Bored Muslim is bored

In early October 2013, Tommy Robinson, the leader of the right-wing counterjihad group known as the English Defense League, stepped down. This was seen as a major blow to the group, and the move was completely out-of-the-blue and unprecedented. Robinson, at a press conference with leaders from the “anti-extremism” think tank Quilliam Institute, a Muslim-run group, announced his resignation and was met with immediate disgust. His new Muslim friends, however, love their little pet. Today, I’m going to examine Abdul Qadeer Baksh, an activist preacher with whom Robinson debated on the radio, and also provide commentary on the EDL leader’s exit.

At the press conference when he announced his departure, Robinson said he had become displeased with the amount of racism in the EDL. Obviously, no one’s denying there are tons of racist idiots in that group, but the fact remains that the group was not founded on principles of racism. Robinson said he wanted to try to work toward change using “better, democratic ideas.” Uhh, the EDL is a grassroots movement. I don’t think there’s anything more democratic than the people collectively rising up to express their opinion. This is one of the things that led me to question Robinson’s departure. In the past few months, he and numerous other EDL figures had been arrested by intentionally breaching police bans on their rallies through certain areas. For someone who was completely willing to disobey police and get thrown behind bars just a couple months earlier, Robinson’s sudden step down seems fishy at best.

The Quilliam Institute is led by a Muslim named Maajid Nawaz, a “former” Islamic extremist. He now claims to be equally devoted to fighting both right-wing extremism and Islamism, but I don’t see Nawaz or Quilliam reaching out to the likes of Abu Muwahhid to try to become BFFs with them. One theory is that the British government pressured Robinson into joining up with Quilliam, considering how Robinson was facing a court date for his most recent arrest and probably wouldn’t want to spend more time behind bars. The other theory, which holds more water, is that Robinson and/or his family were threatened by Muslims. Robinson may have even been instructed to go to Quilliam by the Muslims who threatened him. Sure, numerous EDL leaders, Robinson included, received hundreds of death threats from Muslims online which police conveniently ignored, but this time something must’ve hit a nerve. Here’s a screenshot of something a Muslim said on Facebook that makes me think there’s a lot more going on than Robinson, the media, or the Islamic community will let on:

Now that the EDL has been “beheaded,” as many Muslims say (how peaceful), what has Robinson done? He went on the radio with Abdul Qadeer Baksh, the chairman of the Islamic Center (Centre for you folks who can’t spell things right) of Luton, to promote his painfully forced “tolerant” image – but ended up arguing with the Muslim. Baksh had previously stated that in an “ideal society,” there would be “punishment for homosexuals,” resulting in sharp criticism and condemnation from Robinson. What’s Baksh’s ideal society, you ask? Why, none other than a sharia-ruled hellhole, where the punishment for homosexuality is death (as commanded by Muhammad himself!) “When I say ‘ideal society,’ I mean Islamic society, not a western secular society like we live in here [in the UK],” Baksh stated. “Every moderate Muslim holds this belief as well.” There are two alarming things about that statement. One, Baksh, who tries to pass himself off as a moderate, says that “every moderate Muslim” holds that view – not “every OTHER moderate Muslim.” The omission of the word “other” shows that Baksh doesn’t see himself as belonging to the fictitious category of “moderate Muslims.” Two, any sort of intolerance toward gays is nowhere near moderate. This is the 21st century, not the 7th.

When Robinson pressed Baksh about whether or not his ideal view for Britain would be under sharia, Baksh dodged the question, claiming he didn’t see an ideal future for Britain. Thankfully, Robinson is still able to counter Islamism and jihad as best he can, though I suspect his hands will more or less be tied for the foreseeable future. After the interview and facing public outcry, Baksh took to Twitter, where he tweeted: “[Tommy Robinson] scaremongering trying to make me look intolerant like him wont work except with sheep.” Uhh, he’s a hell of a lot more tolerant than someone who wants gays to be hanged under sharia law…

Baksh has also spoken in favor of sharia punishments as “deterrent[s],” claiming that “very, very few” hands are amputated or women are lashed. What the seventh-century ingrate fails to realize is that even one severed hand is too many. On sharia, Baksh quoted Islamic scholar/sheikh Abdul-Aziz ibn Baaz, who stated “Islamic Law does not command anything that is not good for people, and it does not forbid anything that is not bad for them.” Let’s go back to homosexuality. Being gay is not bad for people. Gays have perfectly happy, normal lives – their orientation doesn’t harm anyone. However, homosexuality is forbidden under sharia, disproving the statement that sharia only forbids bad things. Let’s not even get started on bacon. Also, sharia medicine includes the medicinal consumption of camel urine, as prescribed by Muhammad. (Sahih Bukhari 8:82:794) No physician with any degree of credibility would tell a patient to drink camel urine, thus disproving the statement that sharia only commands things that are good for people.

On the Islamic Center’s website, more anti-gay invective was found. “Undoubtedly, sodomy is one of the most repulsive acts, even observed among beasts.” How tolerant, just like this pearl of Islamic wisdom: “When two men are together this is called SODOMY and sex that occurs between a man and a woman who are currently married or who have been married is zina (fornication) and this is punishable by death.” After a brief mention of HIV/AIDS, the page of homophobic bile concluded with “[T]here is no ‘gay history’, except that of destruction, and there is no ‘gay pride’, since they were humiliated through the wrath of Allah.”

Baksh also fails to recognize that Muhammad (pigs be upon him) molested his “wife” when she was nine, claiming that there is no child rape in Islam. Either Baksh completely lacks literary comprehension and thus didn’t realize what was going on in the text, or he sees a middle-aged man forcibly inserting himself into a prepubescent girl to be a consensual act, or he’s engaging in taqiyya, the Islamic principle of lying to preserve the face of Islam or the Muslim.

“Furthermore, Islam forbids alcohol in all its forms and considers it a Satanic abomination and deceiving to humans, in which Satan wants to destroy the relationship between the person and his/her lord [Allah] by making him/her imbibe alcohol and keep him/her away from prayer and other worship,” Baksh posted on his website, a quote from sheikh Abdul-Aziz ibn Baaz. “In addition, Satan, in this way, intends to destroy the social relationships between people.” Alcohol + Muslims = a bad combination, sure, but honestly I feel like I’m a better person a few drinks deep. Alcohol is also commonly referred to as a “social lubricant,” meaning it eases social interaction, unlike how Baksh describes it as a Satanic mechanism to cause division. I hope Baksh becomes acquainted with bacon-flavored vodka (which tastes more like smoked sausage than bacon, FYI) in the near future. It might do him some good.

Baksh had allowed an extremist named Taimur Abdulwahab al-Abdaly to preach at the Islamic Center for some time, but realized al-Abdaly’s views were askew. After publicly countering the extremist preacher’s vitriol (likely because extremism would tarnish the mosque’s image), Baksh thought he had been defeated and would rethink his ideology. However, al-Abdaly was unfazed and went on to blow himself up. The Islamic Center has also been linked to jihadist group al-Muhajiroun, led by hate preacher Omar Bakri Mohammed, and has posted statements condemning the practice of recognizing infidel holidays like Christmas.

Of course, this piece wouldn’t be complete without a huge helping of anti-Semitism. Baksh has posted statements condemning “Zionists” and includes anti-Semitic writings on his website. He also posted an anti-Semitic video from noted white supremacist David Duke. Despite his obvious extremism and approval of intolerant causes, the left-wing media doesn’t hound him, unlike how they relentlessly tore into the significantly more tolerant Tommy Robinson.