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U.K. government’s move irks Muslim groups

LONDON: Right-wing British-Muslim groups have accused the government of interfering in the community’s religious affairs and trying to create a “state-sponsored” version of Islam by planning to set up a board of leading Islamic theologians to advise Muslims on issues like wearing the veil.

The government, however, said the demand for such a body had, in fact, come from Muslims themselves, who believed the community had been hijacked by extremists and needed a “stronger leadership.” The 20-member board, which would be funded by the government but run by Cambridge University, would prepare a report on Islamic beliefs in relation to life in Britain in an attempt to reconcile Muslim beliefs and practices with the British way of life.

Announcing the move, Secretary of State for Communities, Hazel Blears, emphasised the government would have nothing to do with the board, except to provide funding, and that its composition would reflect the diversity of Britain’s Muslim community. “The British government’s interference in the Muslim community and matters of Islam is unprecedented in comparison with any other religion or community,” said a spokesman for Hizb-ut-Tahrir. But mainstream Muslims welcomed the move. “We felt we needed something of this nature to help create a better a structured approach to how we are educating our children,” Sheikh Ibrahim Mogra of the Muslim Council of Britain told the BBC.

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