of what happened in
London. Anything less than that, like acceptance of the inevitability of
such acts will not help. Iqbal Sacranie recognises the Muslim
communities' hugely significant role in addressing the issues that this
has brought up. If non-Muslim's (like myself) see that Muslims feel
exactly as we do, and are prepared to take action against violence and
hate then we stand a chance of defeating the bigoted thinking that
blames all Muslims for the acts of fanatics. We also have more chance
of stopping such things ever happening again. His comments give hope to
all of us.
Yours sincerely
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| 20/07/2005 |
| Richard Old |
hello
just seen web headline that funeral of Shahara Islam has taken place. It
is just so terribly sad what has happened. l send my love. Hope what has
happened to her will do some good. Hope some people in all societies
will realise when bombs are used no-one really wins and when members of
one faith blame all the members of another faith for a wrong doing it is
so unjust - whether it is Christian, Muslim or any faith. Surely faith
means to trust and love so much that a life is enriched by it - not to
hate and destroy.
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| 20/07/2005 |
| Daniel King |
Dear Sirs,
With the Muslim community under intense scrutiny following recent events,
you would have thought that the spokesmen for the community on last nights
Newsnight programme would have at last unequivocally denounced suicide
bombings and the death of innocent civilians that it causes.
Instead, they chose to be selective of their condemnation by condemning
suicide bombing in Britain but condoning it in Israel. The killing of
civilians is never justified and this type of ambiguity is unhelpful and
shows complete hypocrisy. With comments like these how can we be surprised
when UK youths then blow themselves up in Tel Aviv in the name of Islam.
It is time that you took a firmer stand and lead by example. You statement
following police disclosure about the perpertrators says "Nothing in Islam
can ever justify the evil actions of the bombers" and this should be just as
apt whether the casualties are here, Iraq, Israel, or Madrid.
Whilst there are many sides to every political debate I would like to think
that Muslims, Jews, and Christians stand together and share the same human
values. The indescriminate killing of innocent men, women and children is
wrong and can never be justified irrispective of the perceived causes.
I hope that this message will be conveyed by yourselves to the wider
audience and that this ambiguity ceases to exist as it is misleading and
only inflames the fires of the extremists.
Salam,
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| 20/07/2005 |
| Peace |
I would just like to say that I do not blame you at all for the horrendous
attacks that were carried out on Thursday and that my thoughts and prayers
go to any people in the muslim community that were affected by this tragedy.
Anyone who attacks a mosque is my enemy, what we need right now is unity in
this country. I used to hate Muslims but after july 7th and seeing all the
innocent lives the bomb destroyed, that I realised that we cannot let hatred
ruin this country and that the bombs were planted because of people that
wanted to provoke just this kind of reaction.
I fully support you in preventing any more attacks both by terrorists, and
against the members of your community, and I am not a muslim but if i see
anytihng I will be very vigilant.
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| 20/07/2005 |
| Warren Mansell |
Dear MCB,
I am a humanist/agnostic but I value the positive communal, cultural
and spiritual elements of the world's religions. I appreciate the
confusion and horror that must be experienced by muslims after a week
of such tragic and shocking news. I wish you all the best in working
within your community to continue to maintain dignity, tolerance and a
community spirit. I really believe that the events of the last week
can have the capacity to bring all of us from different faiths and no
faith closer together, and that we all have the capacity to resist
extremism.
Good Luck and Kind Regards,
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| 20/07/2005 |
| Adrian |
Salam wa ‘alaikum
Whilst it is heartening to read the messages of support after reports of
hatemails, it is now time to recognise that there has been no real
backlash against Muslims in the UK and there almost certainly won't be.
This country is generally not like that. We now need to move on and stop
talking about backlashes as this risks perpetuating the view of the
Muslim community as a victim, or a victim in waiting, leading to a
dangerous sense of grievance out of which violence can be borne.
Non-Muslims have largely accepted that 'Muslim' doesn't = 'suicide
bomber'; it would do no harm for Muslims to reflect on the fact that
'suicide bomber' generally does = 'Muslim'. Blaming this on prejudice
or foreign policy or poverty or anything else is not sufficient; none of
these are specific to Muslims. Educating Muslims with a positive world
view as one of a number mature religions rather than an oppressed or
vulnerable people would help significantly. Victim culture is
superficially attractive (you always get to blame someone else) but
eventually destructive. We are all in this together.
Shukran
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| 20/07/2005 |
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Dear Sir
I read on the Islamonline.com website that since the bombings on 7/7,
the MCB has received threats and hate mail. I was appalled to hear this
and was moved to write to you to tell you that just as the vast majority
of Muslims do not support terrorist activities, so do the vast majority
of Britons not support such midless reactionism. Just as your thoughts
and prayers are with the families of those hurt, missing or dead, so are
my prayers with Muslims who suffer from fear or attack from ignorant people.
With warmest wishes for your continued good work.
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| 20/07/2005 |
| Ehsan Hussain |
aslam alaimkum,
As a young british Muslim i was shocked when the London bombings took
place. I was horrified when i discovered that the people responsible
were british born muslims and could not understand why they had done this.
