Islamic Forum of Europe

Islamic Forum Europe is an Islamist organisation based in London with at least two branches in the United Kingdom . Its website states it has branches in "most of the European countries including: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland". Its youth wing is called Young Muslim Organisation (YMO), "an organisation based in Tower Hamlets " in London , "with several branches across Britain," and is very active among the Bangladeshi community. The YMO was established mainly by Bangladeshi youths in East London during the period of racial attacks in Tower Hamlets in 1978 .¹ Its women's wing is Muslimaat UK. Its "regular activities" include: Individual and group Da'wah , Study Circles, courses in Tafsir , Hadith , Seerah and History Seminars, Conventions and Camps Islamic cultural exhibitions for non-Muslims and the annual Discover Islam Month, Arabic Language & Shariah courses, Insight and Discover Islam magazines, Local Radio stations (particularly in Ramadan), Developing Mosques, Schools and Islamic Centres, Raising funds for humanitarian relief, participating in local, national and global issues affecting the Ummah and humanity at large. However, a Dispatches documentary aired on 1 March 2010 suggested the IFE are an extremist organisation with a hidden agenda that went against Britain's democratic values. Dispatches quoted Azad Ali, the IFE's community affairs coordinator, as saying, "Democracy, if it means at the expense of not implementing the sharia, of course no one agrees with that". In a comment piece in the Guardian newspaper, Inayat Bunglawala of the Muslim Council of Britain , suggested that many of the people interviewed on the programme had hidden agendas of their own and highlighted that Jim Fitzpatrick, who suggested the labour party had been infiltrated by IFE members, was up against George Galloway in the upcoming elections who had overturned a 10,000+ majority held by Oona King at the last general election. The group has been described as part of a movement of Bangladeshi immigrants in east London away from secular left politics towards Islamist politics. The group has close links with the East London Mosque , which is located close to its offices, and with Jamaat-e-Islami , a group founded by Abul Ala Maududi and a major Islamist political party in Bangladesh . According to one report, the group found itself in conflict with a rival Jamaat-e-Islami-affiliated group — Dawatul Islam (affiliated with the UK Islamic Mission) — at the East London Mosque "throughout the late 1980s". Dawat'ul Islam is now based at another mosque Jamiatul Ummah Bigland Street. The IFE and YMO was featured in the book The Islamist by Ed Husain where he explains the YMO attracts mainly English-speaking Asian youths, providing circles or talks daily at the East London Mosque, also while teaching about Islam , it also teaches about the political system of the religion, quite influenced by the ideologies of Syed Qutb and Mawdudi. The group is said to have a more limited following in Birmingham where it has around 80 members.² Its London and Sunderland branches are affiliates of the Muslim Council of Britain .³ RESPONDING TO THE CALL Bangladeshi Diaspora in the UK SOAS Conference on Human Rights and Bangladesh IFE: not harmless democrats Watch out: democratic Muslims about . Galloway's Rebuke to Dispatches Programme . Bangladeshis in East London: from secular politics to Islam.⁴