Friday, January 17, 2025
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Ad showing
Islamic preacher burning dollars banned in blow for Khan’s TfL
Advertisement approved by transport body risked ‘serious offence’, regulator rules
Adverts showing an Islamic preacher burning US dollar and euro banknotes have been banned from tubes and buses, overruling a decision by Sadiq Khan’s Transport for London (TfL) to allow them.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) on
Tuesday said it had banned six posters for online Halal investment company
Wahed Invest after concluding that they could have “caused serious offence”.
The ASA pointed out that the Wahed Invest adverts
showed the words “the United States of America” in flames and that the TfL
service is “regularly used by tourists”.
It said: “Due to the vast number of people who used
TfL services and because London was a tourist hotspot, people from the United
States or eurozone countries would have seen the ads.
“We considered some viewers, particularly people
from the United States or eurozone countries, would have viewed their nation’s
currency as being culturally significant and a symbol of their national
identity.”
Several of the adverts feature images of Ismail ibn
Musa Menk, a Muslim preacher and motivational speaker, known as Mufti Menk,
surrounded by flaming US dollar notes.
The ban comes despite TfL’s prior approval of the
adverts and its insistence during the ASA investigation that they did not break
any rules. TfL, which is chaired by the Mayor of London, said it believed the
ads complied with its advertising policies.
The decision to approve the adverts contrasts with the network’s strict stance on posters that breach its junk food rules. Ed Gamble, a comedian, last year had to swap a picture of a hot dog for a cucumber in adverts for his stand-up tour. TfL also banned an advert for an artisan cheese shop in 2023 after deciding that the dairy product was too unhealthy.
Susan Hall, a Conservative member of the London Assembly and former mayoral candidate, told GB News last year: “The Wahed advert on TfL services begs a lot of questions about the Mayor’s policing of advertising.”
The adverts were seen on London tubes and buses in September and October last year, during which time the ASA received 75 complaints about the posters. TfL paused the campaigns pending the outcome of the ASA’s investigation.
Wahed Invest said the burning banknotes were meant
to signify that when inflation grew faster than the rates of savings rates,
money was effectively “going up in flames”.
The finance company argued that popular phrases
such as “money to burn” and “burning a hole in my pocket” were often used in
relation to cash. It told the ASA that while it acknowledged that currencies
were a symbol of national identity, burning of banknotes were often seen in
films and TV programmes.
However the ASA said the “burning of banknotes
would have caused serious offence to some viewers”.
One poster showed a man holding an open briefcase
filled with US dollar and euro banknotes on fire, while another included the
same briefcase image with a large heading stating “withdraw from exploitation”.
The advertising regulator said the ads must not
appear again in this format.
A TfL spokesman said all adverts were reviewed
against its policy “as well as the Committees of Advertising Practice (Cap)
Code before being approved to run on the network” and added: “We will apply the
findings when considering any future campaigns.”
A Wahed spokesman said the organisation understands
“that visuals like those included in our campaign can elicit strong reactions”
and appreciates the ASA’s feedback on the use of international currency.
He added: “Our imagery sought to visually and
metaphorically highlight the impact inflation has on savings. Many of our
clients elect to not receive interest income on their savings due to religious
prohibitions on interest and yet still feel the effects of inflation, thus
‘burning’ their purchasing power.
“While our intention was to spark thought and
awareness, we recognise the importance of ensuring that messaging resonates
positively with the diverse audiences that may consume them.”
https://telegraph.co.uk/gift/5118579b3c8f746d
Solitude
Laugh, and the world laughs with you;
Weep, and you weep alone;
For the sad old earth must borrow its mirth,
But has trouble enough of its own.
Sing, and the hills will answer;
Sigh, it is lost on the air;
The echoes bound to a joyful sound,
But shrink from voicing care.
Rejoice, and men will seek you;
Grieve, and they turn and go;
They want full measure of all your pleasure,
But they do not need your woe.
Be glad, and your friends are many;
Be sad, and you lose them all,—
There are none to decline your nectared wine,
But alone you must drink life’s gall.
Feast, and your halls are crowded;
Fast, and the world goes by.
Succeed and give, and it helps you live,
But no man can help you die.
There is room in the halls of pleasure
For a large and lordly train,
But one by one we must all file on
Through the narrow aisles of pain.
~ Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Tuesday, January 7, 2025
Monday, January 6, 2025
https://telegraph.co.uk/gift/772d5e7026326c94
Teach
children to identify as Muslim instead of British, says frontrunner for Islamic
body
Wajid Akhter, standing to be general secretary of the Muslim Council of Britain, also condemned new year celebrations as ‘pagan’
Children in the Islamic community should be taught to identify themselves primarily as Muslim rather than British, the frontrunner to lead the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) has said.
