Can you spot any mention of Hizb ut-Tahrir?

Hizb ut-Tahrir have a problem. Long gone are the glory days when they could attract thousands to a conference held at the famous National Indoor Arena in Birmingham (where Gladiators was shot). Now their “Birmingham” conference is being held in, er, West Bromwich and at the not-so-glamourous Bethel Convention Centre.

It gets worse though. In a clear sign of what they have been reduced to, they’re now skulking around organising purportedly independent events at major mosques and misleading other Muslims about who they are – just to get them to turn up to events run by HT members. Oh dear.

Take this flyer for example. It is advertising an event being held by “SREIslamic” at Regent’s Park mosque on Sunday and it treats a topic many Muslim (and non-Muslim) parents get quite exercised about – sex ed classes in schools. I probably would not agree with such parents’ concerns on this topic (nor with the idea that somehow the fabled “Muslim Community” should have one opinion on it) but if parents want to meet to discuss the education of their children then that is their right. At first glance, this event would seem to be no more than a few Muslim parents meeting.

This is not the case. If you follow the link to the SREIslamic website then, in the “About Us” section, you find something quite revealing.

Authors

Farhad Khodabaksh is a member of Hizb ut-Tahrir, a pharmacist by profession, a father of three children and an LEA governor of a primary school in Newham.

Yusuf Patel is a member of Hizb ut-Tahrir, an adult education trainer, a father of two and a community governor of a primary school in Newham.

The two people behind SREIslamic are HT members and, despite Mr Patel’s protestations (he’s the man whose contact details are listed on the flyer) that this is not an HT event, it is quite clear that HT members, having failed to get people interested in their increasingly marginalised group, are now having to cover up their connections with HT to be taken seriously by other Muslims.

It’s not looking good boys. But, more importantly, what is the management of Regent’s Park mosque doing letting HT members use their mosque to organise events?