Mo Ansar
Mo Ansar | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Social commentator |
Mohammed "Mo" Ansar, a British Pakistani, is a self-described political and social commentator.
After several appearances as a pundit on Muslim matters,[1] Ansar first met the then English Defence League leader Tommy Robinson in April 2012, when both men participated in the BBC programme The Big Questions.[2] At Ansar's invitation, they began a dialogue after the programme in an attempt to develop an understanding of their opposing views.[3]
In the BBC documentary following the dialogue between Ansar and Robinson, Ansar became the first Muslim to address an audience of EDL members, when at his own request he talked to one of the group's gatherings about Islam.[4] Tommy Robinson finally left the EDL in 2013, though he ascribed his decision to Maajid Nawaaz and the Quilliam Foundation, a think-tank that tackles Islamic extremism; Robinson pointedly excluded Ansar from the press conference in which his resigning from the EDL was announced.[2] Ansar's appearance in the BBC documentary drew criticism from some quarters, including the writer Douglas Murray who criticised Ansar's inability on the programme to condemn the amputation of hands for theft, a Sharia practise, when challenged by Liberal Democrat candidate Maajid Nawaz.[5]
Ansar criticised historian, Tom Holland's depiction of early Islam in his book, In the Shadow of Sword, saying he was a fraud. When Holland challenged Ansar, who presented himself as an expert on Muslim culture, to name the first Muslim philosopher to condemn slavery, Ansar did not answer but replied: "If slaves are treated justly, with full rights, and no oppression whatsoever… why would anyone object, Tom?".[1] After LBC presenter, Iain Dale refused to host Ansar on his show, Ansar accused him of Islamophobia and reported him to the Hampshire Police and the Tell Mama organisation. The allegation was dismissed by both organisations.[1][6]
In October 2013 Ansar was alerted by anti-terrorist police that he and other prominent Muslims in the UK had been mentioned in a propaganda video created by Al-Shabaab, the terrorist group responsible for the attack on the Westgate shopping mall in Kenya. The video urged jihadists in the UK to take action, citing the murder of Lee Rigby as an example to follow.[7][8][9]
In May 2014, the journalist Nick Cohen wrote a highly critical article about Ansar in The Spectator in which he claimed Ansar had ‘invented himself as a rent-a-quote commentator’ and echoed author Jeremy Duns' claims that Ansar had a twitter alias account that denigrated those he disagreed with.[1][10] Jamie Bartlett, the Director of the Centre for the Analysis of Social Media, wrote of claims that Ansar's "language of tolerance and moderation" belied his stance on homophobia and amputation of limbs in Islamic states and that he had fabricated claims about his professional experience - including falsely claiming he was a lawyer. [11] Journalist, Milo Yiannopoulos, wrote that Ansar had promoted extremist organisation and was a fantasist: "despite claims he is an ‘educationalist’, ‘theologian’, ‘lawyer’ and ‘visiting lecturer but has no qualifications and has never worked at a school, university or law firm". He referred to the court case, Ansar v Lloyds TSB Bank[12] in which the Employment Tribunal found that Ansar's suspension was wholly unrelated to his race as claimed by Ansar, that he'd written a dishonest letter, that there was "evidence of deliberate falsification of assets" and that he'd "manipulated circumstances for his own benefit".[13]
References
- ^ a b c d Nick Cohen. "How did Mo Ansar become the voice of British Muslims? [Formerly titled "The curious case of Mo Ansar"]".
- ^ a b "Quitting the English Defence League: When Tommy Met Mo". BBC. 28 October 2013. Retrieved 31 October 2013.
- ^ Russell, Jonathan (29 October 2013). "BBC Religion & Ethics - Perspectives: The Quilliam Foundation - fighting extremism". BBC. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
- ^ Ansar, Mohammed. "Mohammed Ansar: My 18 months with former EDL leader Tommy Robinson". Guardian.
- ^ Douglas Murray (29 October 2013). "'When Tommy met Mo' revealed how far we have to travel before Islamism is uprooted". The Spectator. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
- ^ "The Truth about Mo Ansar". Iain Dale.
- ^ Shiv Malik, Duncan Gardham and Vikram Dodd (17 October 2013). "Prominent UK Muslims under police protection after al-Shabaab threats". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
- ^ Simon Hooper (26 October 2013). "British Muslims defiant over al-Shabab threat". Al Jazeera English. Retrieved 6 November 2013.
- ^ Jessica Elgot (18 October 2013). "British Muslims Who Condemned Terrorism Now Targets For Al Shabaab". Huffington Post (UK). Retrieved 7 May 2014.
- ^ "THE DANGEROUS MR ANSAR". Jeremy Duns.
- ^ Bartlett, Jamie. "Mo Ansar and rise of the bogus social media commentator". The Telegraph.
- ^ "Ansar v Lloyds TSB Bank Plc & Anor [2006] UKEAT 0152_06_1407 (14 July 2006)". Bailli.
- ^ "Mo Ansar - the bogus Muslim theologian". Milo Yiannopoulos.
See also
External links
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