Lord Sheikh, Chairman of the Conservative Muslim Forum, Mohammed Amin, Vice-Chairman and members of the Executive Committee of the Forum hosted a reception and buffet dinner in the celebrous venue at Altitude 360, 29th Floor, Millbank Tower, 21-24 Millbank, London SW1.

The Rt. Hon. David Cameron MP was the guest of honour and the event was attended by over 500 people which included members of Muslim and non-Muslim communities. The guests included leaders and members of different communities, Conservative Parliamentarians and Prospective Parliamentary Candidates. There was a strong presence of women and a cross section of ages.

It was a glittering occasion and a unique gathering and the guests had lovely views of London at night.

Before speaking David Cameron met the guests who warmly welcomed him.

The occasion started with a recital from the Holy Quran by Private Taju Deen in Arabic and the English translation by Captain Afzal Amin, both of the British Army. The recital was from the Chapter on Mary, Mother of Jesus which related to the birth of Jesus Christ.

There were speeches by Lord Sheikh and David Cameron and the master of ceremonies was Mohammed Amin.

The event was recorded and can be watched below in two parts.

PART 1

PART 2

Lord Sheikh (Chairman of the Conservative Muslim Forum) travelled to Glasgow to make the keynote speech at the dinner organised by the Islamic Finance Council.

Lord Sheikh is extremely keen to promote Islamic banking and financial arrangements and in his speech he referred to the fact that at present, the global Islamic finance market is worth more than $700bn, and the UK has assets in excess of $18bn which places it eighth in the Bankers League. Islamic banks have over 300 institutions in 51 countries and the annual growth in Islamic finance is in excess of 30%.

Lord Sheikh made the comment that the British Government could do more on the issue of sukuks (Islamic bonds) and there is a growing demand for such bonds. Lord Sheikh also paid tribute to the work that the Islamic Finance Council has done to further Islamic Finance globally in general, and Scotland in particular.

Lord Sheikh (Chairman of the Conservative Muslim Forum) attended a dinner organised by the Dialogue Society to commemorate their 10th anniversary. The dinner was very well attended and guests included a number of British Parliamentarians and community leaders. Lord Sheikh is in fact a member of the Advisory Board of the Dialogue Society which is actively involved in promoting peace and harmony between various racial and religious groups.

Lord Sheikh has addressed meetings organised by the Dialogue Society and supports and appreciates the work which they undertake. At the dinner Lord Sheikh was presented with a beautiful Turkish plate by Mr Ozcan Keles, Executive Director of the Dialogue Society.

Councillor Mohammad Bhatti, who is a member of the Executive Committee of the Conservative Muslim Forum, held a dinner in Chesham which was attended by a number of judges, Muslim leaders and diplomats from the Pakistani High Commission and the American Embassy.

Lord Sheikh (Chairman of the CMF) attended the dinner and his speech started with amusing anecdotes and he then talked about the three Abrahamic religions and the fact that in the Holy Quran the names of Jesus and Moses are mentioned more times than the name of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

He also made the point that in the Holy Quran there is a chapter on Maryam, Mary Mother of Jesus. He also said that when the Muslims were persecuted in Mecca they escaped to Abyssinia where they were given succour by a Christian king.

Lord Sheikh, Chairman of the Conservative Muslim Forum, led a group of Parliamentarians to Syria which included Members of the House of Lords, House of Commons, Scottish Parliament and Irish Parliament.

The Group met President Bashar Al-Asad in Damascus to discuss the position concerning Palestinian refugees in Syria and national and international issues including the achievement of peace in the Middle East. Lord Sheikh found President Bashar Al-Asad to be an extremely well-informed, intelligent and articulate person who cares about the plight of the Palestinian refugees.

There are about half a million Palestinian refugees in Syria who are very well treated by both the Government and the people of Syria. The refugees have been very well assimilated with the people of Syria and the good treatment of the Palestinian refugees in Syria should be appreciated by everyone.

The Parliamentary group also visited a refugee camp on the border of Syria which housed Palestinian refugees who had recently escaped from persecution in Iraq. The group met leaders of the Palestinian refugees who have lived in Syria for many years who are appreciative of the kindness shown to them by the Syrians. The refugees however talked about the ill treatment they received in Palestine which made them leave their country and become refugees.

The group met with United Nations representatives in Damascus and talked about how best to deal with the refugees who had recently arrived in Syria from Iraq.

Lord Sheikh (Chairman of the Conservative Muslim Forum) hosted an event in the House of Lords to launch the Conference on Faith & Climate Change.

