On 23 June 2016 the citizens of the United Kingdom face a critical referendum choice. Do they want the UK to Remain a member of the European Union, or do they want the UK to Leave the European Union.

The Conservative Muslim Forum as a body takes no position on which way people should vote in the EU Referendum. However we believe it is vitally important for people to learn about the facts and then vote after thinking about the arguments on both sides.

Accordingly, on 9 May 2016 we held a debate so people could learn about the issues and discuss them with our two speakers.

The event was chaired by CMF Executive member Mike Mogul.

As with almost all CMF events, it began with a Quran recitation by Imam Shakeel Kunwar. He recited Quran 49:13. After the recitation, CMF Chairman Mohammed Amin read out the English translation taken from “The Study Quran” published by HarperOne:

O Mankind!

Truly We created you from a male and a female and We made you peoples and tribes that you may come to know one another.

Surely the most noble of you before God are the most reverent of you.

Mohammed Amin explained that he had chosen this verse because it emphasises our common humanity, as remembering that is critical when dealing with something that can be as divisive as the EU Referendum.

The order of the speakers was chosen by coin toss to avoid bias.

The first speaker was Chris Philp, MP for Croydon South, elected to Parliament in May 2015. He explained why the UK should Remain in the EU.

The second speaker was Saqib Bhatti, a chartered accountant, a board member of Vote Leave and Joint Secretary General of Muslims for Britain. He explained why he was campaigning for Britain to leave the EU.

After the speeches there was an extensive question and answer session.

Before he gave the vote of thanks, Mohammed Amin took a straw poll. Of the audience, 18 said that at present they were inclined to vote Remain and 6 to vote Leave.

He also asked each group separately who had changed their minds as a result of what they had heard. Of the 6 Leave supporters, all had arrived as Leave supporters. Of the 18 Remain supporters, 17 had arrived as Remain supporters. Only 1 had arrived neutral, and had been persuaded to support Remain as a result of attending.

In the picture below, from left to right, are:

1. Mohammed Amin
2. Saqib Bhatti
3. Mike Mogul
4. Chris Philp MP
5. Imam Shakeel Kunwar

Despite all the focus on mass media, campaingning on the ground often represents the difference between winning and losing. That is why CMF members are often found pounding the pavement. When we get a picture, we post it on this website.

On 30 April 2016 CMF Executive Member Ajantha Tennakoon devoted part of her Saturday to campaigning for Zac Goldsmith to be elected as Mayor of London. She is pictured below second on the right from Zac holding a campaign poster.

On Saturday 23 April, Conservative Friends of Turkey, Conservative Friends of Eurasia, CLWCA Middle East & North Africa Group, CLWCA Italian Group, CLWCA Germany, Austria & Switzerland Group and Conservative Friends of the Caribbean organised a campaigning action day for Zac Goldmith, which was also supported by the Conservative Muslim Forum.

Below is a picture of our Deputy Chairman Ash Zaman with:

• Eva Brunner, Founder & Chairwoman, German, Swiss and Austrian Group – Cities of London and Westminster Conservatives
• Bota Hopkinson, Chairperson, Conservative Friends of Eurasia. She is holding the Zac Goldsmith poster.

Conservative Connect is a campaigning group founded by CMF Executive member Raza Anjum.

To support Zac Goldsmith’s campaign for London Mayor, they have produced a campaign song on YouTube  “He will win!” in six languages:

1. English
2. Hindi
3. Urdu
4. Punjabi
5. Chinese
6. Bangla

The song also contains subtitles. You can watch the four minute song below:

The website total politics also ran a story about it: Zac Goldsmith multilingual campaign song backs Tory contender in six languages.

The world was rightly shocked by the terrible bombings in Brussels on 22 March 2016 and a few days later in Lahore on 27 March 2016.

Manchester City Council has books of condolences for both cities. On 7 April 2016 Sajjad Karim MEP who was born in Blackburn but is of Pakistani descent went to Manchester Town Hall to sign the books of condolences. He was supported by a number of North West Conservatives, including our Chairman Mohammed Amin who was born in Pakistan.

