Sufi Muslim Council
Encyclopedia
The Sufi Muslim Council was launched on 19 July 2006. The SMC is a non-profit, non-governmental religious organization dedicated to working for the cause of Islam.

The group claims to represent British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 Sufi Muslims. Sufism is a form of Islamic mysticism. Sufi orders (Tariqas) can be found in Sunni, Shia and other Islamic groups. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4907406.stm The 14th Century Arab historian Ibn Khaldun
Ibn Khaldun
Ibn Khaldūn or Ibn Khaldoun was an Arab Tunisian historiographer and historian who is often viewed as one of the forerunners of modern historiography, sociology and economics...

 described Sufism as: "dedication to worship, total dedication to Allah most High, disregard for the finery and ornament of the world, abstinence from the pleasure, wealth, and prestige sought by most men, and retiring from others to worship alone".

The group claims that up to 80% of Britain's 2 million Muslims come from the Sufi tradition, which is a mystical and personal interpretation of Islam and largely apolitical.http://www.guardian.co.uk/religion/Story/0,,1824131,00.html. However, the figure has been challenged by the group's critics.

Sufi Muslim Council: Mission Statement

The SMC was launched with the backing of the government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...

 and other faith groups. Politicians from the Labour party welcomed the establishment of the group. The SMC states that it differs from the plethora of other British Islamic groups in that its approach to Islam is less political and hence less confrontational. It tends to view British Muslims as part of mainstream British society rather than separate from it. The group is widely perceived to act as a counter to the Muslim Council of Britain
Muslim Council of Britain
The Muslim Council of Britain is a self-appointed umbrella body for national, regional, local and specialist organisations and institutions from different ethnic and sectarian backgrounds within British Islamic society. It was established in 1997 to help Muslims, to increase education about the...

. However its use of the term "Sufi" (ie Islamic mystic) has raised important questions about its authenticity in the Muslim community. Traditional Sufi Orders in Islam (called "tariqahs") are defined by their hagiographic genealogy ("silsile
Silsila
Silsila is a 1981 Bollywood film directed by Yash Chopra. The film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bhaduri, Sanjeev Kumar and Rekha, with Shashi Kapoor in a special appearance.-Plot:...

") which they trace back to the Prophet Muhammad and this is considered the criterion of their authenticity in the eyes of the community. The absence of any silsile (or even reference to it) anywhere in the SMC's literature has led to serious doubts over its true mystical pedigree and has increased suspicions over its political agenda. Furthermore, in the science and tradition of Tasawwuf, or Sufism, any self-reference as an individual or group as a 'Sufi' is considered presumptious and arrogant. Isolating Sufism as a sect of Muslims rather than a tradition of self growth and spiritual refinement is also alien to Tasawwuf.

The Sufi Muslim Council and Islamic Extremism

The SMC has taken a strong stand against radical Islamic extremism prevalent amongst some Muslim youth in the UK, as illustrated by the 7/7 terrorist attacks carried out by predominanly by young Muslims of British Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

i descent. In its website the group states: "While every religion rejects acts of tyranny, injustice and oppression, extremism is found in every religion. As Muslims we are supporters of love
Love
Love is an emotion of strong affection and personal attachment. In philosophical context, love is a virtue representing all of human kindness, compassion, and affection. Love is central to many religions, as in the Christian phrase, "God is love" or Agape in the Canonical gospels...

, peace, justice, respect and tolerance. Thus, we see it as our duty to continue to shed light on current events while doing our best to see that the wave of militant radicalism
Extremism
Extremism is any ideology or political act far outside the perceived political center of a society; or otherwise claimed to violate common moral standards...

 sweeping Muslim nations does not strike again in UK, where we live."

Rivalry between the Sufi Muslim Council and the Muslim Council of Britain

Given their different approaches to expressing the religion of Islam, both the SMC and the MCB have criticised each other regarding the extent to which unelected community organisations can fight Islamic extremism and alienation from the mainstream. The MCB has dismissed the SMC as 'unrepresentative and divisive'. Meanwhile the SMC has accused existing organisations for not doing enough to engage with and tackle radicalism within British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

 communities. http://www.guardian.co.uk/religion/Story/0,,1824131,00.html

The Sufi Muslim Council and Craig Murray

Craig Murray
Craig Murray
Craig John Murray is a British political activist, former ambassador to Uzbekistan and former Rector of the University of Dundee....

, the former British Ambassador to Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....

, has written an article claiming that the group is a Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

 government project designed to replace the Muslim Council of Britain
Muslim Council of Britain
The Muslim Council of Britain is a self-appointed umbrella body for national, regional, local and specialist organisations and institutions from different ethnic and sectarian backgrounds within British Islamic society. It was established in 1997 to help Muslims, to increase education about the...

. Murray has also argued that the Sufi Muslim Council is linked to neo-conservative groups in Washington which propagandise for the Uzbek President, Islam Karimov, and receive funding from business interests of his daughter, Gulnara Karimova
Gulnara Karimova
Gulnara Islomovna Karimova is an Uzbek businesswoman, fashion designer, singer and diplomat. She is the eldest daughter of the President of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov.-Education:...

.

Murray says that the SMC website and published media contain articles such as 'The Muslim Brotherhood's Conquest of Europe', written by Lorenzo Vidino and 'Islamic Radicalism - Its Wahhabi Roots and current representation', written by the Islamic Supreme Council of America
Islamic Supreme Council of America
The Islamic Supreme Council of America is a Muslim religious organization in the United States.The ISCA strives to integrate traditional scholarship in resolving contemporary issues affecting the maintenance of Islamic beliefs in a modern, secular society...

who he sees as neoconservatives.

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