In a post from yesterday, the GMBDW analyzed the relationship of the Muslim Brotherhood in the US to Black Lives Matter and the death of George Floyd, concluding that the US Brotherhood was attempting to capitalize on recent events for purposes of Dawa (conversion to Islam) and for gaining allies for its Hamas-related activism. The Muslim Brotherhood in the UK appears also to be trying the same strategies. In a June 1st statement, the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) issued a statement repeatedly referring to black Americans as “black brothers and sisters”:
Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, said:“Allah Almighty said: O my servants, I have forbidden injustice for myself and I have forbidden it among you, so do not oppress one another. [Muslim] The Muslim Association of Britain is appalled at the callous murder of George Floyd at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis, USA. We would like to express our deepest condolences to the family of Mr George Floyd and the families of all black brothers and sisters that are grieving the loss of their loved ones at the hands of police brutality. The protests which broke out across the United States and the world demanding justice for George and for all black men and women killed at the hands of racism and anti-blackness, reflect the anger and pain many of us feel. But this feeling of anger alone is not enough to bring about justice and to drive the change that is so desperately needed.We have an obligation as Muslims to be anti-racist, and to stand up against injustice wherever it arises. Racism is not an opinion; it is the lived reality of many of our black brothers and sisters. Solidarity is not an option, it is a duty and lifelong commitment to end racism. Solidarity means to drive out anti-Blackness wherever it arises, from our hearts, speech, actions and from our local spaces and communities.
Read the rest here.
Around the same time, the MAB announced an online “Anti-Hate Summit”, co-sponsored by the East London Mosque, titled “The Triple Pandemics of Racism, Islamophobia, and COVID-19”, clearly attempting to tied its notions about Islamophobia to both the global pandemic and to Black Lives Matter. Perhaps the most prominent of the featured speakers listed for the conference is Nihad Awad, the long-time leader of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) in the US and who emerged out of the Hamas support infrastructure in the US. In 2016, the GMBDW reported that Awad was featured at the Inaugural conference of the US Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO), a new coalition of US Muslim Brotherhood groups, that also featured MAB leader Anas Al-Tikriti. The MAB has had a long history of partnering with far-left groups, beginning with its participation in the Respect Coalition, the sponsor of the February 2003 anti-Iraq war demonstration in London, reported by police to have been the largest demonstration ever held in the UK.
The Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) had for many years been the most active organization in the UK Muslim Brotherhood. Many of the leaders of the MAB left in 2007 to form the British Muslim Initiative (BMI). According to an Israeli think-tank report, the breakup appeared to be the result of a conflict between traditionalists in the MAB who were unhappy with the high level of involvement in UK left-wing politics while those who formed the BMI wished such activity to continue. Since then, it appears that the BMI is moribund and that the MAB has resumed its role as the central organization of the Muslim Brotherhood in the UK. Anas Al-Tikriti, the former leader of the BMI and the son of Usama Al-Tikriti one of the leaders of the Iraqi Muslim Brotherhood, declared recently that he has returned to the MAB as its Chairman.
The East London Mosque has its own history of extremism and ties to the UK Brotherhood and other Islamist groups in the UK.
For video of the conference, go here.