This year the Conservative Spring Forum was held on 5 April 2014 at the prestigious venue of the Grand Connaught Rooms,  Great Queen Street, London. The CMF was well represented, including Mohammed Amin, Faruk Miah and Dr Altaf Hussain from the CMF Executive.

The leadership of the Conservative Party was very well represented, with the keynote speech being made by the Prime Minister David Cameron.

An occasion such as this provides excellent opportunities for networking with the other attenders, as well as the opportunity to talk to senior politicians during the breaks, and to ask questions from the floor. Q&A played an important part of the entire day.

In the picture below David Cameron regales, from the left: Ms Emma Pidding, Chairman of the National Conservative Convention; Jeremy Thomass and CMF Deputy Chairman Mohammed Amin who confirmed to the Prime Minister how well received his speech at the Muslim News Awards the previous Monday had been.

Below the Prime Minister is listening intently to Faruk Miah.

The Muslim News Awards are organised each year by Mr Ahmed Versi, editor and publisher of the Muslim News. The Twelfth Awards held on 31 March 2014 were particularly prestigious as they marked the 25’th anniversary of The Muslim News. There was a glittering array of guests, headed by the Prime Minister David Cameron MP; the Rt Hon Dominic Grieve MP, Attorney General and General Sir Nicholas Houghton GCB CBE ADC, Chief of the Defence Staff of the British Armed Forces.

The Prime Minister recognised the “huge contribution Muslims make to Britain” in his speech, and also promised “let me make absolutely clear that, while I’m Prime Minister of this country, Halal is safe in Britain.” His speech can be read in full at this link.

CMF Chairman Lord Sheikh was a top table guest, seated with the VIP guests mentioned above. CMF Deputy Chairman Mohammed Amin also attended as his nominee, Dr Matthew LN Wilkinson, was shortlisted for the Sankore University Award for Excellence in Education which was won by Tuheedul Islam Girls’ High School.

The CMF promotes recruitment into the Armed Forces. General Sir Nicholas Houghton appreciated this support. In the photo below are, from left to right:

1. Lieutenant General Andrew Gregory CB, Chief of Defence Personnel, Ministry of Defence
2. Mohammed Amin
3. Lord Sheikh
4. General Sir Nicholas Houghton GCB CBE ADC, Chief of the Defence Staff of the British Armed Forces

Muslims differ in their opinions regarding the religious signficance of wearing niqab or burqa. However almost all Muslims agree that this should be a personal decision of the wearer, and is not a matter for the state except  when special considerations apply such as security or the need to identify people for legal reasons.

Accordingly many members of the CMF Executive were concerned by Philip Hollobone MP’s Face Coverings (Prohibition) Bill 2013-14. While this Private Member’s Bill never had any practical chance of becoming law, we considered the Bill damaging to good community relations. The Bill also caused particular concern to Muslims who were less familiar with the details of Parliamentary process.

Our Deputy Chairman took action in a personal capacity by writing an article on the Conservative Home website. The text is reproduced lower down on this page. Mr Amin also arranged to meet with Mr Hollobone on a one to one basis, and has written the following report of his meeting which took place yesterday.

The Bill was debated by the House of Commons on 28 February 2014, and the debate was adjourned to a date when the House will not be sitting. The means that the Bill has run out of time, and has no chance of becoming law, which it never did.

Mr Amin’s report of his meeting with Philip Hollobone MP

After publishing the Conservative Home piece I emailed Philip Hollobone to inform him, as I believe in being “up front” with people. I asked to meet him, since I believe in talking with people when you disagree with them. He kindly made time for me, and we met, one to one, at the Parliamentary building Portcullis House on 4 March 2014.

It was a very amicable meeting. Both of us are agreed that wearing niqab or burqa makes it much more difficult to function effectively in society and that it acts as a barrier to interaction with one’s fellow citizens. While we are agreed that wearing it is not a good idea, where we disagree is on the freedom issue.

I made it clear to Mr Hollobone that I regard it as fundamental to religious and personal freedom that people who want to wear a niqab or burqa should be free to do so, except when there are compelling reasons, such as security, to the contrary. Mr Hollobone considers that the strong dislike of large numbers of citizens for the wearing of niqab and burqa justifies making it illegal. On this we disagree.

The Government has also given an emphatic response to the petition on this matter.

As this e-petition has received more than 10 000 signatures, the relevant Government department have provided the following response:

The Government does not support a ban on the wearing of the burqa or other religious head coverings. Any restrictions on what a woman can wear in public would be out of keeping with British values and our nation’s longstanding record of religious tolerance and gender equality.

