The rumour mill has it that the Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain, and former chairman of the Jamaat-e-Islami front group, Islamic Forum Europe (IFE), Muhammad Abdul Bari, is being considered for ennoblement and a seat in the House of Lords. This from Nick Cohen:
My sources tell me that Brown’s goons hauled civil servants into Downing Street to find out the names of my sources. They failed miserably but they did let slip that the peerage may not be going to Sacranie now I’d blown the whistle but to the Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain, Muhammad Abdul Bari.
What would the reaction from the Muslim community be were this to actually take place? Lucy Lips has it about right:
Were such a step taken, the newspapers would be full of articles about goings on at IFE and the East London Mosque. The Government would look as if it were either foolish, or unconcerned about the very extreme and nasty politics practiced in those institutions.
There would be a very bad stink kicked up by prominent members of the Muslim community concerning the political, financial and communal activities of Jamaat-e-Islam in it’s various guises and fronts operating in the UK (starting with the East End of London). Furthermore, “Lord Bari’s” history in the party while he was an activist living in Bangladesh will be dragged out into the sunlight for all to see. And that is going to be a very nasty can of worms indeed.