Local Editor
A number of leading Muslim organizations have said they never gave approval for their signatures to appear on an open letter about an alleged attack on Mecca by Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah revolutionaries.
Accoring to Buzz Feed News, the open letter was published by a Saudi Arabia-linked London mosque.
In October Saudi Arabia, which is leading coalition airstrikes intervening in Yemen’s civil war between the Houthi forces and supporters of its fugitive former President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, claimed in a statement to its state news agency that the Houthis had launched a ballistic missile towards Mecca, Islam’s holiest place.
Houthi revolutionaries confirmed the launch of a Burkan-1 (Volcano-1) ballistic missile into Saudi Arabia targeting King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah.
The Saudi state news agency statement was followed by a letter on the website of the London Central Mosque in Regent’s Park, which 16 major mosques and organizations appeared to have signed. Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the UK, Prince Mohamed Bin Nawaf Bin Abdulaziz, currently sits on the mosque’s board of trustees.
The letter had signatories from a number of significant Muslim institutions, including the Islamic Sharia Council and some of Britain’s largest mosques. However, it has since emerged some organizations had not seen the letter before it was published, and were not aware they were listed as signatories.
A spokesperson from the Al Manaar mosque in west London said they had been caught by surprise over the letter, while the East London Mosque has asked to be removed from it.
In a statement, the East London Mosque said: "As the joint statement was not approved by the appropriately authorized persons from East London Mosque Trust, we have written to the statement organizers clarifying our position and have asked them to remove our name from the statement.
Croydon Islamic Community Trust tweeted to also say it had not been consulted about the letter in question.
In another tweet, the Croydon institution posted a press release that read: "CICT released a statement earlier today to inform readers we did not know of, or sign permission for our name to be used."
It added: "This was to ensure that in the future, organizations do not attempt to use our name to support their causes without our permission."
The Muslim Association of Britain (MAB), which had its logo and signatory on the letter, has published a statement that says: "MAB has not been party to any discussion about this, nor have we been consulted about the statement. We therefore wish to make it clear that the above statement inaccurately carries our name."
It added: "Working for the common good and just causes, MAB condemns the killing of civilians and innocent people in Yemen and other countries like Syria and Iraq..."
A source from one of the institutions named in the letter said there was a meeting on Monday 31 October among the London Mosque Committee, a group of mosques that established a unified prayer timetable. They said they had been notified about an alleged attack on Islam’s holiest site. However the letter was dated 30 October, suggesting it had already been drafted.
The source said UK mosques were not willing to engage in "sectarian propaganda" on behalf of Saudi Arabia and were concerned the letter had been published with their names and logos. They said many mosques would be worried to voice their opinions on the conflict.
Below is the letter. It is available in Arabic and English online.
The Saudi state-run news agency last week also reported how Islamic centers in Britain had condemned the alleged targeting of Mecca by the Houthis.
A spokesperson at the London Central Mosque said he was not aware of any complaints and said the letter had been discussed.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by Website Team
