ACT NOW. Sign the petition to support Westminster Islamic Society. Some people from the LGBTI society want to ban Shaikh Dr Haitham al-Haddad from speaking at the University about the Prophet Muhammad (sallAllāhu ‘alayhi wasallam):
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Another attempt has been made to stir up hatred and anti-Muslim sentiment recently by the usual mistranslation, misrepresentation and outright lies against a mainstream Islamic scholar, Shaikh Dr Haitham al-Haddad. Westminster student LGBTI society has launched a petition to prevent Shaikh Dr. Haitham speaking at an event this week on the life of the Prophet Muhammad (sallAllāhu ‘alayhi wasallam), which has received over 2,500 signatures. They have done so by clearly copying and pasting false and sensationalised accusations against the sheikh from well known Islamophobic websites and organisations such as Student Rights, that are themselves ironically banned from campuses for their hate-mongering and misrepresentation.
Credit must be given to the University of Westminster (Click here for the Islamic Society’s statement) and the National Union of Students, who have refused to campaign to limit the freedom of the Islamic Society to hold such an event, especially due to the spurious and ideologically charged accusations that form the basis of the LGBTI society’s petition.
However, we must ACT NOW to show our support by signing a new petition set up to show the University of Westminster that we are against the attempted criminalisation of articulating normative, mainstream Islamic beliefs, and the silencing of Muslim speakers based on such spurious accusations. The demonisation of the Shaikh has already begun on several news sites based on these spurious accusations, starting on fringe interest blogs but making their way into mainstream papers clearly due to an oversight in journalistic due diligence. Sites including The Independent, Guardian and the London Evening Standard have started to spread this misinformation, so it is time to act to prevent this turning into a bigger issue.
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Read today’s article: How does the media fuel Islamophobia?
Press Release: Dr. Al Haddad responds to calls for him to be banned from University of Westminster
Dr. Al Haddad responds to calls for him to be banned from speaking at the University of Westminster. Earlier today he said:
“This is a completely misplaced campaign. The event has nothing to do with Islam’s position on homosexuality yet this is the focus of their complaint. There is a clear attempt being made to almost criminalise certain aspects of being a Muslim. In the religion of Islam it is clear-cut that homosexual acts are a sin and are unlawful in the Shariah. Trying to censor lawful speech does not change this fact.”
He further added:
“I do not believe the views I hold are much different to those of orthodox Christian or Jewish religious leaders. I have only ever engaged in lawful speech and have never been prosecuted for hate speech or inciting hatred. I would remind those who initiated this campaign that this country is supposed to be based on freedom of religious belief and expression. I am a strong believer in dialogue, regrettably the LGBTI society wants to shut it down.”
Press release originally published here
Press enquiries: [email protected]
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Source: www.islam21c.com
Your claim “freedom of Speech/Hate speech. Just depends if the person holding it is muslim or not” shows the honesty we expect from muslims, as this thread shows. Dr. al-Haddad would like a society where people whose tastes and opinions he does not share will be killed. Westminster student LGBTI merely do not want him to speak- incite is the term that comes to mind on reading some of his remarks- at Westminster University.
LGBT “active and vocal opposition to British values” – but Muslims are the ‘extremists’? #zeitgeist
Is this the chap you mean?
“the scourge of homosexuality…a criminal act (according to the fundamentals of all faiths)…the desire of a secular government and godless homosexuals in wanting to attack and alter this profoundly religious notion when they are, quite regrettably, already afforded its benefits….I pray to Allah to preserve this country from evil practices, to save us from such acts,”
from
https://www.islam21c.com/politics/4670-standing-up-against-homosexuality-and-lgbts/
Incidentally, he is mistaken in his claim that homosexual activity is “a criminal act (according to the fundamentals of all faiths)”. Not that that is relevant, but if you are going to base your claims on prejudice, it’s as well to check that the prejudice is as common as you claim it is.
To Hector,
You don’t think sodomy is a criminal act? Allah destroyed 2 nations in one night. What was the populaces crime? Sodomy, that was their crime. Heck even Prophet Ayoub’s wife was destroyed as well for her support of the criminals.
That’s what they say, Ibrahim.
The claim that Allah says sodomy is “a criminal act” for unspecified reasons is not a reasonable basis for making sodomy- or other homosexual acts- illegal.
Brother that’s Prophet Lot’s (peace be upon him) wife, not Job’s (peace be upon him).
And Allah knows best
Speaking of Sodomy and any act that leads to such fahsha , I am strongly against it. However, hector didn’t say otherwise, he said sheikh haitham mistakenly made a stereotypical statement about other religions position on homeosexuality which is not the case with except the Abrahamic religions.
Furthermore, you also said that prophet ayub (as) was sent to the people of Sodom. Wrong again bro it was prophet lut (as)
No, Tufael, I don’t think “sodomy”= or any other activity between consenting adults that does not harm other people- should be a crime.
My description of Dr. Al-Haddad’s disapproval of “sodomy” as being based on prejudice is based on the fact that even if you believe Allah condemned homosexuality in the Koran, no reason is given except Allah’s unsupported
opinion that it is wrong for unspecified reasons. It looks as if Allah’s distaste for homosexual activity is based on prejudice.
Hi Hector,
The common misconception that homosexuality “does not harm other people” is a misnomer. It is a practise that directly affects families and communities by which the social fabric of society is prone to alter, and the natural disposition of man’s nature is corrupted with myriad of detrimental imbalances. I’d like to go into greater detail but it would only serve a useful purpose if people are genuinely serious about a mature dialogue. Good day.
Certainly, the acceptance of homosexual behaviour and homosexuals “affects families and communities”. What makes you think it affects them for the worse, Zaki? How is “the social fabric of society” affected for the worse by it? What is your evidence that homosexuality is not part of “the natural disposition of man’s [and woman’s] nature”? Again, how does acceptance of this corrupt man’s nature? the “myriad of detrimental imbalances” which you believe ensue?
جاءَ هم نصرنا ، فنجي من نشآءُ..
With every new sun rising, you see more and more government-sponsored hatred propaganda against Muslims and Islam: particularly the Government entities in United States of America, Britain, Australia, Canada, and now New Zealand, Belgium, Sweden are raising the crescendo of this bombastic music against Muslims. Of course, within those societies there are still some good people who see through these governmental tactics, but they are more or less powerless and are not in a position to prevent this war-mongering rhetoric that is reaching the skies and involving every corner of the earth– wherever there is a Muslim, the earth seems to be burning under the feet of Muslims! حتي اذا تائس الرسل و ظنوا انهم قد کُذبوا جاءَ هم، فنجي من نشاءُ، ولا يُرد باسنا عن القوم المجرمين. صدق الله علي العظيمآآ
As usual the attack dogs over on the Islamophobia award winning pro Israel Neo Conservative, pro war, pro free speech against Islam but not for Muslims – blog Harrys Place is leading this campaign. In the past there have been threats of violence by some far right thugs against events held by Muslims, lets hope the police do their job properly this time.
Making false accusations against an innocent person and falsely incriminating them, is in itself a criminal act. The Westminster University LGBT society has conducted itself in a clearly unlawful and potentially illegal manner. The LGBT must be held legally accountable for it’s false accusations. Freedom of speech (that does not promote violence or racism) is a basic human right and must be protected. Clearly, the LGBT believe it is perfectly lawful to promote hatred, false incrimination and discrimination against innocent muslims. This is a racist and criminal double standard which should be legally prosecuted.