Ibrahim Hewitt
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Ibrahim Hewitt is chairman of the board of trustees of
Interpal Interpal is the working name for Palestinian Relief and Development Fund, a British charity founded in 1994 that describes itself as a non-political charity to alleviate problems faced by Palestinians, and focused solely on the provision of relie ...
and a senior editor at
Middle East Monitor The Middle East Monitor (MEMO) is a not-for-profit press monitoring organisation and lobbying group that emerged in mid 2009. MEMO is largely focused on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, but writes about other issues in the Middle East as well ...
. He is a
Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
activist from
Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...
, U.K. who is often alleged to be an Islamist extremist in the British press. Hewitt is a media and education consultant and has been the chairman of the Palestinian Relief and Development Fund (Interpal) since 1997. Hewitt is also a school inspector and head of the Al-Aqsa School in Leicester. He received an honorary doctorate from the
Islamic University in Gaza The Islamic University of Gaza ( ar, الجامعة الإسلامية بغزة), also known as IUG and IU Gaza, is an independent Palestinian university established in 1978 in Gaza City. It was the first higher education institution to be establ ...
for his material support for both the university and the
Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...
people. He is also a trustee of the International Board of Educational Research and Resources (IBERR), founded by
Yusuf Islam Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou; ), commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens, Yusuf, and Yusuf / Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His musical style consists of folk, pop, rock, and, later i ...
(aka, Cat Stevens), which distributes Islamic educational material around the world. Hewitt was also the Secretary General of the
Muslim Council of Britain The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) is a national umbrella body with over 500 mosques and educational and charitable associations affiliated to it. It includes national, regional, local, and specialist Muslim organisations and institutions from ...
from 2004-2006, a UK consortium dominated by the Pakistani Islamist group,
Jamaat-e-Islami Jamaat-e-Islami ( ur, ) () is an Islamic movement founded in 1941 in British India by the Islamic theologian and socio-political philosopher, Syed Abul Ala Maududi.van der Veer P. and Munshi S. (eds.''Media, War, and Terrorism: Responses fro ...
. Hewitt has been praised by Jeremy Corbyn, who 2 years later became leader of the
Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a political party in the United Kingdom that has been described as an alliance of social democrats, democratic socialists and trade unionists. The Labour Party sits on the centre-left of the political spectrum. In all gen ...
. He spoke publicly at an event in 2013: "Over a very long period of time I’ve got to know Ibrahim Hewitt, the chair, extremely well. I consider him to be a very good friend and I think he’s done a fantastic job in leading and guiding Interpal which has done such great practical work."


Conversion to Islam

Ibrahim Hewitt was born Brian Hewitt. In the 1970s he was a musician who featured regularly on the British club and orchestra scene playing the tuba and the trombone, among other brass instruments. He eventually obtained a position in a British Army band. He also had the opportunity to play with the British musician
Sting Sting may refer to: * Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger * Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself Fictional characters and entities * Sting (Middle-eart ...
in the Newcastle Big Band. While touring the club scene in the UK, Hewitt became an alcoholic as a result of regularly performing in bars and being around musicians. Recalling this moment in his life he wrote, ""I lost days because of alcohol. When you wake up after a night out, it is terrible. Looking back, it is shameful". In 1979, while proclaiming to be an
agnostic Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. (page 56 in 1967 edition) Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficient ...
, he met a group of Muslims from
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
. Soon afterwards, Hewitt travelled to South Africa to visit them in the Indian township of Azaadville. While in South Africa, Hewitt discovered the horrors of
Apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
first hand. He was refused service in restaurants because he was accompanied by "non-whites", and discovered that there were racially segregated churches. One night he was invited by his friends to tour a new
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, ...
just south of Johannesburg. There he discovered that there were all different races grouped together in prayer. He began to see Islam as a means to equality between people of different backgrounds: "Despite the segregation of Apartheid, people of different races were all praying together in one place! So I wondered how this was happening in South Africa of all places." It was after this moment that Hewitt began to read books about Islam, out of curiosity rather than because he wanted to convert. For two years, Hewitt seeped himself in research before finally converting. Islam helped Hewitt to stop drinking. In 1981 he adopted the Islamic name Ibrahim, gave up music, and quit his job at an insurance firm. While Hewitt's mother accepted his conversion, his father threw him out of the house, refusing to speak to his son for two years. Hewitt only reunited with his father after Hewitt's mother became ill. Hewitt thinks that it is only a matter of time before everyone becomes Muslim, "I became a Muslim in 1981. It is up to you to decide when you too will become Muslim." Hewitt is the founder of the
Association of Muslim Schools The Association of Muslim Schools (AMS) is a global network of Muslim faith-based educational institutes. The Association supports and develops full-time Muslim Schools. The Association facilitates: *Educator development workshops *Inter-school ...
(AMS).


