Lewisham Mosque and the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) have slammed media reporting after it was claimed that two Muslim scout leaders were suspended following an investigation into extremism.

Lewisham Mosque said it continued “to be appalled by the ever downward spiral in standard of some sections of the British press.” And the MAB said the Telegraph had attempted “to smear MAB along with a number of British Muslim scouting groups.” Earlier this week The Telegraph reported that a scout group run from Lewisham Mosque was being investigated by police after it was linked “to an Islamic extremist and a man associated with Holocaust denial.”

The article said that The Scout Association raised the alarm after the Telegraph found the Lewisham Islamic Centre had been segregating groups by gender, despite the Scout’s own commitment to mixed-sex groups.

The Telegraph said its investigation also found girls as young as five in the group have been encouraged to record videos advocating wearing the hijab, and that contrary to the Scouts own commitment to “British Values,” the group’s leader Ahammed Hussain has admitted to encouraging the members to be “Muslims first.” Later The Telegraph also reported that the Scout Association had suspended a second volunteer and referred six more mosques to the police over extremism concerns…

In response the MAB said it was “proud of its efforts in supporting community and youth groups, and The Telegraph’s unsubstantiated claims are nothing more than dog-whistle Islamophobia.” It added: “Whilst MAB consults with its solicitors and all parties concerned, it is interesting that the Telegraph continues to quote and refer to discredited, disreputable and totally unreliable sources such as the Henry Jackson Society who, among many other accusations, were expelled from Parliament due to lack of transparency. MAB takes such accusations seriously and reserves the right to reply to this poor and wholly inaccurate article, and will do so upon the conclusion of its consultations.”

Source: 5pillarsuk.com