Council of Britain Calls for an Inquiry into Islamophobia

The Muslim Council of Britain today welcomed the Prime Minister's apology to Imam Sulaiman Ghani, a south London imam who was falsely accused by the Prime Minister of supporting Daesh terrorists. The allegation was also repeated by the Defence Secretary.

Dr Shuja Shafi, Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain said: "I welcome the Prime Minister's long overdue apology to Imam Sulaiman Ghani, a London imam who has thus far been unable to challenge claims made in Parliament that he supports Daesh or terrorism. As a result of these smears, we understand that Imam Ghani has been subject to abuse and threats on his life." 

"I call on both the Prime Minister and the Defence Secretary to make that apology in Parliament as well. Imam Ghani became the innocent casualty of a wider Islamophobic attack on the now Mayor of London and the Conservative Party needs to apologise for this too."

"Such smear-by-association has become all too common for Muslims and Muslim organisations. It is a cancer blighting sections of our political and media class and has infected the solemn business of government."

"For the real extremists we are all opposed to, such tactics will only provide fresh new examples of a society not willing to accept Muslims for who they are."

"I also call for an urgent review of Islamophobia in the Conservative Party. Just as the Labour Party is rightly conducting an inquiry into antisemitism, it is important for the Conservative Party to reflect upon the extent of Islamophobia in its own ranks. We should have zero tolerance for both antisemitism and Islamophobia."

"We urge the Conservative Party to reflect and learn from this disreputable period of campaigning so that we can all draw a line and move on."