Muslims already have a negative image thanks to the media and i was
hoping that someone would step forward and show people the true meaning
of Islam and that we DO NOT encourage terrorism.
I would like to thank you for taking this step and hope that Allah SWT
gives you all the strength that you need to do what is right for the
Muslims living in Britain.
Thank you
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| 20/07/2005 |
| Andrew Smith-Cairns |
Dear Sirs,
I am not normally given to writing letters, however in this instance I feel
that I must stress that the majority of the British population support you
and yours and are not against you or yours at what must be a very difficult
time for your faith.
Unfortunately in the UK we are not unaffected by "religious" struggles,
however, the only way that the last struggles came to an end was down to the
honourable majority speaking out and defending their true values and olnly
when this happened did sense prevail.
The fact that you have taken steps to read out of the Qu'ran in English to
an mainly ignorant population is to be applauded. It must be remembered
that there are still a large number of people in the UK that were educated
in 'Church' schools who know nothing other than the content of the bible and
therefore the unknown is to be feared.
Please continue to urge every true Muslim to root out the extremist
preachers and activists from your midsts as the Irish public both Catholic
and Protestant alike did in theirs.
Thank you for taking the time to read this email.
Yours Sincerely
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| 20/07/2005 |
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Listening to an MCB spokesman talking on Radio 4 the
other night, I was horrified to hear that the MCB has
received hate-email in the wake of the London
bombings, so I wanted to send you an email of good
wishes.
This is my second attempt to email you, I received an
error message saying you had exceeded your email
limit, so you must be receiving a huge number of
emails and I hope more of them are messages of support
than messages of hate.
I am a non-religious 'anglo-saxon' white Londoner from
a Christian background, but I have a lot of respect
for faith in God, from all religions.
I am ashamed that amidst the wonderful response to the
attacks, while good people are pulling together to
support each other and show the terrorists they cannot
win, there are some people who react with the sort of
irrational hatred the terrorists themselves represent.
It saddens me to see anyone scapegoating the Muslim
community in Britain. Right-thinking British
non-Muslims know that Islam is not a religion of hate,
nor is it something strange and alien to be feared, it
is a part of British life, and (to me and many) a
welcome one.
It is deeply shocking that British-born Muslims took
part in the attacks (although it is shocking anyone
from anywhere in world would so such a thing) and it
must be a source of great pain to the Muslim community
that that the bombers came from the community. The
bombers do not represent Islam as a faith or the
British Muslim community and any sensible British
non-Muslim can see that.
It saddened me even more, amidst all the good things
people have done in the wake of the bombings, that
there have been attacks on mosques. Anyone who throws
a petrol bomb at a mosque is no better than the
bombers who attacked London last week. Just as the
suicide bombers do not represent the Muslim community,
people who attack mosques do not represent non-Muslim
British people in any way.
My respect for Islam and the Muslim community remains
unaffected by the horrors of last week. Muslims were
murdered in those bombings, and yet now the Muslim
community is facing unjustified suspicion. Not from
me, and not from any right-thinking person!
My best wishes go to the Muslim community at this
difficult time.
Regards,
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| 20/07/2005 |
| Aiysha |
Salaams
As a Muslim Londoner, I wanted to thank MCB for actively representing
London's Muslim voice since 7 July. I think we all feel utterly
distraught by the murderous attacks last week, carried out in the name
of 'Islam'. This is a very difficult time for British Muslims - not
only were many of us the target for such an attack but we also have the
additional betrayal of the bombers supposedly having carried out murder
in our 'name'.
As Muslims, we have a responsibility to speak up in our communities and
do whatever we can to root out extremists but also communicate our
Islamic values to wider society and be very much part of the solution in
helping our city move forward. MCB has taken this lead and I hope that
we Muslims can stand united to stamp out the craziness that has emerged
from a tiny fraction whilst promoting and influencing peace and justice
for all.
I read recently that MCB had received thousands of hate-mails. Please
remember for each one of those, there are many that you never receive
from those supporting your work, your voice and standing with you.
Jazakallah,
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| 20/07/2005 |
| Jenny Levy |
Dear Sirs
I am a young British Jew who has always believed that dialogue between
two sides of a conflict is crucial for any sort of progress towards
reconciliation. In fact I have been hoping to gather young Jewish and
Muslim people to discuss their differences. I am no supporter of Sharon
and his government - although I do support his disengagement plan. I
have always believed that the solution is two states for two peoples
with equal rights. It saddens me to see death of innocents whether they
are Israeli or Palestianian.
After watching Thursday's edition of Newsnight I am not so sure there
would be any point. I was very disheartened to see representatives of
the Muslim community making a differentiation between the use of suicide
bombings in the UK and in Israel - the former is wrong but the latter is
okay. So in other words you are telling me that you have no problem in
blowing up an Israeli child as you would a British child even though
both are innocent. The fact that you are unable to differentiate
deeply worries me. There is never any justification for the wanton
killing of innocent people. Two 16 year olds girls were blown apart last
Tuesday in a suicide bombing in Netanya. But you have no problem with
this because they were Israeli/Jewish? Is it a war against the Sharon
government and the army/ settlers or against Jews in general because
when you support the suicide bombers you are for the latter.
