UK Clerics Teach Same Brand of Islamism as in Pak: US Think Tank

The Pakistani Islamist ideas are being preached publicly in mass rallies in Britain and Europe.

A leading American think tank, Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), has expressed concern over the growing threat by Islamists in the United Kingdom.

In a research paper published by the MEMRI, Tufail Ahmad, director for South Asia, said:

The speeches and activities of Islamic clerics settled in the UK and coming into the UK from Pakistan and elsewhere reveal only one point – they teach the same Islamist ideas that are taught in Pakistan.

Ahmad was speaking in the context of the recent weeks-long Islamic fundamentalist siege of Islamabad over the issue of Khatm-e-Nabuwwat (finality of the prophethood of Mohammed), a belief that is part of the Sharia-linked blasphemy laws.

He said, "The ideas articulated by Islamists in Pakistan are being preached in British towns and Europe – publicly and in mass rallies.”

"In recent decades, Ahmadi Muslims, pejoratively dismissed by clerics as Qadianis and persecuted by the Pakistani state and society, have found shelter in the UK. Ahmadi Muslims will be at the receiving end of Pakistani Islamism flowing into the UK because they are accused, inaccurately, by Islamists of not believing Mohammed to be the last prophet. Ahmadis do believe that Mohammed was the last prophet, but also argue, much like the Sufis do, that God talks to and mediates with mystics.

However, the Islamists – Deobandis or Sufis – have determined that Ahmadis are guilty of blasphemy by not believing that Mohammed was the last prophet," Ahmad said.

Speaking in Birmingham on 28 November, Chaudhary Dawood Pahalwan, the convener of the Jamaat-e-Islami UK for the Midlands, “paid generous tributes to those who sacrificed their lives for the honour of Prophet Mohammed" during the violence in Islamabad.

Specifically, he was paying tribute to Zohaib Zahid, a leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami in Rawalpindi, who died in the clashes with the police in Islamabad.

Pahalwan warned: "Unless Nizam-e-Mustafa (the Prophet Mohammed's system of governance) is established in Pakistan, there cannot be peace in the country."

Ahmad indicated that there have been several instances where Islamic clerics in the UK have opposed democratic rule in favour of Islamic rule.

Referring to Chaudhary Dawood Pahalwan's speech, Ahmad said he was specifically paying tribute to Zohaib Zahid.

Khatm-e-Nabuwwat is one of the beliefs that constitute Islam’s blasphemy laws. The speeches and activities of Islamic clerics settled in the UK and coming into the UK from Pakistan and elsewhere reveal only one point: they teach the same Islamist ideas that are taught in Pakistan. With regards to the Prophet Mohammed’s honour, all Islamic sects – of al-Qaeda or the jihadis, the Taliban, and the Islamic State – favour the killing of anyone who commits blasphemy of the Prophet.

Tufail Ahmad, director, South Asia, MEMRI

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