Ghayasuddin Siddiqui

Dr Ghayasuddin Siddiqui is an academic and political activist.

He was born in Delhi in 1939, migrated to Pakistan in late 1947 and moved to the UK in 1964. As leader of the Muslim Parliament of Great Britain - which he co-founded in 1992 - and director of one of the oldest Muslim think-tanks in Britain, the Muslim Institute - which he co-founded in 1973 - established at a time when many first generation Muslims were building Islamic institutions in Britain. Dr Siddiqui claims to have met [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4424208.stm] Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi and much of the early Jamaat-e-Islami and Muslim Brotherhood leadership. Rejecting their methodologies, he forged a close relationship with Iran meeting the more radical late Ayatullah Khomeini and many in the revolutionary Iranian leadership. This explains some reports that the Institute was [http://www.isic-centre.org/archive-list-view/34-briefings/125-isic-bulletin-augsep-94.html?f3adf1a5ef7c4227495916afa78f4b3e=ca5da0aa070ba0fd90a45e4c3b37c4bd] funded by the Iranian government.

upport for fatwa against Salman Rushdie

Unlike other British Muslim leaders, Dr Siddiqui was one of the first Muslim leaders to support the death sentance placed on Salman Rushdie. In 1998, despite an apparent relaxation of the fatwa against the author, Siddiqui remained a supporter of the decision, criticising the Iranian leadership by saying to the [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/177987.stm] BBC that it had no authority to revoke the fatwa, and "the position of the Muslim Parliament is independent of what may or may not happen in Tehran".

His support for the fatwa issued by Khomeini continued as late as the year 2000, as was reported by [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/rushdie-death-warrant-intact-726733.html] The Independent newspaper and the Press Association. He said "We support the fatwa but at the same time we have always said that Muslims in this country should abide by the law and not carry out the killing." And added: "It has always been the situation that the fatwa remains in operation and valid."

It is unclear whether he has now recanted on these views.

Post-9/11 Views

Today, Dr Siddiqui is re-packaged as a moderate, pursing Muslim social issues such as an end to [http://www.muslimparliament.org.uk/forcedmarriagehonourviolence.htm forced marriages] . He was the first Muslim leader to join the Stop the War Coalition, joining its inaugural Central Committee. Dr Siddiqui is patron of the Guantanamo Human Rights Commission, and a commissioner on the [http://www.aauk.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=24&Itemid=38 Commission on British Muslims and Islamophobia] . He is a founding trustee of [http://www.bmsd.org.uk British Muslims for Secular Democracy] . Dr Siddiqui attacks Saudi and Saudi-sponsored institutions, accusing them of destabilising the world by working with the CIA against the Soviet Union during the Afghan jihad.

His son [http://www.guardian.co.uk/islam/story/0,,1362385,00.html] is Asim Siddiqui, Chairman of the The City Circle.

External links

* [http://www.muslimparliament.org.uk The Muslim Parliament of Great Britain]