Britain has a proud tradition of religious tolerance. The Government is committed to creating a strong and integrated society in which hatred and prejudice are not tolerated and in which all people are free to express their identity and live without fear of harassment and crime that targets them because of that identity. A key part of our tolerance is respect for other’s beliefs and religious practices, and an understanding of how our own practices impact on others.

The Government wants to see greater integration between communities and is strongly committed to encouraging dialogue and co-operation between people of different religious backgrounds. We think this, rather than a burqa ban, is the way to make progress.

This e-petition remains open to signatures and will be considered for debate by the Backbench Business Committee should it pass the 100 000 signature threshold.

Mr Amin’s Conservative Home article published on 26 February 2014

Mohammed Amin: Alienating Muslim Voters – Episode 25

Mohammed Amin is Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Muslim Forum. He is writing in a personal capacity.

On Friday, the House of Commons sees the second reading of the Face Coverings (Prohibition) Bill 2013-14. This is a Private Member’s Bill sponsored by Philip Hollobone MP, and it has only four clauses.

Very briefly, with a few exceptions it would criminalise “wearing a garment or other object intended by the wearer as its primary purpose to obscure the face in a public place.” It would also make it lawful for the owner of private premises who provides goods and services to require wearers to remove their face coverings or leave, and would require those providing or receiving public services to not wear face coverings.

In the Private Members’ Bills Ballot on 16 May 2013, 20 names were drawn. Mr Hollobone was not one of them. In the previous session, only 10 Private Members’ Bills made it to the statute book. Accordingly, irrespective of the subject matter, pressure of Parliamentary time alone indicates that this Bill will not get enacted. If it does, I will buy a chocolate fedora so that I can digestibly eat my hat!

What is the Bill really about?

Let’s be frank. This Bill is about Muslim women who choose to wear a niqab (face veil) or a burqa (all over body garment). This is an issue on which Mr Hollobone has had strong feelings for many years; as an illustration see this Guardian story from 2010.

Where do I stand?

I believe that each adherent of any religion is responsible for deciding for themselves what they believe and how their religion should be practiced. They can take note of the views of religious leaders if they wish. That applies even in religions with a formal hierarchy; e.g. Roman Catholics are supposed to follow the Pope’s teachings; some choose to; others choose not to. It applies even more strongly in religions with no formal hierarchy such as Sunni Islam.

Meanwhile the state is responsible for making laws that apply to all of its citizens. Most of the time state laws and religious practice do not conflict. Sometimes they do; e.g. the state will mandate a blood transfusion for the minor child of Jehovah’s Witnesses, overriding the parents’ religious views.

None of my Muslim friends or acquaintances wears a niqab or burqa, nor do any members of my extended family as far as I am aware. I believe that there is no religious requirement to wear a niqab or burqa, and do not believe that wearing it brings you one nanometre nearer to God.

However, I also believe that if your religious views differ from mine, then you should be free to practice them. Accordingly I believe that everyone should be free to wear a niqab or burqa, except when there are clear reasons for overriding that freedom, such as security, or the need for someone in witness box to be seen properly by the jury as recently ruled by a judge.

Hence I regard the Bill as an affront to my religious freedom, and to the religious freedom of my fellow Muslims.

The political implications

Most citizens are less well informed about the niceties of the legislative process than ConservativeHome readers. I have been approached by other Muslims who are genuinely concerned about the Bill being legislated. They see it as Tory legislation, since Mr Hollobone is a Conservative MP. As a concrete example, see this e-petition on the HM Government website. The drafter of the petition appears oblivious to the Bill’s status, believes that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport is the responsible department, and appears not to understand MPs freedom to introduce Private Members’ Bills no matter how silly.

Accordingly, while the Bill is Mr Hollobone’s private initiative, it is the Conservative Party that is being seen as “anti-Muslim.” It is not just Muslims who will be alienated; ethnic minorities with other religious beliefs will also see the potential for their own religious beliefs to be criminalised. Some will be aware of Pastor Niemoller’s poem. The Conservative Party needs to attract voters from all parts of the community, not repel swathes of the community as “the wrong sort of voters.”

What is to be done?

The Government has far more important things to worry about (the floods, the Ukraine and Angela Merkel’s visit to name just three) than a Private Member’s Bill that has no chance of becoming law. The issue is even harder to handle because Mr Hollobone is not one of David Cameron’s most loyal supporters.

