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[size=Not a single Imam preaches religious fascism and racial hatred. Extremism has not been created by the fanatical clerics. Muslim clerics never played any role for the radicalization of Muslim youths. There is no culture of hate, spite and distrust in the Masajid or in Muslim schools. The so- called hate preachers are just religious scholars to satisfy the social, spiritual and emotional needs and demands of the British Muslims in their own languages. The Western media and politicians have an assumption that Islam threatens its liberal sensibilities and it is right to have a go at Islam. It is now open season for attacks on Muslims by politicians, media, institutions and individuals of different faiths or no faith. ][/size]

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[size=The writer Oriana Fallies recently asserted that there is no difference between Muslim extremist and Islam. She still had no trouble winning an audience with the Pope Benedict.][/size]

[size=David Cameron, the rising Tory star, campared Islamic extremist to the Nazis threat in the 1930s. Nazism is a European invention, practiced by so-called civilized Europeans. Nazi ideology is exclusively based on the supremacy of one race, while Islam is the exact opposite, all races being equal. Bush and Blair have repeatedly pointed to their cultures’ compassionate values, and condemned the barbarity of Muslim militants. The speech by the Pope, which aroused a world wide storm, went well with Bush’s Crusade. The head of OFSTED said that the rise of Muslim schools is a threat to Britain’s sense of national identity and fail to teach tolerance. ][/size][size=America][/size][size=’s religious Right regards Islam is an evil ideology that inspires young angry Muslim males in western society. Tony Blair considers veil as a mark of separation and he fully supported the LEA who suspended and sacked the poor teacher. Masajid, Imams, Muslim schools with bilingual Muslim teachers, veil, Halal foods and Arabic and Urdu languages are not a mark of separation but marks of identity. Universities and colleges across ][/size][size=Britain][/size][size= are to spy on Muslim students for their suspected involvement in Islamic extremism and supporting terrorist violence. Racist incidents in London schools have increased 26% since the 7/7 bombing and the debate about the wearing of the veil has prompted further incidents. ][/size]An EU report said that [size=Europe][/size][size=’s Muslims face broad discrimination. Islamophobia included� discriminatatory and aggressive treatment by police�, a factor cited in youth unrest. A German teacher described the defeat of Ottoman forces at the edge of ][/size][size=Vienna][/size][size=, as something to be celebrated, otherwise, boys would have been circumcised and the girls would have to cover from head to toe. The real hate preachers are Western politicians, teachers and media and not Muslim clerics and Muslim teachers. ][/size]

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[size=][/size]The long-term solution to terrorism lies not in [size=Guantanamo][/size][size= ][/size][size=Bay][/size][size= or British prisons, but in education – education about other religions, tolerance, free speeches, the history and the respect for human life. It is not the Muslim schools or Muslim majority state schools; it is those schools where native Brits are in majority, needs serious attention in terms of anxiety, bullying of Muslim pupils and threats to Muslim teachers. The role of schools to be highlighted in challenging Islamophobia, schools need to ensure that all children must learn about Islam. Muslim majority state schools should be designated as Muslim community schools with bilingual Muslim teachers as role models. Those are the real issues tackling extremism and alienation of the Muslim youths. ][/size]

[size=Iftikhar Ahmad ][/size]

[size=www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk][/size]

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Ifthikhar,

I was invited to go to visit the masjid with my brother's friend and my brother and I happily accepted. These days mentioning the word Islam is like me telling somebody that my house is burning down ---a plain emergency. When I was 16, I remembered being depressed and just looking for some kind words to hear from somebody. I guess god answered my prayers because a very kind Imam came to my rescue. He was very inspiring and so motivating that it made me want to be a Muslim( By my choice, he has nothing to do with my mind at that time). I rememered coming home telling my mother about it and then telling her that I wanted to be one. Unfortunately, that was out of the question because she thought that I wouldn't like it. Needless to say that I was disappointed with her response.

I'm now a Christian, by faith and practice, but I had to wonder what my life would have been like if I would have became one. Though I'm content where I 'am, I decided to take this "field-trip" to his friend's masjid. Not only I'm I going for a visit, but it also has me asking questions of " what-if", like what if my mother would have let me become a Muslim. These days, to be a Muslim has angered many people and that is a crying shame because were blaming a whole religion on what some idiotic extremists did in 9/11 and on top of that some of these Christians are no better than them( the extremist) because of their attitudes toward it. Although my mother respects people's religious choice,she's not crazy about me going to the masjid because of what Muslims might think about a Christian coming there. I've thought about that, but on the side of the coin, I've also known Christians to say the same thing about Muslim. I'm not stupid, I'm quite sure that there are some people at the masjid who may not like the idea of anon-Muslim coming to their masjid, butI'm quite sure that there are many other Muslims who will embrace them like a memmber of their family. That's life. Media always tell us that we should be scared of Muslims? I'm more scared of people like our president who make the Muslim would and others hate us because of ourblantant disrepect of their religion.

I think about newly elected congressman Keith Ellison ( D-Minnesota). All the man want to is serve our country and our so-called diverse government are already telling him to get lost. He has received over 100 letter asking for his departure from the house of representatives( Interestingly, He said that Thomas Jefferson supported Islam and he's not joking. Ellison proved his point by going to the library of Congress and whosename/letter is written in supprt of the Koran?). I'm a Christian, but I could care less about his religious background. He has every right to be there just like the rest of them. It doesn't matter if he's a muslim, he's still my brother. According to the book of Galatians it said that God doesn't thin of one religion being more than the other.