Friday Post 11

By Shofi Ahmed

A British prime minister who boasted to be a fighter not a quitter. But quitted at a lightning speed. Strange. But not only her. Hasta la vista is the new buzzword on Downing Street. Chancellors, ministers come and go within days. Never before have British people seen such strange scenarios. That too unfolding very fast.

How long is a piece of string? It doesn’t seem to be a puzzle at number 10 Downing Street right now. Number 44 has been identified as the length of the shortest serviced British prime minister in history. Yet we are braced to see more bizarre events unfolding around us.

An Imam of East London Mosque Mohammed Mahmoud, jumped onto this strange bandwagon. He was seen singing Britain’s national anthem inside the Regent’s Park Mosque and led the event. That was to mark the life of much loved Queen Elizabeth II and cheer the ascension of the new King Charles III.

As a British citizen Britain’s national anthem is everyone’s song. There is, nonetheless a norm, a guide how a national anthem should be sung. We, like everyone else, value that by all means. It is, however, not authored to be sung inside the mosque. Like we all like the national anthem of Bangladesh: ‘My Bengal of Gold – I love you’. But we know it’s not to be sung inside a mosque. No singer would take it into a holy place of worship while singing it with heart and soul. That’s the norm.

A mosque too has a norm and guidance on how it should be used. It’s pure, it’s regarded as the house of Allah SWT. How can an Imam of the widely known East London Mosque import a song into the mosque? He didn’t stop there. He went on to lead the event singing the national anthem inside the mosque. That utterly breached the codes of mosque which the worshippers respect and uphold with heart and soul as a holy place of worship. Strange. Very strange.

We have a new king, King Charles III. As the king of the land he is king of the British Muslims as well. We wish him all the best as British citizens and as Muslims our wishes are inline with our faith. That’s normal and appropriate. Everyone follows their own religion. King Charles himself said he wants to be a defender of faiths. Meaning defender of diverse faiths of all British people. Chiristian, Muslims, Hindu, Buddhist etc he values all religions.

Defending all faiths, that’s the monarch’s term. In that context defined by the monarch himself. Why a well known Imam feels it’s necessary to derail from the norms of one’s faith and sing inside a mosque to cheer the new monarch. It’s inappropriate and unacceptable.

East London Mosque is funded by people and should listen to the demand of the people. A petition has been filed on change.org to remove Imam Mohammed Mahmoud. He should be held responsible for disrespecting and breaching the code of the mosque.

Fire won’t touch! How can we find the likes of the sheikh mentioned in earlier articles who dared to plunge into the fire with the Qur’an, in our strange time? The search continues In Shaa Allah.