The Islamic Forum of Europe (IFE) is an Islamic organisation based in various countries across western Europe.Responding to the call , IFE website Its charitable arm was the Islamic Forum Trust. Founded by the members of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, IFE was formerly headquartered in Tower Hamlets, London, and it now mainly operates across Italy, Greece, Portugal and Spain.
Its youth wing is known as Young Muslim Organisation (YMO), and its women's wing is Muslimaat UK. Its London and Sunderland branches are affiliated to the Muslim Council of Britain.
According to Andrew Gilligan, former adviser of the British Prime Minister and Jim Fitzpatrick, former MP, the Islamic Forum of Europe supported Mayor Lutfur Rahman of achieving part of East London's leadership and infiltrated the local government and the Labour Party.
IFE was described by The Daily Telegraph as a sophisticated political group with a structured rank system and hardline goals. It has been also alleged that, during the Aspire Party's control of Tower Hamlets, millions of pounds of public money were paid to organisations run by the Islamic Forum of Europe, and that the results included stocks of Islamist literature being made available in public libraries.
History IFE was founded in 1988 as a British Bangladeshi professional group. Its first president was Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari who later became chairman of the East London Mosque,Andrew Gilligan, Inextricably linked to controversial mosque: the secret world of IFE, Daily Telegraph, 28 February 2010 succeeded by Musleh Faradhi as President since 2005.Call for ban on 'bomb Ireland' extremist| Tom Brady, Irish Independent, 24 November 2012 It was supported by Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin, who stands accused of at least 18 murders as well as war crimes in his native Bangladesh, although he contests the allegations.
It was reportedly founded by former members of the Jamaat-e-Islami, with whom it came into conflict over management of the East London Mosque "throughout the late 1980s"Husain, Ed, The Islamist, Penguin, 2007, p.24-5, 166 resulting in "two High Court injunctions" in 1990 in "response to violence" at the mosque.Husain, Ed, The Islamist, Penguin, 2007, p.279 Dawat'ul Islam is now based at another mosque, Jamiatul Ummah Bigland Street.
Abdullah Faliq is the Deputy Secretary-General, who also help set up the Cordoba Foundation.
An event held by the IFE, hosted Anwar al-Awlaki as a speaker.
It has also worked with the street protest group United East End that opposes the English Defence League (EDL) and part of the Enough Coalition, an umbrella group which aims to tackle anti-Muslim hatred, and that includes organisations such as the Stop the War Coalition, British Muslim Initiative, Federation of Student Islamic Societies, Unite Against Fascism and the East London Mosque.
Muhammad Rabbani, a former senior activist at IFE, went on to become managing director of Cageprisoners and worked at the Osmani Trust. While at IFE, in 2009 he told recruits that:telegraph.co.uk: "Cage: the extremists peddling lies to British Muslims to turn them into supporters of terror", 28 February 2015
Islamic Forum Trust The IFT has donated £16,119 to the Staffordshire Muslim Centre charity, and £257,847 to the Luton Islamic Community Forum (LIFC).
It owns properties that it rents out for private hire to other organisations, one of which is in Lozells, Birmingham, it also owns the Union, Berners Street, Lozells in Birmingham.
It also set up the Oldham Muslim Centre (OMC) branch at a cost of £2.2m which opened in April 2010. Vice chairman of the project Syed Badrul Alam, and Central President of the IFE Mohammad Habibur Rahman were at the opening. The trust also owns 120-122 Chadderton Way, also in Oldham.