I also see many double standards coming fom the British Council of
Muslims. You say that the Americans are responsible for the deaths of so
many muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan. But in Iraq this week more than 30
children were blown up by Islamic insurgents - where is the condemnation
from the Muslim community for that too?
I would still like to think there could be better relations between the
two communities but only once I hear from leaders of a community that
violence towards innocent people, whether they are Muslim or Jew,
by people with which ever religion is wrong.
Yours faithfully
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| 20/07/2005 |
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Dear Dr Socranie
Blessings and greetings to you and your colleagues at the Council and within
the wider Muslim community nationwide.
Horrified as we have all been by the atrocity of the waste of human life in
the past week, never the less more horrifying to our way of thinking has
been the disgraceful way that many poeple have treated our muslim cousins in
the wake.
Here in Bournemouth I live next door to the Imam from the islamic centre and
have heard awful tales of discrimination and violent threats aimed at him
and his family.
Please be assured that you are always in our thoughts and prayers at the
beacon project, which is a multi faith group brought together to promote
racial and spiritual harmony, and you will continue so to be until such time
as peace and resolution is achieved.
Yours in the love and service of God and ALL people
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| 20/07/2005 |
| Iftikhar |
I would like to express my deep gratitude to the MCB in how they have dealt
with the recent events that have marred the British people.
I am a British Muslim and am proud to affiliate myself with your
organisation.
Thank you.
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| 20/07/2005 |
| John |
| I too am sorry that hate is directed at any group following the
atrocities. At a time of inflamed passions it is easy to forget that the
causes of tensions and unhappiness need addressing as well as the
barbarism perpetrated by a few and the wars waged by groups nations.
Remember the 8000 of Sebrinica as well as the dead of 9/11 and 7/7.
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| 20/07/05 |
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Dear Muslim Council of Britain,
May I first express my revulsion at the acts of hatred towards the
Muslim community that have happened since the atrocities in London on
July 7th. Such actions are despicable and are in no way constructive
to British society or the solidarity that has developed since the
London bombings, and should be reviled as much as the bombings
themselves.
I am writing to you to express my support for the solidarity and
guidance you have given to the Muslim community in this trying time.
While I am not a Muslim myself, it is overwhelmingly apparent that
your prompt responses and actions have given reassurance to many
people in this country, whether they are Muslims or not.
My family is of Serbian origin, so these bombings have come during a
period of reflection for us when considering the awful atrocities that
occurred at Srebrenica - an example of the actions of a few that hang
shamefully over our entire community. But for me, as a young person
having grown up in the United Kingdom, I feel it as a time of hope for
the future - hope that the perpetrators of acts of mass murder will be
brought to justice, and most of all hope that despite the pain and
suffering of the past we can all have a future of working together and
living together in peace. The actions of the MCB in these past days
have encouraged that hope. The act of rooting out extremism and
hatred is something that every society should do - the messages and
actions of hatred towards Muslims recently are testament to the fact
that this still needs to be done in Britain.
Despite living in these relatively bleak times of wars and bombings
and terror, my sincerest wish is for a future where 'ethnic tensions'
are no longer a problem, and people live with a respect for the value
of human life, whatever their culture or beliefs, and I believe that
by working together we can make it happen. I wish to again thank the
MCB for the leadership and solidarity it has shown, and I am sure the
MCB and wider Muslim community have the support of the vast majority
in these tough times for everyone in Britain.
Best wishes,
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| 20/07/2005 |
| Mathias Loertscher
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Dear Muslim Council of Britain,
It was with distress that I read in a recent newspaper that you and
other Muslim organisations have been bombarded with emails of hate and
violence because of last week's bombings. So I write to you just to
say that I - and I am sure many other non-Muslims - deplore that
reaction, and want very much for us all to stand together united.
If there is any good that can come out of this tragedy, then it is
that people recognise how fortunate they are to live in such a
multicultural city as London, and to work together to preserve and
encourage that unique fabric with a spirit of openness and mutual
acceptance.
So please do not feel isolated by those heinous messages. There are
many more of us who want you to be part of this great mosaic and to be
able to share our cultures.
Kind regards,
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| 20/07/2005 |
| Frecca Hebbes
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This is a message of sympathy from a Christian British family.
We can understand how shocked the Muslim community is to learn that
the London bombers came from the their midst. We want you to know
that we see them as criminals who do not represent Islam. We are
concerned that the Muslim community in Britain should not be
stigmatised by the actions of these men. We are sorry that you
receive hate mail from ignorant people who have no real insights
into Islam and the teachings of the Koran.
We hope that the London bombings will bring the people of Britain
together rather than creating greater divisions and we shall work
towards this end with our Muslim neighbours.
Please tell your congregations that there are many of us who do not
hate or fear you and are happy to live alongside you in peace.
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Page 221
For further information please contact the MCB:
The Muslim Council of Britain
PO Box 52
Wembley
HA9 0XW
Tel: 020 8903 9650
Fax: 020 8903 9026
admin@mcb.org.uk
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