By happenstance both of them ended up signing at the same time, as captured in the photograph below.

Mohammed Amin’s messages were composed spontaneously, but he had the opportunity to photograph them so the text is reproduced below.

Brussels Message

Brussels is a city that I have stayed in on several occasions and which I love. I was horrified by the bombings which brought to your city the same death and destruction that London has experienced before.

The criminals who carried out these murders were co-religionists of mine, other Muslims. The reality is that their understanding of Islam is utterly perverted. They believed that they were carrying out God’s work. I personally have no doubt that God will condemn them on the Day of Judgment.

Mohammed Amin
Chairman
Conservative Muslim Forum
United Kingdom

Lahore Message

My heart goes out to the people of Lahore who have been injured or lost loved ones as a result of this heinous crime.

The terrorists claim to be carrying out God’s will. The reality is that their views are an abomination and I firmly believe that on the Day of Judgment they will answer for their crimes.

Mohammed Amin
Chairman
Conservative Muslim Forum
United Kingdom

On Saturday 2 April 2016 Mrs Falak Ahmed of the Conservative Women’s Forum organised an event aimed at promoting community cohesion. It was held at the Royal Taj Restaurant & Banqueting Hall, 38 Manningham Lane, Bradford, and speakers were asked to address the question “How can we combat hatred against people of other faiths or ethnic groups?”

The Master of Ceremonies for the event was Mrs Itrat Ali, Chair of CMF Yorkshire & Humber, who was the Conservative Party’s candidate in Huddersfield in the 2015 general election. The speakers were:

• Harsimrat Kaur, a Sikh, on issues facing the Sikhs Community.
• Dayal Sharma MBE, a Hindu, on the theme of love for all and hate for none.
• Canon Keith Madeley MBE, a Christian, on how to achieve a cohesive society.
• Maulana Fazal Dad, a Muslim, on how Muslims should treat Christians and people of other faiths.
• CMF Chairman Mohammed Amin, a Muslim, on combatting antisemitism and anti-Muslim hatred.

Mrs Falak Ahmad gave the vote of thanks.

Mohammed Amin did not speak from a fully written text, but had prepared an outline that is sufficiently detailed that any reader will understand what he said during the talk. Accordingly it is reproduced below the photograph.

In the group photo below from left to right are:

1. Canon Keith Madeley MBE
2. Harsimrat Kaur
3. Mrs Itrat Ali
4. Dayal Sharma MBE
5. Person not yet identified
6. Mohammed Amin
7. Maulana Fazal Dad

Outline of Mohammed Amin’s speech on combatting antisemitism and anti-Muslim hatred

