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UNSPUN
as-salaamu 'alaykum
everyone,
With the British General Election widely predicted to
be only five weeks away (the most touted date is currently Thursday 5th May
2005), politicians are busy making their pitches to various constituencies.
Since the last general elections were held in 2001 we
have seen the results of the 2001 Census reveal that there are more Muslims in
the UK - 1.6 million officially - than the numbers of Jews, Hindus, Sikhs and
Buddhists combined. In addition, British Muslims tend to live in concentrated
areas which makes their vote especially crucial in winning over. So British Muslims have a huge leveraging potential in the
elections - if they deploy their votes effectively.
At UNSPUN we regularly urge our readers to play a more
active role in the media and mainstream politics not least so that the Muslim
voice in the UK is not marginalised or distorted by those with clearly
anti-Muslim agendas. We believe that groups who
oppose participation in the mainstream of our country can only lead Muslims into
the cul-de-sac of irrelevance and impotence.
So, we are heartened that since 2001 we have seen
Muslim groups like the umbrella body the Muslim Council of Britain, and other
groups like MAB, ISB and MPAC all consistently calling for British Muslims to
come forward and shoulder their share of responsibilities if they truly wish to
serve the cause of Islam. There is no other way to improve our condition other
than through increased participation, organisation and hard work. The dismissal
of the Islamophobes Robert Kilroy-Silk and Harry 'Will' Cummins in 2004 could
not have occurred without this greater Muslim organisational
presence.
But which party should British Muslims vote for? Well,
your UNSPUN moderators believe that YOU need to make that choice yourselves
after we hope considering the main issues that face all of us in the UK.
According to The Times (22nd March 2005), the Muslim Council of Britain is to
shortly issue a 10-point voter card to British Muslims that will list the ten
main issues which they believe should be asked of all prospective parliamentary
candidates. Your UNSPUN moderators are trying to get
an advance look at the MCB Voter Card - more details soon, insha'
Allah.
Meanwhile, the election campaign is already turning
ugly even though the election has not yet been officially called. The Tory party
have tried in recent weeks with their 'Are you thinking what we're thinking?'
posters made a not so subtle appeal to the racist undercurrent in British
society to try and generate hysteria about traveller groups ('gypsies') and
immigrants. Last Friday, we hear that some Muslim thugs assaulted two MPAC
campaigners outside the Bicknell Street mosque in Blackburn (Foreign Minister
Jack Straw's constituency). A Channel 4 cameraman was able to get some footage
of the attack - so we hope that those who acted violently are successfully
prosecuted. See the following MPAC alert for their account of what
happened:
In Bethnal Green and Bow, the pro-Iraq war MP Oona
King (Labour) is up against anti-war George Galloway MP (Respect). Bethnal
Green and Bow is home to a huge Muslim population - will they manage to unite
and boot Oona out? Or will they squabble among themselves and allow Oona to
return to parliament?
On Saturday 26th March 2005, the left-wing writer
Tariq Ali - in a piece for the Guardian - argued that 'for one day' he would
become a Liberal-Democrat because 'If Blair wins
this election (as appears likely) he will claim, like Bush, that the country
supports him in these difficult times'. He urged
'tactical/intelligent voting in every
constituency' to target pro-war candidates.
On Monday 28th March 2005. Peter Hain MP - the leader
of the House of Commons - also writing in the Guardian, raised the spectre of
the Tories getting back in and appealed for Labour voters to stay loyal despite
the war against Iraq:
"All I say is that,
right or wrong, ministers like me acted in good faith. Accepting this honest
disagreement, surely the priority is to support the fragile fledgling democracy
taking the place of Saddam's murderous tyranny - the Iraqi political parties,
the free media and free unions that are trying to establish themselves against
merciless violent attacks?"
In coming weeks UNSPUN will bring you more alerts to
do with the General Election.
Also - coming soon. UNSPUN's all-new website. Stay
tuned...
salaams,
Moderators,
*************************************************************************** {Invite (mankind, O Muhammad ) to the Way of your Lord (i.e. Islam) with wisdom (i.e. with the Divine Inspiration and the Qur'an) and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better. Truly, your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His Path, and He is the Best Aware of those who are guided.} (Holy Quran-16:125) {And who is better in speech than he who [says: "My Lord is Allah (believes in His Oneness)," and then stands straight (acts upon His Order), and] invites (men) to Allah's (Islamic Monotheism), and does righteous deeds, and says: "I am one of the Muslims."} (Holy Quran-41:33) The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "By Allah, if Allah guides one person by you, it is better for you than the best types of camels." [al-Bukhaaree, Muslim] The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) also said, "Whoever calls to guidance will have a reward similar to the reward of the one who follows him, without the reward of either of them being lessened at all." [Muslim, Ahmad, Aboo Daawood, an-Nasaa'ee, at-Tirmidhee, Ibn Maajah] -------------------------------------------------------------------------- All views expressed herein belong to the individuals concerned and do not in any way reflect the official views of IslamCity unless sanctioned or approved otherwise. If your mailbox clogged with mails from IslamCity, you may wish to get a daily digest of emails by logging-on to http://www.yahoogroups.com to change your mail delivery settings or email the moderators at [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the title "change to daily digest".
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