Controversy

Much of the controversy that surrounds Ibrahim Hewitt is based on a book that he wrote and published in the 1990s entitled ''What does Islam Say?'' The book includes negative attitudes towards
homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...
, including a quotation from the Hadith advocating punishment by death, "Prophet Muhammad said: "If you find anyone doing as Lot's people did (i.e. homosexual sodomy), kill the one who does it". Some of the more contentious sections from the book include referring to homosexuality as an "abominable practice", and comparing homosexuality to pedophilia: "The advice would be the same as, say, to someone who had sexual desired for minors or close family; that having the desired does not legitimate realizing them." Hewitt writes that homosexuality damages the fabric of society but he nevertheless denies advocating violence against homosexuals despite claims made in his book that support the lashing of gay men and fornicators. Hewitt has been the subject of media attention, and has been called – among other things – an extremist to an anti-Semite. ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'' in London published an apology for referring to Hewitt an
Anti-Semite Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...
. He is chairman of
Interpal Interpal is the working name for Palestinian Relief and Development Fund, a British charity founded in 1994 that describes itself as a non-political charity to alleviate problems faced by Palestinians, and focused solely on the provision of relie ...
, a Muslim charity which was added to the
U.S. Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and th ...
’s list of Specially Designated Global Terrorist Organizations in 2003. Interpal is alleged to have used their charity designation to funnel money to
Hamas Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Bri ...
.


Hewitt’s response to controversy

In 2015, Hewitt published a response to the national press, particularly to '' The Sun'' and ''The Times'' who had called him an "Islamic extremist." Hewitt claims "the purpose of the articles was clearly to damage" then "Labour Party leadership candidate"
Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the political left of the Labour Party, Corbyn describes himself as a socialist ...
"by showing what 'bad' company he keeps". Interpal, and Al-Aqsa School, "have been dragged into the mire". Corbyn praised Hewitt and Interpal in 2013. In his response, Hewitt claimed that while Interpal is specially designated in the U.S. for funding Hamas, the charity denies these allegations. According to him, Interpal was cleared by the Charity Commission in 2009 after over two years of inquiry. According to Hewitt, the charity commission report found that “there has been nothing brought to the inquiry’s attention that suggests that the charity’s funding has been siphoned off for inappropriate or non-charitable purposes.” He denied that his charity has ever funded Hamas and asserted that the United States never produced evidence to that effect, nor was there any due process, despite the designation. He claimed that lawyers for Interpal are currently working with the U.S. Treasury to have the designation removed. Speaking about his 1994 book, ''What Does Islam Say?'', Hewitt denies that his call for violent punishment for adulterers has any bearing on his personal view of the world, "In that book, the question of adultery and apostasy is dealt with on the bases of a Prophetic saying in two key texts after the Holy Qur’an. There are texts in the
Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...
that call for equally draconian punishment. These do not mean that I would advocate such actions. Of course I do not; If I did, I would rightly be arrested for doing so." He rejects news reports that refer to him as either a cleric or a preacher. In regards to the allegations against Al-Aqsa school, Hewitt denies that child protection is based on sharia law: "Like all policies at the school, 'safeguarding children' is based on the regulations required by law for the school to follow."


References


External links


Youtube.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hewitt, Ibrahim Living people British male journalists Trustees of charities British Muslim activists Year of birth missing (living people) Converts to Islam Islamic University of Gaza People from Leicester British trombonists British classical tubists