http://www.guardian.co.uk/religion/Story/0,,2226704,00.html
Masjid Statement:
With the Name of God, All-Merciful, Most Merciful
The following glaring inaccuracies regarding our mosque appear in the report entitled, “The Hijacking of British Islam,” authored by Denis MacEoin, published by the Policy Exchange, London, on its website and dated October 2007:
1. The bookshop from which the Policy Exchange’s “researchers” bought some books is located next door to the mosque (78 High Road, E15 2BP), and is entirely independent of the mosque (80 High Road, E15 2BP), as any basic enquiries would have revealed. Therefore, all the allegations made in the report about our mosque as promoting extremist and/or hate literature, are completely false.
2. The full name of our mosque, as registered with the UK Charity Commission, is “Masjid & Madrasah al-Tawhid,” which means, “Al-Tawhid Mosque and School,” and not, “Tauheed Mosque and Islamic Centre,” as incorrectly stated on p. 95 of the report.
3. Further, our mosque address, as confirmed by our UK Charity Commission registration (no. 1070735), is 80 High Road, London, E15 2BP and not 78 High Road, as incorrectly stated on p. 95 of the report. The latter address is in fact that of an independent bookshop, currently called “Tayba.” There is in fact no institution called “Tauheed Mosque and Islamic Centre,” neither at 80 nor at 78 High Road!
4. Pages 95-101 of the report are therefore based on a conflation of texts bought from a bookshop independent of our mosque and details about our mosque from our website. The information in these pages is therefore misleading, inaccurate and confused.
5. The same is true of references to “The Tauheed Mosque and Islamic Centre, east London” on pages 11 (once), 28 (once) and 193 (three times) of the report. This information is misleading since the reader will associate it with Al-Tawhid Mosque, 80 High Road, E15 2BP, especially given the misleading information on page 95 of the report. Note that it is an easily-observed fact that there is no mosque at 78 High Road, E15 2BP, as stated in the report, but only a bookshop!
Based on the above facts, we have written to the Policy Exchange today to demand the following action immediately:
1. A full, public and unconditional apology for the inaccurate and misleading contents of the report regarding our mosque. This apology should be highlighted prominently on the Policy Exchange website, as the original report has been, in order to begin to undo any harm caused by the report.
2. An immediate withdrawal of the full report, “The hijacking of British Islam,” dated October 2007, as currently found on the Policy Exchange website, due to the inaccuracies and misleading information contained therein regarding our mosque, as detailed above.
3. If the Policy Exchange decide to issue a subsequent version of the report, all the inaccurate and misleading information about our mosque contained in the current version must be corrected or removed. This includes the information on pages 11, 28, 95-101 and 193 of the current version of the report.
If co-operation in this regard is not forthcoming from the Policy Exchange within a reasonable time-period, we shall have no option but to pursue appropriate redress through legal action.
DR. USAMA HASAN
on behalf of the Trustees of Masjid & Madrasah al-Tawhid Trust,
80 High Road,
London
E15 2BP.
(Charity Registration no. 1070735)
2nd November, 2007
