That’s certainly what happened to me when I first took shahadah. I didn’t know there were other interpretations of Islam until I “took a break” and later connected with a different group of Muslims. I say alhamdulillah for that!

I agree. If Salafis want to preach their version of Islam then they MUST make clear to their congregation what they are doing. At least then the audience can make an informed decision as to whether they want to listen or not.

But since they consider their version of Islam the only version of Islam, they are deceivingly leading naive Muslims to believe that this is indeed Islam – not just the rigid, ultra-conservative, and intolerant interpretation of Islam.

Sorry, Faith, to be so picky about your piece. We may just have to respectfully agree to disagree.

I believe the author of the initial blog entry is being overly and unnecessarily critical and is playing into the hands of the whole victim mentality – you’re undeniably missing the most obvious and crucial point of how useful this dispatches programme was to us – us as muslims and us in general.

Sobia has raised some valid points. Ordinary people on the ground know about the mosque in question and its saudi links and its quite worrying that an undercover reporter had to “dig up some dirt” and air it. even so, to be quite honest, I am glad people were exposed for preaching something which goes contrary to the spirit of Islam – only then/now, will those in power be forced to make some changes. fact is, salafism is being taught in various mosques and even though we all believe in them doing that- those who are being taught this agenda should certainly know about it and choose whether or not they want to further this particular strand of literal Islam.

it would be great if we can reclaim the central mosque in London – one that is highly influential to many unsuspecting Muslims and other smaller affiliated mosques/school etc – from the hands of the sauds.

I can see the social utility of a show like this if it prompts an outcry that moves Umm Saleem to take her incitements to violence out of the public place and outside the accepted norm.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/may/21/fundamentallyflawed

@ Jane:
Fundamentalist Christians also run some pretty big churches. And don’t forget, stoning is also a Christian punishment for homosexuality. So I am sure there are extremist Christians condoning killing as well. And what about the Iraq war? Recently referred to by Palin as “God’s work.” Really? An illegal and immoral war is God’s work? A war which has killed thousands of innocent people is God’s work? So proposing the killing of innocent people occurs in extremist versions of most religions. The idea is to kill those who threaten our way of being – and that is anyone who is not the same religion as us. I believe there is a documentary worth seeing called Jesus Camp. ( http://www.jesuscampthemovie.com

Additionally, Dispatches has conducted a documentary on fundamentalist Christians in the UK as well.

( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeTfW8-dCNE&eurl=http://thetrashbin.wordpress.com/2008/06/20/in-gods-name-the-rise-of-fundamentalist-christians-in-the-uk/ )

So although I do understand your fear, there are others out there to fear as well. In fact, as I’ve said before, I think such Salafis are more of a danger to Muslims than they are non-Muslims. Most Salafis probably wouldn’t even consider me a Muslim. Which I’m assuming would be worse – I’m someone who should know better.

@Faith:
I’m sure the Salafis you know/knew were harmless and most of them are harmless physically. But intellectually they are not so harmless. When they propagate their narrow version of Islam as the ONLY version of Islam then they are essentially alienating a whole lot of people, which has in the past, and will continue to, lead to a consistent conversion of Muslims to other faiths. Their self-righteous views are often enough to scare many Muslims as well as non-Muslims away from Islam. So the danger they pose, in my view, is more an intellectual one as opposed to physical.

Faith, I somewhat understand what you mean, but I feel like this Masjid is not only private space but it is also for public use and it is a public forum. For examples there are lectures, media (books, tapes etc.) and some of the people in this Masjid are teaching the opposite of what they claim to be (tolerant, peaceful). Therefore, this Masjid is falsely representing what it stands for to the public. This is disturbing because it’s Deceptive, it’s Misleading. You have the right to believe what you want to believe but don’t claim others. And do you have the right to teach such views in a public space.

Faith I too have a problem with people who force their views on others, but a lot of us also have a problem with deception and the teaching of deception, both are harmful. Evidence was obtained in this Mosque that intolerance and deception was being taught in classes. And please keep in mind this is happening in one of the most important Mosques in the UK (not some basement in an apartment or house).

I pray this significant Mosque changes these negative aspects and reaches out to people who after viewing this show may feel rejection from (such foul language as “Kaffirs don’t trust them, don’t give them loyalty, what is British citizenship but garbage” etc). The Mosque did a lot of work from the last dispatches show but “come on” those books are still being sold and references from teachers like Umm Salam are not being checked.

What made me sad is that you challenged their media representation of Islam but you didn’t challenge this Mosque media representation of the other. (What I mean by Mosque media is the tapes, books, lectures, classes). You didn’t challenge Muslim media in this Mosque and how it represents Muslim women as intolerant and deceptive. For me, I feel by not discussing some of the valid points gathered that were just hiding behind the banner of Islamophobia.

Thanks for the comments!

@Salaam: I’m not sure what I should propose an alternative approach for. Honestly, I don’t think the Dispatches program was really even a story. I could be biased because I have known about Salafism and known Salafis for so long. This isn’t a new phenomena. They’ve been in the West since at least the late 80s/early 90s. The Salafis are really no more of a news story than fundamentalist Christians or fundamentalists from any other religious tradition. While watching both the original Dispatches program and the sequel I did wonder what the actual story was. Yes, there are fundamentalist Muslims. Ok and? I just didn’t understand the point of Dispatches program.

@Sobia: No need to apologize

I know this may not be a popular view but I don’t think the Salafi movement is inherently dangerous. It’s not a monolithic movement. There are some fringe elements that advocate violence but most Salafis do not. Most Salafis, especially ones in America and Britain are pacifist and isolationist. They would love to see a caliphate again but they’re not going to war to see it.

As for Saudi, I don’t agree with the Salafi version of Islam that they propagate. Unfortunately, because of their oil money, they can afford to spread the Salafi ideology everywhere, even in non-Salafi masajid. Just about every masjid I’ve been to has copies of the Noble Qur’an because it’s free and they look “nice”. Also, it is really hard to get non-Saudi translated versions of hadeeth literature now. This is problematic since the Saudi translations are known to have mistranslations. IA that Salafism, as propagated by the Saudi is pretty intolerant. However, they have just as much right to propagate their version of Islam as Evangelical Christians have to propagate their version of Christianity. The only time I have a problem with the Salafis is when they force their views on others. People have the right to believe what they want to believe, even if it is intolerant. I guess that’s one of my main issues with the Dispatches programs. Do I like the beliefs of people like Umm Saleem? No. But she does have the right to hold those beliefs. Who are we to invade the privacy of the people in that masjid? That’s exactly what the Dispatches program did.