not so magic

Magic Muslim defunded:

The Quilliam Foundation, the think tank devoted to promoting harmony in West/Islam relations, is facing the withdrawal of its financial backers. The foundation was set up by former Hizb ut-Tahrir members Maajid Nawaz and Ed Husain in April with the explicit aim of freeing Western Muslims from “the cultural baggage of the Indian subcontinent and the political burdens of the Arab world”. Its work has already been feted by such figures as Michael Gove, the Conservative Shadow Secretary for Children, Schools and Families, and socialite Muslim Jemima Khan. But now its financial backers, based in the Gulf, have cut off funding because they are incensed at its criticism of Ken Livingstone’s favourite Islamist, Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi.

Which sounds kind of odd: as though they’d offered him a load of money without checking on his opinions in the first place. It’s also very odd to look to the Gulf for money to try and generate support for a “Western Islam” apparently based on the model of al-Andalus. We may have lost a scorching critique of Spanish imperialism here, or maybe not. Personally I suspect his opinions about Saudi Arabia might have had more to do with it. You don’t beard the House of Sordid in its own backyard. In Britain, they are officially above the law in the consideration of both the government and the opposition.

What annoys me about people like Ed Husain is that the vast majority of British Muslims never joined any salafist group like he did and have never considered doing so. And yet he gets to turn round and lecture them on their “responsibilities” as part of his own rehabilitation process. I suspect most will be equally inclined to ignore him preaching the revival of Granada in Bradford now as they were when he preached holy war.

Al-Qaeda, meanwhile, seems intent on going to hell in its own way:

In December, Al Qaeda's campaign of violence reached new depths in the eyes of many Muslims, with a plot to launch attacks in Saudi Arabia while millions were gathered for the Hajj. Saudi security services arrested 28 Al Qaeda militants in Mecca, Medina, and Riyadh, whose targets allegedly included religious leaders critical of Al Qaeda, among them the Saudi Grand Mufti Sheikh Abd Al Aziz Al Sheikh, who responded to the plot by ruling that Al Qaeda operatives should be punished by execution, crucifixion, or exile. Plotting such attacks during the Hajj could not have been more counterproductive to Al Qaeda's cause, says Abdullah Anas, who was making the pilgrimage to Mecca himself. "People over there ... were very angry. The feeling was, how was it possible for Muslims to do that? I still can't quite believe it myself. The mood was one of shock, real shock."

See also Iraq: an incredible opportunity we handed them that they managed to comprehensively screw up by their behaviour in-country. This isn’t to say that Ed Husain isn’t needed: he’s just the Magic Muslim needed by sections of the commentariat and the political classes. Perhaps they should pay for him too.

Comments

[Demon]

...a plot to launch attacks in Saudi Arabia while millions were gathered for the Hajj...whose targets allegedly included religious leaders critical of Al Qaeda...

Hmmm...we can talk to Al Qaeda so long as they confine their activities to killing their fellow Muslims over doctrinal differences?

Keep it in the family and we can do business (but what sort?)

The old divide and conquer schtick rides again.

[Nick L]

Bit of a shame about Quilliam, hope it doesn't spell the end for them. I think they deserved a chance to make themselves heard.

[Sammy Smith]

Seems that everyone was being scammed by these guys for them to make money, one has already been exposed as such:

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1184614595/bctid1578617152

[Jav]

For a group advocating democracy, sources of funds should have been clear and transparent - like their murky backgrounds, everything about the Quilliam Foundation, from its politics, philosophy and theology is pretty murky and uninspiring.

They have been thoroughly debunked by a number of writers - the following couple of sites are good examples:
www.islamic-considerations.blogspot.com
and
www.abu-ibrahim.blogspot.com