Press release | 24th November 2013 / 20th Muharram 1435 A.H.

We were saddened and dismayed to learn from the BBC programme Newsnight aired on 20th November, 2013 of a 23 year old young man from Portsmouth who has proceeded to join the rebel forces in Syria. Further we are shocked and worried to hear divisive sectarian rhetoric from the brother of the young man in Portsmouth.

Let it be known that such acts commonly referred to in the media as ‘jihad tourism’ by the young man are not heroic nor are such person considered to be heroes of the pristine teachings of Islam.  

It is gratifying to note that our friends in the Portsmouth Interfaith Forum, in asking people not to overreact to the news comment that “such acts do not represent the muslim community living in Portsmouth and the vast majority of muslims just want to live in peace with their neighbours.”

The Syrian civil war is a tragedy on many levels. It has left hundreds of thousands of Syrians without homes, caused tens of thousands of deaths, separated children from their parents and ruined the lives of millions of people. It is a human tragedy, a political tragedy, and a cultural tragedy.

The war has also embedded a pernicious politics that legitimises the targeting of religious minorities including Christians but particularly Shi'a Muslims.

We are deeply worried about the way in which the dangerous sectarian narrative of extremists, as seen in the last 20 seconds of the programme segment where the brother of the youth who has left for Syria cites his own conviction due to the online resources of fatwa from Saudi scholars that Shias are non-muslims, has reached our own streets, especially because we have such strong relations with other local Muslim communities.
We work very hard to foster these links. We have meeting with Sunni – Shia community leaders, visitations to mosques, attending burial ceremonies, hospital chaplaincy and even participate jointly in interfaith events. Recently in May 2013 a joint statement on Muslim solidarity and unity by various national muslim organisations including Council of European Jamaats (CoEJ) ,our national organisation, was released urging the muslim community to stand firm against those who propagate activities or tolerate the rhetoric of takfir( charging of unbelief) for anyone who believes in Unity of God, the prophethood of Prophet Muhammad and faces qibla in prayers. So it is deeply disturbing to us to hear these views being expressed by a local young man. This is frightening.

In order to challenge the rhetoric hate preachers, we need to recognise where the problem comes from. Multilingual satellite TV channels based in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, such as Wesal TV and Safa TV now provide a 24/7 diet of Shi'a-hatred to British households. Extremist Saudi preachers such as Mohamed Al Arifi, responsible for encouraging foreign fighters to travel to Syria, are still allowed to tour the UK. It can be seen in the Newsnight report how the young man quoted Saudi scholars as his source of misguided information.
 Definitely more needs to be done especially by the government authorities to challenge Saudi Arabia for its allowing the spreading of such hatred.

It is difficult for community leaders to challenge the root causes of extremism if the sponsors of terrorism are given a free hand.

We are committed to working with local mosques, youth organisations, the police and our MPs to ensure that young men here are not lured into extremism.
We must all recognise that Shi'a Muslims are rapidly becoming the most frequent victims of terrorism across the world, and must work stop this poisonous ideology in its tracks before it reaches home.

Further there is need for all in the community to work together to ensure that sectarianism, radicalism or extremism is not allowed to flourish and that their negative ramifications are contained.

As muslims we all have an obligation to promote community cohesion, becoming responsible citizenship of the U.K. and the world as embodied in the teachings of the Noble Qur’an and Ahlul Bayt a.s.  

24th November, 2013

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For more information, contact:
Sheikh Fazle Abbas Datoo, Imam of the Al Mahdi Wessex Jamaat Community.
(Tel : 01329 832537)