A few days ago, I wrote about the terror-supporting Imam Irfan Chishti MBE, who endorsed an antisemitic tweet authored by Ahmad Thomson (of whom more later), and who is paid by the UK government to combat Islamist extremism.
Another such imam is Qari Asim MBE who serves as an advisor on Islamophobia to the UK government. Qari Asim is a senior Imam in Leeds and chair of the Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board. Critics suspect him of being a closet Islamist, however the Board of Deputies of British Jews (BOD) and The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, have defended Qari Asim for his commitment to battling extremism and promoting interfaith harmony. An example of how this is put into practice now follows.
In the aftermath of the recent Israel-Hamas war and the heightened climate of antisemitism in the UK, Qari Asim and Laura Janner-Klausner, a former senior Rabbi and chair of Reform Judaism, pledged to work together to combat hate:
…We must also stand against the convenient hatred of those wanting to divide us. A good example happened on Sunday when the renowned far-right Islamophobe Tommy Robinson attended a pro-Israel rally in London in an incendiary act. The organisers rejected his support and his presence swiftly made clear to be unwelcome by the organisers, as well as major communal Jewish groups.
In the face of intentionally divisive figures and false allies, we must be clear that hate against one group can never ever mean solidarity with another…
In light of the sentiments articulated above, it is troubling to discover that Qari Asim is a Twitter follower of a low-key but notorious Holocaust denier; Ahmad Thomson.
Who is Ahmad Thomson?
Born Martin Thomson in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) Ahmad Thomson is a barrister who moved to England and converted to Islam from Christianity in London in 1973. He co-founded the Association of Muslim Lawyers and authored a number of books some of which are themed around “New World Order” type conspiracies in which Jewish hands lurk behind every lever of power. Other titles such as “Dajjal: The Anti-Christ” are attempts to portend an end-times eschatological narrative based on a peculiar mix of Christian and Muslim theology.
Writing in The Guardian in September 2005, the historian David Cesarani noted:
…the Muslim Council of Britain appear to be prisoners of several myths about the Holocaust. One is that commemoration is a Jewish-Zionist plot to induce guilt among non-Jews and foster sympathy for Israel. This connection was made in disturbing terms by Ahmad Thomson, of the Association of Muslim Lawyers. Thomson described reference to the death of 6 million Jews as a “big lie”. He claims that Jews have no right to a state and sees “sinister” groups trying to realise a “Zionist plan” by putting pressure on the government.
In the same month, The Telegraph revealed:
…Tony Blair decided to wage war on Iraq after coming under the influence of a “sinister” group of Jews and Freemasons, a Muslim barrister who advises the Prime Minister has claimed….
…Mr Thomson wrote a book in 1994 in which he said Freemasons and Jews controlled the governments of Europe and America…
…He also wrote that the Jews have no right to live in “the Holy Land” because they are not a pure race and therefore not the true biblical Israelites and that Saddam was used as an excuse for US troops – “including thousands of Jews” – to occupy Saudi Arabia.
…A Government spokesman confirmed last night that ministers and officials consulted Mr Thomson on issues concerning Muslims but refused to be drawn on his views. “We talk to a lot of people, including many whose views we do not necessarily agree with,” she said.
Ahmad Thomson is also an ardent purveyor of anti-western conspiracies. In December 2020, Thomson posted an Iranian Press TV conspiracy which claims that Covid-19 was a US Biowarfare plot imposed upon China.
Thomson’s twitter feed reveals – amongst other things – a peccadillo for reminding world leaders and religious dignitaries – such as Justin Welby – of the evils of Zionism and is littered with incendiary material. Like most antisemites, he attempts to couch his Jew hatred as support for Palestinians and anti-Zionism. With his fixation on race and Jews and his professed love for Islam coupled with his inability to completely let go of Christianity, Thomson could be caricatured as a Muslim nazi.
That Qari Asim follows Ahmad Thomson on Twitter does not, of course, necessarily constitute an endorsement of his tweets. However, there is no evidence to suggest otherwise either.
Even more troubling is the fact that in 2015, Qari Asim advertised an Islamic conference he was due to participate in:
It so happens that Irfan Chishti and Ahmad Thomson were also featured speakers at this same conference in 2015. At that time, Irfan Chisti was still under the radar, but Qari Asim could not conceivably have been in the dark about Ahmad Thomson’s nazi-like beliefs which were first exposed in 2005 by the mainstream media, and whose books were available – and still are – to purchase on Amazon.
By a curious coincidence, all three men have at one time or another served as advisers to the UK government on matters pertaining to Islam.
It soon becomes evident that there is a double standard at play: Qari Asim has not spoken out against Ahmad Thomson’s participation in Muslim communal events in the same manner that he has against Tommy Robinson’s presence at Jewish communal events. Nor has he challenged Thomson on Twitter about his promotion of anti-western Press TV propaganda, Jewish conspiracies and Khazar myths, views which are hardly conducive to interfaith harmony and something that Qari Asim is able to do given that he follows Thomson.
