The CMF has been active in helping with telephone canvassing for Boris Johnson’s re-election campaign. We are doing our next session on Monday 30th April 2012 at 6pm at CCHQ. Please come along.

Since the election is now less than a week away, CCHQ will be running its telephone canvassing operation all day, every day, from 10am to 5pm. If you can help by doing some canvassing, please can you email Hugo.Mann@Conservatives.com to let him know which day and what time you will be coming to help.

There usually is a small team working together to make the calls, which adds to the team spirit. To get Boris re-elected, we need to do as much of this as possible.

On 27 April 2012 Conservative Party candidate Boris Johnson and Labour Party candidate Ken Livingstone took part in the first ever London Mayoral hustings meeting before an all Muslim audience comprising 40 Conservative supporters, 40 Labour supporters and 20 neutrals.

The event was hosted by the law firm Norton Rose LLP and supported by the Islamic Bank of Britain. Both candidates were questioned by Fatima Manji of Channel Four News, pictured alongside Boris Johnson.

Mohammed Amin and Shaheen Mahmood of the Conservative Muslim Forum were responsible for selecting the Conservative supporting members of the audience.

Shaheen Mahmood also had her picture taken with Boris Johnson.

Lord Sheikh, Chairman, arranged a private viewing of the Hajj Exhibition: Journey to the Heart of Islam at the British Museum for members of the Conservative Muslim Forum. Over 150 members attended the exhibition and we have received excellent feedback from the attendees. Members of the CMF who attended included Muslims and non-Muslims.

There were two curators of the Exhibition who spoke initially and helped the members with enquiries and provided further information.

The Executive of the Conservative Muslim Forum was horrified by the recent killings in France. Firstly three French soldiers (two Muslims and one Catholic) were murdered and then three young Jewish children, two of them brothers, have been murdered along with the father of the two brothers. All of these murders were carried out in cold blood.

The murder of anyone is a monstrous crime. God says to us in the Quran, verse 5.32, Muhammad Asad translation, “Because of this did We ordain unto the children of Israel that if anyone slays a human being unless it be [in punishment] for murder or for spreading corruption on earth – it shall be as though he had slain all mankind”. The crime becomes even more appalling when the victims are young children.

Our hearts go out to the bereaved families, and to the other young children at the Ozar Hatorah school who will have been traumatised by these killings.

At the time of writing, all of the available information indicates that the murderer is a French Muslim who claims association with Al Qaeda. If this is correct, then the CMF Executive has no hesitation in condemning this individual as violating everything that we believe in.

Over 50 people attended a talk by Mr Terry Smith, Chief Executive of Fundsmith LLP and also Chief Executive of Tullett Prebon plc, on the subject “The most important mistakes people make when managing their savings”. The meeting held in the House of Lords was chaired by Mohammed Amin, CMF Vice Chairman, and hosted by Lord Sheikh, CMF Chairman. CMF Executive Member Mike Mogul gave the vote of thanks.

Mr Smith explained that investors are often their own worst enemy, by following fads, trading too often and buying investments they do not understand. He also explained the disciplined investment approach he has followed for many years while managing the Tullet Prebon plc pension scheme and now in managing the Fundsmith Equity Fund.

There were a number of questions from the audience, and their interest was further evidenced by the number of people who stayed behind to talk informally with Mr Smith and his colleagues.

Pictured left to right at the table are: Mohammed Amin, Terry Smith, Lord Sheikh and Mike Mogul.

Lord Sheikh, as Chairman of the Conservative Muslim Forum, attended the Eid Milad-un-Nabi dinner organised by UMO (Union of Muslim Organisations in the UK & Ireland). In his speech Lord Sheikh paid tribute to the late Dr. Pasha, founder of UMO, who unfortunately passed away recently.

Lord Sheikh also stated that over the last four years Dr. Pasha had invited him to attend and speak at the annual dinner held by UMO and he would be sadly missed. Lord Sheikh referred to Dr Pasha as a true warrior who had over the years tirelessly worked to promote the Islamic values and convey the true message of Islam.

The Conservative Muslim Forum held a meeting in the House of Lords entitled “Tunisia – One year after the Revolution – Challenges and Opportunities”. The speakers at the meeting included Lord Sheikh (Chairman), HE Mr Hatem Atallah (Tunisian Ambassador) and Dr. Noureddine Malidi.

Lord Sheikh in his speech said that a sea of change has been occurring across the Arab world which began in December 2010 in Tunisia when a market seller set himself on fire in protest against corruption and bad governance. President Ben Ali resigned soon afterwards. He also mentioned the situations in Egypt, Yemen, Libya, Bahrain and the present problems in Syria.

Lord Sheikh further stated that he cares deeply about humanity and believes in justice, peace, sanctity of life and the freedom of religion and speech. These things were not present in many Arab countries before the Arab Spring and we are now of course moving towards changes which are encouraging.

It was a very interactive session and a number of points and questions were raised by the audience.

Members of the Conservative Muslim Forum held a dinner for Cllr Mohammad Bhatti MBE to celebrate the award of the honour of the MBE which has been bestowed on him. Lord Sheikh congratulated Cllr Bhatti on the receipt of this honour which has been awarded for services to local Government and the community. At the dinner Lord Sheikh presented Cllr Bhatti with a glass trophy to mark the occasion.

Cllr Bhatti is an active member of the Executive Committee of the Conservative Muslim Forum.

On 22 November 2011  at the 10’th Charterered Institute of Management Accountants awards, CMF Executive Member Ali Azeem received the Consultant of the Year Award , recognising his work and success in the field. This international award is reserved for those that have excelled beyond others in the industry. Speaking at the event, CIMA President Harold Baird said: “I would like to congratulate the award winners and commend all finalists for their commitment, innovation and dedication.”

We would like to give our own congratulations to Ali Azeem. His success exemplifies the contribution that Muslims from all walks of life are making to our country.

The full list of award winners is at this link.

The CMF held a reception and buffet dinner to celebrate the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha. The event was very well attended and in fact we were not able to accommodate all the requests for places and had to disappoint several members and supporters.

The event was attended by leaders and members of different communities. The speakers at the event were Lord Sheikh, Baroness Nicholson, Lord Popat, Gavin Barwell MP, Dr Rami Ranger MBE and Dr Ahmad al-Dubayan. The Quranic recital and translation was given by Imam Asim Hafiz MA, Muslim Chaplain to HM Forces. He recited the chapter titled “Surah Maryam” from the Holy Quran which relates to the birth of Jesus.

All the speakers emphasised the need for there to be respect and good understanding amongst people of different racial and religious backgrounds.