As I predicted a few days ago in response to Madeleine Bunting’s Guardian article, Mohammed Amin – the only declared candidate at the time – did not win the MCB elections which were held last Sunday. I said at the time that I very much doubted that Mohammed Amin had the required support amongst the MCB affiliates to become the new MCB Secretary-General. The winner was Farooq Murad. The outcome was not really in much doubt as Farooq had been secretly nominated as the preferred candidate of the ‘Islamic movement’ organisations (MAB, UKIM, IFE and Dawatul Islam) back in December 2009, over six months prior to the actual MCB elections. There is nothing particularly untoward about any of this – affiliates of the MCB are free to choose their own preferred candidates – in secret or otherwise – and in any case the winner is the one who can command majority support from the elected Central Working Committee.
What was surprising was that Mohammed Amin failed to get elected even to the Central Working Committee. In his letter to the new Secretary-General, Farooq Murad, Mohammed Amin stated yesterday:
‘It is clear from yesterday’s voting that the major affiliates aligned in the Islamic Movement who vote as an organised block had decided to remove me as an elected member of the CWC.’
Now, as it happens I know a bit about how MCB elections work and believe Mohammed Amin is correct in his assumptions. The most likely reason for Amin not being elected to the CWC is that the ‘Islamic movement’ organisations had decided in advance to instruct their members not to vote for Mohammed Amin. Amin’s name could not have been on the list of ‘recommended candidates’ which is circulated in advance by the ‘Islamic movement’ organisations just before the election takes place. Again, there is nothing intrinsically wrong about this practice, people are free to vote for who they want and if the ‘Islamic movement’ organisations did not want to vote for Mohammed Amin that is their business.
What is sad though, is that too many of the people that are on the list of ‘recommended candidates’ are just placemen and women of the ‘Islamic movement’ organisations. Once elected on to the MCB’s CWC, you do not hear much from many of them again at all and they hardly lift a finger to help with the day to day work at the MCB. Mohammed Amin – for all his faults – was an actual worker and for the past two years in which he had been a member of the CWC had clearly put in a lot of time and effort into helping the MCB. The way he has been treated will not encourage people to come forward and give of their time and energy to the MCB.
Mohammed Amin has sent in a letter of resignation to the MCB which means that his talents will also be missed in the MCB’s Business & Economics committee too.
It is very regrettable that the ‘Islamic movement’ organisations have acted in this manner. Still, Mohammed Amin has said that he will continue to work for the best interests of UK Muslims and to help this country, it is just that this will now be outside of the MCB. All the best to him.
Inayat's Corner 
How comes ISB isn’t listed as ‘Islamic Movement’ organisation?
Inayat if you would permit me to spin bowl also:
I was an elected zone member for the MCB between 2004 and 2006, just because my contemporaries decided that not to re-elect me to the CWC, did not mean that I ‘resigned’ from the organisation, there is no room for sour grapes when one considers himself an Islamic worker. I have continued in my support of the council and its various committees in whatever capacity I have been requested to, further I have attended many of the Council CWC quarterly meetings as an observer where I have been allowed to voice my opinion as a member of the Muslim community and no doubt effected policy. Why is it that Mr Amin feels his work with the council can only be of importance if he is ‘elected’.
This in fact is the inherent flaw with his thinking along with his misplaced, deluded, unconventional, self-publicity escapades of flaunting himself as the next SG, a fully justified reason why the delegate base opted not to select him. If your assumptions of the ‘Islamic Movement’ are correct then isn’t it true that they would have collectively given him the green light to be elected last time???
The MCB is a collective of hardworking voluntary groups, with a minor sprinkling of paid staff, by resigning Mr Amin has demonstrated his impatience and lack of ‘Islamic’ training. What he should have done was work even harder from the sidelines, consolidated his position as a key worker, shown his now better understanding of the holistic nature of the faith the MCB represents and Insha’Allah made his way back onto the CWC next time. His resignation will prove what many thought in the first place, that this was a covert attempt by the ‘Conservative Muslim Forum’ types and their faith compromising ilk to replace the SG with one of their own.
Finally as we know, you were and are a member of the ISB, of which Br Faruq was the president for sometime, would it not be fair for you to say a few balanced words about him, his character and his personage?
