Academics mixed on EDL leaders' decision to join Muslim think tank

THE MOVE by the English Defence League founders Tommy Robinson and Kevin Carroll to join forces with the Muslim-led counter-extremism think tank, Quilliam was greeted as ‘surprising’ by academics and church leaders this morning.

Describing it as ‘welcome and unexpected’, Dr Philip Lewis who advises the Bishop of Bradford and recently authored Young British and Muslim said it would  ‘serve to strengthen democracy and undercut voices of reaction among violent Islamists and far right activists alike’.

But Dr Sean Oliver-Dee, author of The Caliphate Question and Research Fellow, Centre for the Study of  Religion in Public Life at Oxford University, was more sceptical.

‘It’s good that Robinson has rejected the EDL’s negative, alarmist stance in favour of a more positive approach to dealing with people’s fears.

‘But his choice of Quilliam as a route into understanding Islam is a concern, as they posit a version of the faith that sidesteps very real issues concerning the role of violence in, and the nature of, the Islamic state that are found in both the Qur’an and the Sunnah.

‘There are a number or individual Muslims and organisations that are earnestly engaging with these scriptures, but I’m not convinced that Quilliam’s narrative of distinction [between Islam and Islamism] gets to the meat of the problem.’

Reviled

Maajid Nawaz, co-founder of Quilliam, and a former recruiter for banned group Hizb-ut-Tahrir and Sheikh Usama Hasan who fought in Afghanistan, told a press conference in Bloomsbury last night that they are to give 'training in democracy' to the two ex-EDL leaders who claimed the largest on-line support base of any political party in the country.

‘We will be giving them training in the difference between Islam and Islamism; training in how to turn their ideas into policy.  We will facilitate their transition to a more positive democratic way. 

‘We are delighted that their street protests are maturing into something more democratic,’ said Nawaz.

Robinson and Carroll decided to quit after meeting Quilliam leaders during filming for a BBC documentary commissioned by Aaqil Ahmed, first Muslim head of religion at the BBC.

‘We are both singing off the same hymn sheet’ Robinson said.  ‘From day one we wanted to embrace all colours and creeds.  I wanted to lead a revolution against Islamist ideology, but not against Muslims.

‘I believe Muslims are the first victims of Islamist ideology.’

Robinson founded the EDL in 2009 to counter the openly anti-Western antics of extremist Muslims in Luton who, he claims, regularly threaten his children in the street with beheading - with impunity.

But the movement was hijacked by neo-Nazi extremists, he said last night, which he could no longer tolerate.

‘I worked for three years to keep fascists out.  I never believed in that ideology.  They ruin everything.  The minute a bottle is thrown they ruin everything.  But everyone judges me for the actions of others.  I have been willing to wear that hat because I know how much this movement still means to ordinary supporters.’

He criticized the government and local government for ‘burying their heads in the sand.’

‘People need to be willing to speak up against extremist voices, but we are offending all of them.  We want the support and we need to work with Muslims in this country to defeat Islamist ideology. 

‘Muslims need to work with us to defeat neo-Nazi ideology. ‘

He said he had decided to join Quilliam to channel his ‘love for his country’ into a path where he could be heard.  ‘There’s a voice being created and whether anyone likes it or not, millions of people in this country they are agreeing with what we are saying, but they are not agreeing with the tactics, but it is hitting home.’ 

Irish

In a room packed solid with TV crews and top correspondents including at least one journalist who reports witnessing Robinson jumping over a crush barrier to confront members of banned al-Muhajiroun, Robinson said:  ‘What happened with the EDL had to happen.  I believe the debate had to be had. 

‘I believe the feeling and the under-swell had to get out there, but now it has become part of the problem which is not what I want.’

Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, whose mother is Irish, is to appear in a forthcoming BBC documentary with imam Mohammed Ansar - described last night by Robinson as 'an apologist for extremism' - following their encounter in May this year on BBC’s The Big Questions.

The documentary was commissioned by the BBC’s first Muslim head of religion Aaqil Ahmed, and vindicates an appointment criticized by some church commentators at the time.

Robinson said an opportunity had to be given to ‘progress the debate’.

‘The debate has to be had in an arena where it is supposed to be had and work this out in the democratic process but during this whole era we are stuck in with political correctness and anti-racism. 

‘What has to happen is that Muslims have to listen to what we are saying.  We cannot shut down that debate. 

‘I believe we should regulate all religious organizations and find out where the funding is coming from.’ 

Usama Hasan, a lecturer at Imperial College who was expelled in 2011 from the al-Tawhid mosque in Leyton where he was imam, over his views on evolution, said Quilliam was working on an Islam that was at home in Britain, and that rejected ‘medieval jurisprudence’.

The deal between the two former EDL leaders and Quilliam was sewn up last weekend, after Robinson approached them, it emerged during the press conference.  There had been just two meetings.

He had apologised that the EDL ‘did not resonate’ with ordinary Muslims.

Nawaz said he ‘refused to sit down with Robinson’ unless he left the EDL.

He said he had himself been ‘offered a second chance’ by Amnesty International who ‘reached out to me’ when he was languishing in a prison in Cairo from 2001 to 2006 for recruiting for the extremist Hizb-ut-Tahrir group, and he would be a ‘bad person’ not to do the same to the EDL leaders.

Massive

Kevin Carroll, whose daughter is mixed-race, said he had worked with the Non Violence Alliance in Luton following 20 shootings and 17 stabbings in a town that was a base for al-Muhajiroun, and has become identified with extremist groups.

‘We are going to need support.  This is a massive undertaking and we are happy to do it.  We think it is the right way forward and we have to think we can achieve great things and be successful.  If we are not successful what is left? You can’t have apathy.  Support us!  Don’t condemn us.  Why condemn us?  If we don’t do it no one will.’

Canon Guy Wilkinson, former National Inter Religious Affairs Adviser said the move was ‘unexpected but a very welcome sign of hope in the struggle for social harmony and against those who cannot abide difference, whether within Islamism or xenophobia. 

‘The Muslim world is in the midst of a crucial battle within itself; the West is in the midst of a crisis of values and risk of closure to the needs of the poorer world.  This [development] shows hearts and minds can be changed.’

Professor Matthew Goodwin of Nottingham, who has studied the EDL, told the BBC: 'I would treat the announcement with extreme caution given Stephen Lennon's (aka Tommy Robinson's) recent comments against Islam in general on Twitter, and already signs that a new movement that is not geared around demonstrations may be formed.

'In hindsight, this may all owe more to the quest for publicity than to a genuine conversion to democratic ideas.'