However I think it is time for the Chief Whip to invite Mr Hollobone to come into his office and have some coffee.

In a tight election, every vote matters. Victory often depends upon getting those people who support you to actually go and vote. In turn that requires you to know who your supporters are, which is the task of canvassing. While canvassing often feels tedious, sustained canvassing effort often makes the difference between winning and losing a seat.

On Friday 28 February a small Conservative Muslim Forum team canvassed the Harrow West constituency by telephone from Conservative Party Campaign Headquarters. In that constituency, the Conservative candidate Hannah David needs to overturn a Labour majority of only 3,143, and the CMF is determined to help her to do it.

In the picture below from left to right: Shaheen Mahmood, CMF Executive Secretary, Tom King, Hannah David’s campaign manager; Lady Sheikh, CMF Executive member; Amanda Schonhut, Vice President, Conservative Future Yorkshire & Humber; Ibrar Mir. Ash Zaman also canvassed but had to leave before the group photo. Hannah David was unable to attend due to a bereavement.

The CMF Youth Wing hosted Rory Stewart OBE FRSL MP, academic, author and former diplomat in the House of Lords for a discussion on “The Endgame in Afghanistan: Opportunities and Challenges”.

Rory Stewart is an expert on Afghanistan. A former diplomat, at the request of of HRH The Prince of Wales and President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan he established a human development NGO in Afghanistan and lived in Kabul. He has made a series of treks in rural districts of Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, Indian and Nepal, a journey totalling around 6,000 miles, during which time he stayed in 500 different village houses.

Rory Stewart is a member for the Foreign Affairs Select Committee and significantly contributed to the committee’s report on Afghanistan.

The event was chaired by CMF Youth Chairman Raza Anjum who in his opening remarks paid service to the British servicemen and women who had lost their lives fighting in Afghanistan and commended the bravery illustrated by “our boys in the field”.

Lord Sheikh, Chairman of the CMF spoke about how certain challenges remain in Afghanistan but how improvements have occurred in the field of education and women rights.

In his speech, Rory Stewart MP spoke in detail about his numerous visits to Afghanistan and interactions with the Afghan Government and NGO’s. He described at length the amount of financial investment made by western nations since 2001 on developing institutions in Afghanistan and noted the effectiveness of these organisations. Rory also explained his predictions on what would occur in Afghanistan following the withdrawal of NATO troops.

The event was well attended by more than 100 guests and included a lively question and answer session.

Below is a group photo taken after the event. From left to right are:

Shaheen Mahmood, CMF Executive Secretary; Lord Sheikh, CMF Chairman; Rory Stewart MP; Raza Anjum, CMF Executive Member and Chair of CMF Youth; Fuad Hamzeh, CMF Executive Member; Lady Sheikh, CMF Executive Member.

The most important thing in democratic politics is to win elections. If you do not get elected to Parliament, you do not have the ability to speak in Parliament or to vote on new laws. If the Conservative Party does not have sufficient MPs to form a government, then the country will be run by other parties who will proceed to implement their programmes.

On the ground canvassing is an important part of getting elected. It gives the chance to engage directly with voters, and in a tight election every single vote matters.

Conservative Muslim Forum members are involved in such local campaigning all around the country. On Saturday 25 January the CMF’s Executive Secretary Shaheen Mahmood spent part of her day canvassing in Enfield North constituency, aiming to ensure that the sitting Conservative MP, Nick de Bois, gets re-elected in 2015.

Below is picture of the canvassing team. Nick de Bois is in the centre of the picture in front of the sloping red roof. Sadly Shaheen is not in the picture herself, since she was the one taking it!

On 28 January 2014 a packed audience in House of Lords Committtee Room 4A received an exceptionally passionate and highly personal presentation from Saira Khan.

Saira Khan shot to fame in the first series of the smash hit BBC 2 TV Series “The Apprentice,” in 2005, where she was the runner up. Despite coming second Lord Sugar offered her a full time contract in his organisation and became one of the most talked about women in the UK. She is now a regular face on a TV and is currently co presenting ITV’s smash hit consumer show, “The Martin Lewis Money Show”. She says of her tv work, “I only do projects which I feel can add value to people’s lives. As an Asian Muslim woman in the media, I understand that I have a responsibility and am seen as a role model to some – it is for that very reason that I choose not to shy away from the topics that others are too scared to talk about.”

