Both candidates to lead the Muslim Council of Britain have « deeply disturbing views », a new report finds.
Wajid Akhter, the frontrunner to lead the MCB after elections this month, says UK Muslims should teach their children to identify primarily as Muslim, not as British, the Policy Exchange has found.
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.
One of the two will be elected to replace the current MCB secretary-general, Zara Mohammed, on January 25.
Khalid Mahmood, 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.”
Policy Exchange has researched both candidates as part of a broader investigation – to be published later this month – of the MCB, which claims to be the main democratic representative body for British Muslims.
Akhter, a doctor from east London, 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.
In two speeches in 2023, he said Muslims should “organise” and “unite” into a “powerful community” which would “change from the hand that is begging to the hand that is giving.” He said he was part of a movement “trying to unite the Muslim world politically,” adding: “If we unite, we can win.”
Akhter has previously said Muslims should not celebrate the “pagan” event of New Year, with its “un-Islamic practices” such as “mixed gender events.”
In 2017 Adrees, the other candidate, travelled to Iran on a delegation, meeting Iranian officials and the grandson of Ayatollah Khomeini and praying at Khomeini’s shrine.
Writing about his trip in a magazine published by the Islamic Centre of England, described by MPs as a representative of the Iranian regime, he praised Khomeini and “the Iranian Revolution, when the great leader led the nation to its destiny.”
It comes as Keir Starmer has been urged to shelve plans for an official government definition of Islamophobia in the wake of the grooming gangs scandal.
Critics say a strict definition would curtail free speech and make it harder for whistleblowers to point out certain instances of wrongdoing.
They warn it could lead to a repeat of the racism accusations that were levelled at whistleblowers in Rotherham, Oldham and other towns where there was abuse of largely white children by gangs of men, predominantly of Pakistani heritage.
The Government said it was continuing to consider a formal definition of anti-Muslim discrimination, which some campaigners have likened to « blasphemy law ».
Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, said « the Government should drop its plans for such a deeply flawed definition of Islamophobia », warning that « throughout the grooming gang scandal, the false label of Islamophobia was used to silence people ».
He added: « It appears the Government has learnt nothing and is determined to press ahead with a definition that will have a chilling effect on freedom of speech. »
An MCB spokesperson 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.”
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