We pray for the continued success of the Council and in Allah (swt) we place our trust
Mr Amin’s resignation is a great loss for the whole Ummah and I sincerely thought that he will retain at least his position within CWC. His biggest mistake was to offer himself for SG position which was very unusual for organisations like MCB. Knowing MCB well enough, I don’t think anyone was going round and saying “Don’t elect M. Amin”. He was purely rejected based on what many delegates thought was unwise for promoting himself.
His contributions for the MCB will be remembered and I pray and hope that Mr Amin will rejoin this diverse organisation, which operates solely because of volunteers like Mr Amin, Mr Inayat Banglawala and hundreds of others at present and in the past.
If you were in the same shoes as MR Amin then you would have a different view, as you may be in the same bed as your new -Sec-General.
and it sounds as though you have not taken into consideration how much Mr Amin as sacrificed his time effete to MCB.
Your kind of loyalty belongs to Pakistan politics.
Very good point why isn’t ISB listed as ‘Islamic Movement’, btw I was their on Sunday, their were two potential candidates nominated by the CWC, Dr Shuja Shafi and Br Faruq Murad, both gave small introductory speeches and Br Faruq was elected. Why the big issue Inayat, what do you have against Br Faruq??? Why can’t you congratulate him and share your love of books, movies and ‘gossip’ (very Islamic) with him??
Just to point out that according to the WordPress IP address tracker ‘HK’ and ‘Anonymous MCB worker’ (and ‘Ahmed’ from another thread about the MCB election) are all one and the same person.
I am not sure after reading the comments that this person’s has left as to what actual criticism s/he has about the blogs I have actually written.
It’s a real pity to see Mohammed Amin leaving the MCB. I hope Farooq Murad though will be able to create a better-organised and more effective organisation.
I think the MCB needs ‘more people’. It’s the umbrella for a large number of eclectic groups at the moment but I think it would be beneficial for us all of it were able to bring in more people, diversify it’s composition even further and bring in more talent from Muslims across the country.
I hope Farooq Murad will recognise that the MCB must be a lot more careful in what it does. In the past we have seen members/leaders of the MCB making ill-judged statements which the media can pounce on. A more professional organisation is what I hope for.
So what if I am one of the same person, just answer the questions I have posed, I may not be as IT savy as you but I know that a little query can flag IP addresses, the fact that you have dug this out reminds of the baffoons over at the Spittoon, my opinions are reflective of many brothers and sisters, just a shame you psuedo-intellectuals can’t acknowledge that.
Ahmed: ‘So what if I am one of the same person, just answer the questions I have posed.’
You haven’t really posed a question that is worth responding to!
You may think they are unworthy Br Inayat, but there are many whom I sure are following who will feel they are valid, here goes again 🙂
If your assumptions of the ‘Islamic Movement’ are correct then isn’t it true that Mr Amin would have collectively been given the green light to be elected last time???
Following on from this doesn’t it suggest a scenario where he was given an oppurtunity and instead of doing the decent thing, head down, working hard, getting stuuck in for a few years, learning the ropes, understanding his Deen some more, then finding people nominating him for SG, he dicided he preferred the quick rout PR route, and that this is why he lost his seat?
Being brought up in such a noble household is a blessing and no doubt had an effect on the person Br Faruq is today, so why would you take this away from him by saying that lineage has nothing to do with the the people Muslim choose to lead them…?
As Br Faruq is someone you know very well, would it not be fair for you to say a few balanced words about him, his character and his personage?
Why do you show such an obvious umbrage towards this brother, why can’t you congratulate him?
Ahmed: Yes, I have no doubt that Mohammed Amin lost his seat because he upset the ‘Islamic movement’. The sad thing is he was actually a good worker whereas the ‘Islamic movement’ regularly place individuals who do not do very much at all into the CWC. They are just there as placemen (and women). It is quite simply an abuse of power and trust and is sadly resulting in talented people like M Amin walking away from the MCB. That is a real shame.
Btw, it’s a bit odd that you patronisingly call upon Mohammed Amin to spend more time ‘understanding his Deen’ when you come here and post under different false names to try and give the impression that your views are shared by multiple people.
The Ahmed twin’s notion that the Sec-Gen should be some kind of selfless, shrinking violet, bereft of ambition like some not-wannabe Abbot, strikes me as a tad credulous. Not that I’m claiming previous Sec-Gen’s have been Machiavelian monsters. But people who run public organizations do tend to have a certain amount of ego, don’t they? The important thing, surely, is not to let that ego/ambition compromise an organization’s aims. After all, faux-piety can easily be affected, can’t it?
