British Muslims stood with the victims on that day and do so again today; we reject this terrorism and ideology and commit ourselves to work with all to protect the safety and security of our country and fellow citizens. The terrorists were not acting in the name of Islam, their crimes are an affront against our peaceful religion and Muslim scholars from around the globe have rejected this ideology….writes Mr Mohammed Shafiq, Chief Executive of the Ramadhan Foundation
“Today ten years on from the 7/7 terrorist attacks we remember all those killed and injured and their loved ones. They were killed by evil men who were driven by hate and a poisonous ideology, which has distorted Islamic teachings. British Muslims stood with the victims on that day and do so again today; we reject this terrorism and ideology and commit ourselves to work with all to protect the safety and security of our country and fellow citizens. The terrorists were not acting in the name of Islam, their crimes are an affront against our peaceful religion and Muslim scholars from around the globe have rejected this ideology.
On that day as I stood on the streets of London after those attacks worried about what the future will hold, we saw the best of London, people of all faiths coming together in unity to send a defiant message to the terrorists that you may wish to divide our communities but you will fail and they did indeed fail. Today as we confront ISIS and their supporters, we re-affirm our commitment to that same unity and purpose. British Muslims have been at the forefront of confronting this evil terrorist ideology and whilst never complacent we can celebrate what we have achieved. A series of bombs plots foiled because of information shared with the police and intelligence agencies by British Muslims. British Mosques and organisations confronting the ideology of terrorism, a number of people included myself subject to death threats from terrorists for our anti terrorism work. For as long as the threat remains our duty remains to stand united against terrorism and take them on; we have rejected their violence and stand with the victims of terrorism and their families.
The Ramadhan Foundation was set up in August 2005, one month after the 7/7 terrorist attacks, during that decade we have been at the heart of the campaign against terrorism, I am proud of what we have been doing and re-commit ourselves to this important work going forward.
Sadly we still have more work to do, there are too many young people being groomed by ISIS online and in recent days more families choosing to put their own and their children’s safety at risk by travelling to Syria. We need to engage young people, give them a voice and hear what it is that drives them to carry out this violence. Not to do this or ignoring young people will not help us defeat this ideology. As British Muslims, we stand with the Police and intelligence agencies for the hard work they are doing to protect our nation and stand ready to help them.
We will certainly be making our views know about other issues around Syria, new anti terror laws, British values but that will be for another day. Today we remember the victims, their families, those injured and those affected by the worse terrorist attack on British society. Their lives and stories will be never be forgotten and we salute all of them today. “