Politics The group in 2006 was described as part of a movement of Bangladeshi immigrants in London away from secular left politics towards Islamist politics.Delwar Hussain, "Bangladeshis in East London: from secular politics to Islam ", openDemocracy, 7 July 2006
IFE is also reported as the group which runs the East London Mosque, which is located close to its offices.theguardian.com: "East London mosque awaits EDL march with fear and frustration", 6 September 2013Roel Meijer, Edwin Bakker. The Muslim Brotherhood in Europe. Columbia University Press, 2012. IFE and the mosque have hosted many notable persons and religious leaders including Prince Charles,bbc.co.uk: "Prince joins Ramadan ceremony", 23 November 2001 Abdullah Ahmad Badawi,British Prime Minister Blair praises Malaysia The Star, 24 July 2004 Fiona MacTaggart,Makkah imam leads prayers in London DAWN.com Brendan Barber,TUC wants Muslim 'poverty' ended BBC Dr Yasir Qadhi, Abdul Rahman Al-Sudais, Saud Al-Shuraim, Salah Al Budair, Bakir Izetbegović, Jamal Badawi, Allama Delwar Hossain Sayeedi and many others.Al-Sudais launches second expansion of London mosque Saudi Gazette. Retrieved on 13 September 2010.
Farming minister Jim Fitzpatrick reprimanded the organisation for sex segregation policies at the mosque after attending an Islamic wedding held at the venue which strictly seated men and women separately.Liz Stephens, Jim Fitzpatrick walks out of Muslim wedding, 14 August 2009, politics.co.uk
A Dispatches documentary aired on 1 March 2010 suggested the IFE are an extremist organization with a hidden agenda that went against Britain's democratic values.Andrew Gilligan, Backlash at the mosque, Daily Telegraph, 13 March 2010 Dispatches quoted Azad Ali, the IFE's community affairs coordinator, as saying, "Democracy, if it means at the expense of not implementing the sharia, of course no one agrees with that".Andrew Gilligan, "IFE: not harmless democrats", The Guardian, 4 March 2010
Ali's controversial blog Between the Lines was hosted by the IFE.
In a comment piece in The Guardian newspaper, Inayat Bunglawala of the Muslim Council of Britain suggested that many of the people interviewed on the programme had hidden agendas of their own and noted that Jim Fitzpatrick, who suggested the Labour Party had been infiltrated by IFE members, was to be challenged for his seat by George Galloway in the forthcoming general election who had overturned a 10,000+ majority held by Oona King at the 2005 election.Inayat Bunglawala, "Watch out: democratic Muslims about", The Guardian, 3 March 2010
Galloway was recorded as saying that his 2005 election owed "more than I can say, more than it would be wise for me to say, to the Islamic Forum of Europe."Andrew Gilligan, "Lutfur Rahman: yet more backers he really shouldn't want", Daily Telegraph, 16 September 2010 Responding to the Dispatches programme, Galloway denounced it as a smear, credited the IFE only as one of several groups that helped his anti-war campaign, and claimed to know little about the IFE's membership or policies.George Galloway, . Socialist Unity. 1 March 2010
The programme also claimed that the IFE also helped Lutfur Rahman to gain the leadership of Tower Hamlets Council from 2008 until 2010. Six unknown Labour councillors told Dispatches that a senior IFE official had threatened to mobilise the group's supporters against them if they did not support the candidate. IFE in a response to the programme stated that the programme "Presented a grossly inaccurate and misleading picture of the Islamic Forum of Europe (IFE). The programme failed to broadcast IFE’s responses to many of the allegations and therefore failed in its basic obligation of fair, honest and balanced reporting.". Islamic Forum Europe.
The IFE and Young Muslim Organisation were featured in the book The Islamist by Ed Husain, where he explains that the Young Muslim Organisation attracts mainly English-speaking Asian youths, providing circles or talks daily at the East London Mosque; while teaching about Islam, it covers the political system of the religion.The Islamist, pp. 52-60.
In February 2010, The Daily Telegraph described the group as "a sophisticated political group with a structured rank system and hardline goals. Prospective recruits must attend training. One undercover reporter was told that she would have to take an exam and swear an oath of allegiance and ordered to keep her membership of the IFE a secret." Robert Lambert, at the time co-director of the University of Exeter's European Muslim Research Centre, criticized the accusations, maintaining that youth workers from the Islamic Forum of Europe were actively working to oppose the influence of extremist groups such as Al Qaeda and Al Muhajiroun: "the brave Muslims involved have received no praise for their outstanding bravery and good citizenship, and instead faced a never ending barrage of denigration."
See also Azad Ali, spokesman for Islamic Forum of Europe
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