Wajid Akhter, who is standing to be general
secretary of the MCB, warned in an article that teaching children to identify
primarily with their nationality or ethnicity could make them shallow, whereas
choosing their faith as their primary identity provided a solid foundation to
approach life.
He also called being a Muslim an “act of
revolutionary defiance… at odds with the prevailing culture” and condemned new
year celebrations as “pagan”, “mixed-gender” and “the first step on a slippery
slope”, according to analysis of his speeches and writings by think tank Policy
Exchange.
Dr Akhter, a doctor
from Essex, looks set to lead the MCB, an influential body representing the Muslim community. He had a
senior role in The Muslim Vote, a campaign at the last election to defeat
Labour and Conservative candidates in favour of MPs sympathetic to Palestine,
and hostile to UK counter-terror policy.
The only other candidate, Muhammad Adrees, praised
“the Iranian Revolution when the great leader [Ayatollah Khomeini] led the
nation to its destiny” in a publication linked to the Tehran regime, according
to Policy Exchange.
One of the two will be elected to replace the
current MCB secretary-general, Zara Mohammed, on January 25.
Khalid Mahmood, a senior fellow at Policy Exchange
and Britain’s longest-serving Muslim MP from 2001 to 2024, said: “The views
exposed by Policy Exchange are deeply disturbing.
“That the MCB keeps
getting it wrong is no accident - it is a design fault, rooted in its ideology.
The Government rightly refuses to engage with
the MCB and this demonstrates why that policy should not change.”
In two speeches in 2023, Akhter said Muslims should
“organise” and “unite” into a “powerful community” that would “change from the
hand that is begging to the hand that is giving.” He said: “We all want Saladin
[a Muslim leader who defeated the Crusaders] to come today.”
He said he was part of a movement “trying to unite
the Muslim world politically,” adding: “If we unite, we can win.”
In 2022, Akhter
said that “to be a Muslim today is an act of revolutionary defiance –
standing at odds with the prevailing culture in many ways.”
In the same 2022 article, he wrote: “Most people
teach their children to be their nationality or ethnicity first, but this gives
such a limited and limiting view of yourself and others that this can lead
children to be shallow. It is literally how the evils of nationalism, racism,
and fascism are born.
“Choosing faith as a primary identity for your
children (and of course yourself) allows a solid foundation upon which to
approach the world. Note that I say ‘primary’ as opposed to ‘only’…Teach them
to be Muslim primarily.”
‘Global community of Muslims’
Akhter, a former assistant secretary-general and
current National Council member of the MCB, said children “are constantly
bombarded by examples of how the Western world is cool – whether through the
examples of Captain America, Elon Musk or LeBron James.”
He added: “Make your children realise that they are
heirs to an ancient and proud nation so they can hold their head up high.” The
“ancient and proud nation” here is not Britain, he said, but Islam, or the
Ummah, the global community of Muslims.
In an older piece, Akhter said celebrating New Year
was “the first step on a slippery slope. “By adopting the celebrations of
others, we are not harmlessly saying a few words or just enjoying ourselves,”
he said.
“We are opening the door to disappearing within the
dominant culture, to a future in which our children may have Muslim names, but
are otherwise indistinguishable from non-Muslims in their habits, customs and
appearances.”
Asked about the
approaching MCB vote, Dr Akhter said: “I am standing
for Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain because I love my
community and my country.
“British Muslims have made, and will continue to
make, a positive contribution to our society. My vision is to strengthen unity
among all Britons, fostering mutual respect, shared values, and opportunities
for everyone to thrive. Any attempt to misrepresent my views or intentions is
not only deeply misleading but entirely unfounded.”
In a statement, the MCB said: “The Policy Exchange
has a long history of hostility towards British Muslims, including being
exposed by BBC Newsnight for fabricating evidence to smear our community. They
are consistent in advocating for indirectly denying Muslims equal rights and an
equal say in our democracy.
“Khalid Mahmood, a politician rejected by his own
electorate, appears intent on targeting his own community to gain favour with
those who seek to marginalise us. As for the specific allegations raised, we
trust our affiliates will scrutinise candidates thoroughly in the weeks ahead
at our hustings events and through the democratic process.”
Sunday, January 5, 2025
Saturday, January 4, 2025
Friday, January 3, 2025
Thursday, January 2, 2025
Wednesday, January 1, 2025
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