AOBM On The Visit of Fazlur Rehman to the United Kingdom

The Visit of Fazlur Rehman to the United Kingdom

The Association of British Muslims views with serious concern to decision of Her Majesty’s Government to allow the visit of Mr Fazlur Rehman, head and founder of the Jamiat Ulama e Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), to the United Kingdom.

It had previously acted to refuse entry to Zakir Naik and Qadi Ahmed. To allow the visit of Mr Fazlur Rehman smacks of inconsistency in its purported programme to eradicate extremism within the UK’s Muslim communities, especially given the cautionary advice from Mr Ansar Burney (former Pakistan federal Minister for Human Rights).

Mr Fazlur Rehman’s organisation has been closely linked to the development of the madrassahs that produced the Taliban both in Pakistan and Afghanistan, which body is causing great internal security issues in this fellow Commonwealth country.

It has, however, been pointed out that the government of the former President of Pakistan, General Musharraf, did try an use Mr Fazlur Rehman as an intermediary in negotiations with Mulla Omar of the Afghan Taliban.

If it is the intention of HMG to get Mr Fazlur Rehman to assist with setting up a chain of negotiation with the Afghan Taliban as a necessary prelude to the withdrawal of Her Majesty’s Forces from that country, then the Association of British Muslims would welcome such a step wholeheartedly but would consider that a more discreet approach would have been more efficacious.

Contact: press@aobm.org