1. Good afternoon and assalumu aleikum
2. “How can we combat hatred against people of other faiths or ethnic groups”
   1. I think there are two key points
      1. Hatred is not selective, and our concern cannot be selective. The safety and security of everyone in Britain should matter to every one of us.
      2. We are stronger when we act against hate together.
3. I want to illustrate these points by talking about hatred of Jews, antisemitism.
4. How many of you have hear of Tell MAMA?
   1. MAMA = Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks
   2. The organisation is modelled on a Jewish organisation The Community Security Trust, normally just called the CST.
   3. For over 15 years the CST has helped people to report antisemitism, which is what Tell MAMA does.
   4. Tell MAMA has two co-chairs.
      1. Shahid Malik the former Labour MP and government minister.
      2. Richard Benson, who used to be Chief Executive of the CST.
   5. The CST has been extremely helpful sharing its experience and advice with Tell MAMA.
5. I want to look at antisemitism and anti-Muslim attack in a bit more detail.
   1. The CST works by calendar years.
   2. Tell MAMA works by the 12 months to the end of February.
      1. I’m going to compare Tell MAMA’s 12 months to the end of February 2015 with the CST’s 12 months to the end of December 2014.
   3. CST had 1,168 incidents, of which 81 were violent assaults, including 1 with extreme violence (grievous bodily harm or threat to life).
   4. Tell MAMA had 548 incidents, of which 21 were assaults, and 7 involved extreme violence
   5. Let’s put these numbers into context.
      1. For every Jew in Britain, how many Muslims are there?
         1. The answer is about 10.
            • England & Wales, 2011 census, 263,000 Jews, 2.7 million Muslims.
      2. Why did Tell MAMA not record about 11,000 incidents?
      3. Part of it will be under-reporting. The CST has been going longer and is better organised.
      4. That cannot be everything. The reality is that Jews suffer even more hatred than Muslims, much more.
6. What can we do to reduce hatred?
   1. There are things we do as individuals.
   2. There are things we can do as organised groups.
7. As an individual:
   1. Get involved with organisations that counter hatred and bring people together.
   2. Get involved with ordinary organisations. Everywhere you go, you are an ambassador for Islam. People will judge Islam by the Muslims they meet. If they don’t meet any Muslims, they will go by the worst media reporting.
      1. When I write things about taxation or investment, I am not doing that to reduce anti-Muslim hatred.
      2. However, reducing anti-Muslim hatred is one of the by-products I achieve, because I am showing that Muslims are normal people who have something to say about tax and investments.
   3. Ask yourself how many non-Muslim friends you have, people whose houses you go to occasionally, who you sometimes have around for a meal.
   4. As a parent, make sure you bring up your children to think of everyone in society as a fellow citizen, part of the “US” that makes us one country.
      1. If you are teaching your children to hate any group, you are failing in your duty as a citizen.
8. As groups:
   1. Get your group connected with non-Muslim groups.
   2. If you run a sports team, get it playing with non-Muslim teams.
   3. If you run a mosque, twin it with a church, and visit that church as an organised group and invite them back.
9. The one thing that does not help is sitting back and saying everything is awful and “they are all against us.”

The Conservative Muslim Forum is shocked and horrified by the terrorist attacks in Brussels this morning.

Brussels is a city that many of us know and love. Indeed only last October a CMF delegation of 40 people visited the EU institutions in Brussels, with many of us passing through Maelbeek station where one of today’s bombings took place.

At the time of writing the death toll stands at over 30, with an unknown number of people seriously injured. Responsibility for these murders has been claimed by the so-called “Islamic State”, a bloodthirsty group which is not a state, and which has been denounced by the overwhelming majority of Muslims in Britain and around the world as representing a perverted interpretation of Islam. (For just one example see this Open Letter to Al-Baghdadi)

In terrible circumstances such as these, one cannot help thinking back to that sombre day, 7 July 2005, when our own capital London was attacked in the same way that Brussels has been. We thank our security services for foiling many terrorist plots since then which sought to wreak even greater carnage.

In coming days and weeks, as more becomes known, there will be time enough for analysis and policy prescriptions. Right now, our deepest condolences and our prayers go out to the citizens of Brussels.

At CMF events people often ask us questions such as:

• How do you get onto the candidates list?
• How do you get selected for a constituency?
• What hope is there for people who did not go to public school or Oxbridge?

At this event held on Tuesday 15 March 2016 held in Committee Room E, 7 Millbank, Westminster, we had three speakers who between them went a long way towards dispelling the mysteries for the audience of about 60 people.

Nusrat Ghani, MP for Wealden, elected in 2015

Nusrat had the audience spellbound as she told us about her life story, which is summarised on her website. She went on to explain how she won the open primary for the safe Conservative seat of Wealdon, refusing to regard being a Muslim woman from an ethnic minority as a barrier.

James Cleverly TD, MP for Braintree, elected in 2015

James’s website tells readers about his career in the Army and subsequent service in the Territorial Army. He stressed how non-traditional his own life story was, culminating in his election as MP for a seat which has very few (3.32% in 2011 census) ethnic minority voters.