In the presentation she spoke about her loving upbringing in Long Eaton, Derbyshire with her parents and the challenges she experienced about her own personal identity and freedom of choice amidst cultural and religious divisions.

In the picture below seated left to right: Executive member Lady Sheikh, Saira Khan with the House of Lords plate that Lord Sheikh presented her with, CMF Chairman Lord Sheikh and the event chair Executive member Sana Kahloon who also chairs CMF Women.

Standing left to right: Executive members Hashim Bhatti, Ash Zaman, Fuad Hamzeh, CMF Administrator Shaheen Mahmood, Executive member Mike Mogul, CMF Deputy Chairman Mohammed Amin, Executive member Ajantha Tennakoon.

On 25 and 26 January 2014 the Conservative Policy Forum held its annual Winter Conference in Leeds. Members of the Conservative Muslim Forum were very much in evidence, with Mohammed Amin, Faruk Miah, Raja Najabat Hussain and Dr Ghulam Abbas attending.

Attending such events and asking questions from the floor is an excellent way of raising your individual visibility as well as the collective visibility of the Conservative Muslim Forum. It demonstrates that our members have views on a wide range of political issues, not just issues that obviously touch on Islam.

Attending such events is also an excellent opportunity to meet senior politicians.

Pictured below are Sajid Javid MP and Faruk Miah. Sajid Javid’s story demonstrates how Muslims are progressing in all walks of life. Born in Rochdale as the son of a bus driver, he became the youngest Vice-President in the history of Chase Manhattan Bank before a glittering career with Deutsche Bank. The Conservative Party chose him to fight the safe seat of Bromsgrove, a seat with a 10,000 Conservative majority in 2005. He has had a series of promotions since the Government came to power, and is currently Financial Secretary to the Treasury; the Treasury’s website lists him third in the Treasury hierarchy.

On 24 September 2013 the Islamic Finance Council UK organised this event at the House of Lords, with the keynote speaker being the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Lord Sheikh is a patron of the Islamic Finance Council UK, was co-chair of the event and gave the following speech.

As Patron of the Islamic Finance Council UK it is my pleasure to welcome you to the Interfaith Ethical Finance Roundtable.

Over the past 18 months the Islamic Finance Council has been holding a series of Ethical Finance Roundtables in Edinburgh together with Tods Murray solicitors. I believe that at these meetings we brought together various stakeholders in the ethical finance arena to share and discuss ideas.

I am sure that today’s roundtable focusing on the interfaith perspective towards ethical finance will bring an additional dimension to the preceding discussions.

It is an honor to have today’s discussions being led by the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Justin Welby.

I would like to thank the panelists and all of you for taking the time to participate in today’s discussion.

In addition on behalf of the Islamic Finance Council I would also like to thank the Arab Finance Forum and the Cambridge Interfaith Programme for their assistance in bringing this event together.

Against the backdrop of the financial crisis and the ongoing moral scandals from LIBOR fixing to usurious rates of the payday lenders, today’s discussion comes at a timely juncture.

I have a very long and strong connection with the City of London; I have spent my entire career focused on the insurance and financial services sector. I am also a founder member of the Associate Group of British Parliamentarians on Islamic banking and I have been elected as its Vice Chairman. It is an active organization and we meet frequently. One of the issues which we are pursuing is the issue of a UK Sovereign Sukuk. I am therefore keen to promote the ethical form of banking and finance. I am chairing and speaking at a fringe meeting on Islamic Finance at the Conservative Party Conference next week.

The IFC is based in Scotland a country which has a proud heritage in ethical finance and mutual organisation. The activities of the IFC are focused on 4 key areas:

1) Government policy advisory for Islamic finance;
2) Shariah Assurance and Governance;
3) Promoting Ethical finance; and
4) Community education and awareness.

The IFC is working with a number of European and African governments along with Central Banks in Malaysia and Bahrain. Its Board Members have been at the forefront of promoting the UK’s role as the leading Western hub for Islamic finance.

Modern Islamic finance emerged in the mid 1970s with the founding of Islamic banks but the growth has been very rapid since the 1990s. The market is now worth over 750 billion dollars globally. The United Kingdom has Shariah-compliant assets in excess of 18 billion dollars and it comes 8th in the Bankers league which is the highest amongst all Western countries. One of these first Islamic banks was a bank called Mit Ghamr in Egypt.