Lord Sheikh talked about references to the preservation of the environment in the following religions: Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism and Islam. He also referred to the Climate Change Act passed by the British Parliament and its provisions, the main one being the emissions of harmful gases to be reduced 80% by 2050.

Lord Sheikh also mentioned the production of energy by renewable means and the steps that an individual can take to protect the environment. Lord Sheikh is promoting Islamic finance and one of the objectives of Islamic Finance is to invest the money for the benefit of the community and Lord Sheikh gave the opinion that he is suggesting that funds can be invested in the production of energy by renewable means. The people attending the meeting came from different parts of the world and Lord Sheikh expressed the opinion that he hopes the Conference will be productive in view of the pending Copenhagen Conference.

The Conservative Muslim Forum’s Women’s Branch led by Zahra Janmohamed (Member of the CMF Executive Committee) held a meeting in the House of Lords which was hosted by Lord Sheikh (Chairman of CMF). The meeting was very well attended. Zahra Janmohammed started the proceedings by welcoming the guests and asked Lord Sheikh to speak. Lord Sheikh stressed the importance of the empowerment of women and referred to the support and the good work undertaken by the Muslim women throughout history starting with Bibi Khadija who was the first person to become a Muslim after Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) attained Prophethood.

The guest speaker was Dr Spellman-Poots who gave a very informative and interesting talk and a number of questions were raised by the audience which Dr Spellman-Poots was able to deal with very competently. The vote of thanks was proposed by Lady Sheikh.

Lord Sheikh (Chairman of the Conservative Muslim Forum) attended and spoke at the Musharah (poetry recital) organised by the Pakistani Professionals Forum at the Pakistani High Commission. Dr Farrukh Hussain and Mohammed Shuaib Sheikh who are now members of the Conservative Muslim Forum Executive Committee dealt with the arrangements. There were Urdu recitals by several poets which were very much appreciated by the audience.

Lord Sheikh in his speech referred to the richness of culture in the Urdu language and said that the tradition of Musharah goes back to the Mogul emperors and although Lord Sheikh’s mother tongue is Punjabi, he can speak the Urdu language and was able to appreciate the poems recited.

Sir David Richards, Chief of Army Staff, launched the Armed Forces Muslim Association at the Officers Mess at RAF Northolt. The office-bearers are as follows: Chairman – Group Captain Zahur Ulhaq, Secretary – Corporal Mohsin Ali, and the Imam is Asim Hafiz. Sir David Richards is the patron of the organisation who supported the formation of the Association. Rear Admiral Amjad Khan was also in attendance as were a number of high-ranking officers.

Lord Sheikh (Chairman of the Conservative Muslim Forum) attended the event and in his speech he referred to the sacrifices that the Muslims had made during both World War 1 and World War 2 and made the point that in the United Kingdom, the Armed Forces are non-political and he urged the Muslims and ethnic minorities to consider joining the Force of their choice.

During his discussions with Sir David Richards, Lord Sheikh was assured that the culture now in the Armed Forces is that promotion for any person would be based on merit. Lord Sheikh in his speech said that he was pleased to hear this as Muslims and ethnic minorities were not asking for any positive discrimination but to be treated fairly and on merit.

The Conservative Muslim Forum held a fringe meeting at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester and the subject was “winning Muslim votes”. The meeting was very well attended and the room was packed and unfortunately some people were not able to come in. The guest speaker was Caroline Spelman MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government who said that the Conservative Party was an inclusive Party and that the ethnic minorities as well as women have the opportunity to be actively involved in the Party and be considered for Parliamentary candidacy and achieve success in politics within the Party.

Lord Sheikh, Chairman of the Conservative Muslim Forum, gave a brief outline of the structure of the Conservative Muslim Forum and talked about various ways in which the Parliamentary candidates and local associations can reach out and win the support of the Muslim population. Lord Sheikh gave indicators as to how this can be achieved and how the Conservative Muslim Forum can assist the Parliamentary candidates but stressed that the Parliamentary candidates must take the initiative and liaise with the Conservative Muslim Forum offices as to how we can achieve the right results.

Mohammed Amin, Vice-Chairman of the Conservative Muslim Forum, urged the attendees to join the Conservative Muslim Forum and asked the local association representatives and candidates to utilise the Conservative Muslim Forum in order to augment the membership of the association and also win the support of the local Muslim community.

Andrew Stephenson, PPC for Pendle, and Ben Jeffries, PPC for Cheadle, explained how they have taken actions to reach out to the Muslim communities in their areas and how they worked in conjunction with the Conservative Muslim Forum in order to help their campaigns.

Lord Sheikh agreed to summarise the various points he had referred to and send these to the associations & candidates as a ready reckoner.