Anonymous MCB Worker/HK/Ahmed
Do you have any idea how creepy you sound (to a non-Muslim)?
“Brother this”, “Brother that”, ““gossip” very Islamic”, “Allah(swt)”, “understanding his Deen some more”, “being brought up in a noble household”.
Is it George of the third form or are you a member of some secret society? Harry Potter beware!
Anyway, even those of the “faith compromising ilk” have some questions to answer. See: here
Ahhhhhh Inayat, so now you have excluded my final comment from this thread…wonder why?
Ahmed: Yes, because you kept repeating the same question again and again ie why do I not kiss Farooq Murad’s hand, acknowledge his greatness etc. Well, this thread is not really about Farooq Murad, it is about how the ‘Islamic movement’ organisations behaved towards Mohammed Amin. Hope that clarifies matters.
I read Inayat’s blog above with interest. My resignation email was internal to the MCB, but I have put a few words of explanation on my wbsite at http://www.mohammedamin.com/MCB_Election.html and have nothing to add to them.
My reason for posting here is simply to express surprise that someone can believe that it is Islamic behaviour to pretend to be three other people, each of them a pseudonym.
I decided a long time ago never to write on the internet (or elsewhere) except in my own name; if I am not prepared to be identified as saying something, I should not be saying it.
Mohammed Amin
Even if they didn’t want him as SG, with his background Br. Mohammed Amin would have made a very good Treasurer!
Congratulations Mr Bunglawala your story is being feted at the cesspit of anit-Muslim guised as anti-Islamism debris the Spittoon, no doubt very healthy for community undertakings, unity and common purpose…http://www.spittoon.org/archives/6865
Yes Br Amin, as I said previously I hope that you can do the right thing and continue lending your exceptional talents and skills to the MCB as a hard working community volunteer, just like many others do…as you know its not all about titles and position in Islam. The historic example of Khalid bin Waleed (ra) seems befitting, as someone who has admittedly read much recently on Islam, the Qur’an, Islamic Jurisprudence, science of hadith and the Seerah, I am sure you are aware of the instance where Khalid (ra) was demoted by the Caliph Umar (ra) from leading the great army of Islam that liberated (am sure you will agree with this word) Iraq and Persia to the post of a normal soldier, which he accepted and fulfilled with no less vigour.
I have not come across your views and opinion or those of the Conservative Muslim Forum on the unjustified ban on Dr Zakir Naik, will the CFM being doing some kind of a press release in his favour and will they be lobbying their superiors..oppps sorry colleagues at Conservative HQ and of course our lovely un-elected Baroness 🙂 to whom all political and civic activism is Ok, accept the Islamic type 🙂
This aside I genuinely wish you the best and pray for your continued success and prosperity.
Ahmed: If the Islamophobes at the Spittoon use the Mohammed Amin incident to try and tarnish the image of the MCB then surely you should direct your ire to those who abused their power and organised a block vote against him, not at those who write about what happened. Unless, of course, you think we should accept the abuse of power for the sake of maintaining ‘unity and common purpose’.
Come on Inayat stop taliking nonsense, the baffoons over at the spittoon would not be happy and sometimes I think niether would you until the whole MCB affiliate base was purged of the dreaded malevolent masonic 🙂 ‘Islamic Movement’ and I quote you…
‘There is nothing particularly untoward about any of this – affiliates of the MCB are free to choose their own preferred candidates – in secret or otherwise – and in any case the winner is the one who can command majority support from the elected Central Working Committee.’
Why can’t you advise Br Amin that maybe some of the tact and methodology he used was misinformed and may have adversely effected peoples opinions…
Yes, I agree that there is no pleasing the Islamophobes at the Spittoon – but in your earlier response you seem to be blaming me for their article. As I have already said, if you want to point fingers then you should more properly point them at those who have abused their power by voting off Mohammed Amin from the CWC while electing many of their own placemen who do not lift a finger at the MCB.
Assalaamu Alaikum Inayat, do you no longer have any association with the MCB or are you still involved some how? I know this is your personal blog but many people still think you are MCB’s public relations representative – given that you have taken to write about the internal workings of the MCB it would be good to clarify from what position you are coming from?
AA Nafees. I have been steadily reducing my involvement in the MCB in recent months and now have no practical involvement there really but of course I still keep in touch with many colleagues there. My comments on this blog represent purely my own views and should not in any way be seen to be those of the MCB.
So is this chap same as the Buffoon, who is running around acting as a yes man for Cameron.?