The founder based the model on the principle of the Savings Bank model which was founded by the great Rev. Henry Duncan of the Church of Scotland just over 200 years ago. So history has shown how the Church has played a role in inspiring modern ethical banking. In 2009 the official newspaper of the Vatican stated “The ethical principles on which Islamic finance is based may bring banks closer to their clients and to the true spirit which should mark every financial service.”

Today’s roundtable is a positive reflection of the UK’s ability as a rich diverse society, to bring communities together to focus on the common good. Many people in society, regardless of faith background, are eager to see a reformed banking sector and I hope the faith communities can play a practical role towards realising such.

One of the ways to highlight what people have in common is to encourage tolerance and understanding based on a mutual respect and to remind people of the many universal principles which are shared by the great religious traditions but which are often obscured or discarded in the modern age.

Honesty, integrity, transparency and contentment are some of the key principles underlying the Islamic economic philosophy which are shared by many others. In fact a considerable numbers of non Muslims have taken out Islamic Financial transactions worldwide.

I now look forward to hearing more from our esteemed speakers.

Finally I would like to specifically thank Daniel Morler and Omar Shaikh for their persistent efforts in bringing together today’s event. I am sure all of us will find the proceedings informative and beneficial.

I would now like to hand-over to my co-Chair Sir Gavyn Arthur to Chair the rest of the proceedings.

For more details on the event and if you would like a detailed transcript of the proceedings email your request to info@ukifc.com

Much politics takes place on a large scale, via the media or large public meetings. However most of it takes place at a local level, with relatively small groups of people. The speakers can be either local or national figures. This type of politics is known in the USA, and now also in the UK, as the “Rubber chicken circuit”, from the staple fare at such events of fried chicken. Fortunately the food at CMF events is much better quality!

The Conservative Muslim Forum’s Yorkshire & Humber branch recently organised a series of meetings over the weekend of 7 & 8 December. These were supported by a national team comprising CMF Chairman Lord Sheikh, CMF Deputy Chairman Mohammed Amin, CMF Executive Member Lady Sheikh, CMF Executive Member Cllr Asif Ayub, CMF Administrator Shaheen Mahmood and Lord Sheikh’s Parliamentary Assistant Tom Dethridge. Cllr Halimah Khaled, Chair of CMF East Midlands also came to support the weekend.

The weekend began at lunchtime on Saturday 7 December in Dewsbury at an event hosted by Mrs Itrat Ali, the Chair of the CMF Yorkshire & Humber branch. Simon Reevell, MP for Dewsbury, also attended, coming from his regular surgery which he holds in the market in Keighley to be more accessible to constituents.

In the picture below: Mrs Itrat Ali is to the right of the door; Shaheen Mahmood can be seen between her and Lord Sheikh who is speaking; then Simon Reevell MP; Raja Najabat Hussain; Amanda Schonhut who Vice President of Conservative Future Yorkshire & Humber, then Tom Dethridge.

On the evening of Saturday 7 December, our hosts in Bingley were was Mrs Falak Naz Ahmed, Deputy Chair, CMF Yorkshire & Humber and Mr Iftikhar Ahmed, President, Bradford Conservatives. The group photo below was taken in their living room.

Seated left to right are Cllr Halimah Khaled, Lady Sheikh, Mrs Falak Naz Ahmed and Lord Sheikh.

Standing, on the far left is Barry Whitaker, Chairman Bradford Conservatives. Directly behind Cllr Khaled is Mahboob Ahmed from CMF North West, and to his right Mr Allah Ditta, our host at the next event, while Raja Najabat Hussain is to his left. Mohammed Amin is behind Mrs Ahmed, with Shaheen Mahmood next but one on his left. Cllr Asif Ayub is at the far right of the picture.

The following morning, Sunday 8 December we were hosted for a working breakfast at his offices in Bradford by Mr Allah Ditta, known to all as “AD.”

In the group photo below, seated from left to right are Raja Najabat Hussain, Lord Sheikh and Mohammed Amin.

Standing, on the far left is Farhaad Ali. Next but one with his arms folded is Iftkhar Ahmed, President, Bradford Conservatives. Our host AD is standing directly behind Lord Sheikh, and Cllr Asif Ayub is standing behind Mohammed Amin holding the CMF Newsletter.

Then in the afternoon, we were off to the Desi Diner on North Street, Keighley for the final event of the weekend.

In the picture below, seated left to right, Raja Najabat Hussain, Lord Sheikh, our host Mr Shahid Rasool, Lady Sheikh, Cllr Halimah Khaled, Mrs Itrat Ali and Shaheen Mahmood.