Both MPs had excellent advice about how to get involved in campaigning and the commitment that is required.

Kate Fuller, General and Project Manager, Candidates at Conservative Campaign Headquarters

Kate explained the process for becoming an approved Conservative Party candidate. She was at pains to dispel some of the myths that surround the process, and stressed that the essence of the process is to ensure that the Party has candidates of high quality. We are particularly grateful to Kate for speaking as she was suffering from a throat infection which had signficantly affected her voice.

As with all Conservative Muslim Forum events, we began with a Quran recitatation. Imam Shakeel Kunwar recited from Surah 42 (Consultation) while CMF Chairman Mohammed Amin provided an English translation by Muhammad Asad. The Master of Ceremonies for the evening was CMF Secretary Faruk Miah.

Mohammed Amin gave the formal vote of thanks. During this, he shared two relevant facts with the audience:

1. At a CMF event just over a year ago (“Women: Empowerment and Political Representation”) Andrea Leadsom MP had informed us that the seat she represents was the 117’th seat she applied for. It would have been very easy to give up after say 115 attempts thinking that she was being discriminated against.
2. The Conservative Party has 17 black and minority ethnic (BME) MPs. On average, the seats they represent are “whiter” than the average Conservative held seat, demonstrating that local Conservative associations want to select the best possible candidate rather than discriminating on grounds of race. (See BME MPs in England & Wales for the data.)

The event generated enormous “buzz” and people were chatting for a long time after the formal speeches had finished. Below are some photographs from the evening.

Nusrat Ghani speaking. The MC Faruk Miah, is seated obscuring Imam Shakeel Kunwar.

James Cleverly speaking.

James Cleverly has the audience spellbound.

A group photo of the speakers with some member of the CMF Executive.

Seated, from left to right: James Cleverly MP, Kate Fuller, Nusrat Ghani MP, Mohammed Amin.

Standing, from left to right: CMF Executive Secretary Shaheen Thantrey, Faruk Miah, CMF Executive member Ahmedur Rahman, CMF Vice Chairman Ash Zaman, CMF Executive members Ajanthan Tennakoon, Kamru Ali and Cllr Hashim Bhatti, Imam Shakeel Kunwar, CMF Executive member Lady Sheikh.

Nusrat Ghani with Ajantha Tennakoon.

Informal chatting after the event next to the food and soft drinks. The chap with the blue turban is Amandeep Singh Bhogal who was the Conservative Party’s candidate for Upper Bann in Northern Ireland in the 2015 General Election.

On Tuesday 8 March the Executive of the CMF met.

During our meeting, we decided that the CMF as a body would take no position on the EU Referendum which is to be held on 23 June.

Individual members of the CMF are free to campaign for “Remain” or “Leave” as they think fit.

They are free to mention their CMF affiliation or CMF role for identification purposes, but must make it clear that they are writing or speaking in a personal capacity, and that the CMF has no position on the question asked by the referendum.

As explained on our website page “The CMF’s approach to policy positions” the CMF does not normally take policy positions.

However occasionally we do when there is overwhelming consensus on the CMF Executive and the matter is of significant importance to British Muslims. Examples are the freedom to practice kosher and halal slaughter and an attempt to criminalise the wearing of niqab and burqa.

Another such issue is the private members Arbitration and Mediation Services (Equality) Bill [HL] 2015-16 which is due for its second reading debate on Friday 11 March. In October 2015 when the Bill was debated in the House of Lords, our President Lord Sheikh spoke against it. His speech and more background on the Bill are at this link.

Last week writing in a personal capacity CMF Chairman Mohammed Amin wrote a piece on Conservative Home “Why Baroness Cox’s ‘Shariah Law’ Bill is misconceived.”

The CMF Executive has unanimously agreed that it shares Lord Sheikh’s and Mohammed Amin’s concerns about the Bill and requests MPs to read the Bill carefully, consider Mohammed Amin’s detailed critique, and oppose the Bill.