Updated: Geert Wilders, Islamic Law in Britain, and Zaki Badawi, The Late Lionized “Moderate” Muslim Leader

Zaki Badawi, Britain’s “Urbane,” “Moderate” Shari’a Supremacist

In the wake of Britain’s repulsive behavior towards Geert Wilders—barring his entry to speak at a House of Lords showing of his sobering, realistic film, Fitna, and demonizing him in uninformed press accounts, left, center, and right, and pious denouncements by so-called British “leaders” from across the political spectrum—it is worth reviewing these observations by the respected British scholar of Islam, Dr. Mervyn Hiskett, in Some to Mecca Turn to Pray, first published in 1993.

Hiskett noted (p. 235) the prevailing opinion among leaders of the British Muslim community (i.e., already, almost two decades ago) that unless Muslim immigrants to Britain were allowed unrestrained access to Islamic Law, Shari’a, in all aspects, Britain was to be regarded, Dar-al-Harb, or the House of War, i.e., the target of jihadism. Citing what he characterized as “a more urbane but some may consider ominous statement of the Muslim intention to brook no opposition,” Hiskett quoted Zaki Badawi (d. 2006), a Muslim scholar, and former Director of the Islamic Cultural Center, London, who was made an honorary Knight Commander of the British Empire (KBE) in 2004, and also appointed by The Duke of Castro as a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Francis I:

A proseltyzing religion cannot stand still. It can either expand or contract. Islam endeavors to expand in Britain. Islam is a universal religion. It aims at bringing its message to all corners of the earth. It hopes that one day the whole humanity will be one Muslim community, the ‘Umma’

Update from Dr. Richard Rubenstein:

Professor Emeritus Richard Rubenstein, author of the seminal works, “After Auschwitz” and “The Cunning of History,” knew Zaki Badawi very well. Professor Rubenstein and his wife attended international conferences with Badawi for a number of years and normally sat with Badawi and his wife at dinner. The Rubenstein’s too were impressed with Badawi’s urbanity and sophistication, until one evening Badawi and his wife brought up Israel and informed the Rubenstein’s, “They’ll [Israel] really have to go, you know.” His wife, an English convert to Islam chirped in, “the Crusades.”

Professor Rubenstein also related this revealing information provided by a British colleague.

I have a British friend active in trying to make the UK public aware of the Darfur genocide. He told me that he happened to meet Badawi at Heathrow Airport and Badawi told him that he had never become a British subject although he had lived in the country for more than 30 years, and had received all manner of honors there. My friend also told me that he tried to enlist Badawi’s support in opposing the Darfur genocide. Badawi responded that “sub-Saharan Muslims don’t interest me. They’re really all polytheists.”