The Association of British Muslims (AoBM) is an organisation of
British Muslims
Islam is the second largest religion in the United Kingdom, with results from the 2011 Census giving the total population as 2,786,635, or 4.4% of the total UK population, initially founded in 1889 by Shaykh
Abdullah Quilliam
William Henry Quilliam (10 April 1856 – 23 April 1932), who changed his name to Abdullah Quilliam and later Henri Marcel Leon or Haroun Mustapha Leon, was a 19th-century convert from Christianity to Islam, noted for founding England's first mo ...
.
History
The Association of British Muslims began in
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
as the ''English Islamic Association'', founded by
Abdullah Quilliam
William Henry Quilliam (10 April 1856 – 23 April 1932), who changed his name to Abdullah Quilliam and later Henri Marcel Leon or Haroun Mustapha Leon, was a 19th-century convert from Christianity to Islam, noted for founding England's first mo ...
, a 19th-century
convert
Conversion or convert may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman''
* "Conversion" (''Stargate Atlantis''), an episode of the television series
* "The Conversion" ...
to Islam who opened one of
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
's first
mosque
A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...
s during the same year, at about the same time that the Shah Jahan Mosque was built. AoBM changed their name to the ''British Muslim Society'' in 1914 and to the ''Western Islamic Association'' in 1924. It declined in the late 1940s, was opposed by nationality-based organisations of British Muslims in 1969, and became the ''Association of British Muslims'' in 1975. The name ''Association for British Muslims'' was also used for sometime after 1978.
Leadership
, Shaykh Daoud Rosser-Owen was Amir of AoBM. , Paul Salahuddin Armstrong and Mohammed Abbasi were the Co-Directors of AoBM.
Public statements
Minority rights
In late 2010, the
United Nations General Assembly
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...
'' Resolution on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions'', which previously opposed executions for several types of discrimination, including sexual orientation, was changed by the General Assembly to no longer exclude sexual-orientation based executions. AoBM criticised the change, stating, "Removing this clause at this time will send quite the wrong signal to those regimes that indulge in these barbaric practices, implying as it does that United Nations is no longer concerned at the maltreatment of people because of their sexual orientation or considers it to be a lesser matter." The
Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association
LGBT Humanists UK, founded in 1979, is a special interest section of Humanists UK which campaigns for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) equality and human rights in the United Kingdom. It also organises social events for LGBT humanis ...
supported the AoBM's statement.
In February 2011, AoBM criticised
homophobic
Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred or antipathy, m ...
stickers that appeared in East
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
. Co-director Paul Salahuddin Armstrong stated, "There is nothing in the Qur'an against
LGBT
' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity.
The LGBT term ...
people. Allah has honoured every son/daughter of Adam, so such a hateful message is not only morally and ethically wrong but actually unislamic."
Hamza Kashgari
Hamza Kashgari Mohamad Najeeb (often Hamza Kashgari, ar, حمزة كاشغري; born 1989) is a Saudi poet and a former columnist for the Saudi daily newspaper '' Al-Bilad''. In 2011, he was on a Mabahith watchlist of pro-democracy activists ...
for three tweets that he published, stating "Thought crime is no crime at all, ... Any state enforced penalty for perceived blasphemy runs contrary to the true spirit of Islam, and of our Prophet, peace be upon him, who was compassionate even to those who scorned him. ... No one should be legally prosecuted, imprisoned or detained for simply expressing themselves."