Suliman Gani is a Muslim community leader, television presenter, and imam from South London. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
Gani grew up in South Africa. [7]
In 2010 Gani organised and led a boycott of Ahmadiyya-owned businesses in London. Referring to Ahmadis as Qadianis, Gani stated that because they are "routinely deceptive", Sunni Muslims should boycott businesses owned or operated by them. [8]
In 2016, Gani was said to "oppos[e] homosexuality and believ[e] women should be subservient to men." [9]
In June 2016, Defence secretary Michael Fallon accused Sulaiman Gani as being an ISIS supporter. He was sued for defamation by Gani, who stated he supported Islamic states such as Saudi Arabia, not the terrorist group of that name. [9] Fallon later apologised to Sulaiman Gani and paid him compensation. [10]
Sir Michael Louis David Fabricant is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Lichfield in Staffordshire, formerly Mid Staffordshire, since 1992.
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 different ethnic and sectarian backgrounds within major parts of, but not all, British Islamic society.
Islam is the second-largest religion in the United Kingdom, with results from the 2011 Census giving the population as 4.4% of the total UK population, while results from the 2021 Census recorded a population of 6.5% in England and Wales. London has the greatest population of Muslims in the country. The vast majority of Muslims in the United Kingdom adhere to Sunni Islam, while smaller numbers are associated with Shia Islam.
Sadiq Aman Khan is a British politician serving as Mayor of London since 2016. He was previously Member of Parliament (MP) for Tooting from 2005 until 2016. A member of the Labour Party, Khan is on the party's soft left and has been ideologically characterised as a social democrat.
Frank Zacharias Robin Goldsmith, Baron Goldsmith of Richmond Park, is a British politician, life peer and journalist who served as Minister of State for Overseas Territories, Commonwealth, Energy, Climate and Environment from September 2022 to June 2023. A member of the Conservative Party, he was its candidate at the 2016 London mayoral election and was Member of Parliament (MP) for Richmond Park from 2010 to 2016 and 2017 to 2019. Ideologically characterised as having liberal and libertarian views, he is known for his support for environmentalism and localism.
Sayeeda Hussain Warsi, Baroness Warsi, is a British lawyer, politician, and member of the House of Lords who served as co-chairwoman of the Conservative Party from 2010 to 2012. She served in the Cameron–Clegg coalition, first as the Minister without portfolio between 2010 and 2012, then as the Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and as the Minister of State for Faith and Communities, until her resignation citing her disagreement with the Government's policy relating to the Israel–Gaza conflict in August 2014.
The Fazl Mosque also known as The London Mosque, is the first purpose-built mosque in London, England. It was opened on 23 October 1926 in Southfields, Wandsworth. At a cost of £6,223, the construction of the mosque and the purchase of the land on which it stands, was financed by the donations of Ahmadi Muslim women in Qadian, Punjab, British India, with support from the British Muslim convert Khalid Sheldrake. Between 1984 and 2019 the Fazl Mosque was the residence of the caliphs of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, and therefore its de facto international headquarters. The administrative headquarters now lies at the site of the Islamabad, Tilford.
Shaun Sharif Bailey, Baron Bailey of Paddington, is a British politician and former journalist. A member of the Conservative Party, Bailey has been a member of the London Assembly since 2016 and the House of Lords since 2023.
The Ahmadiyya branch of Islam has been subjected to various forms of religious persecution and discrimination since the movement's inception in 1889. The Ahmadiyya Muslim movement emerged within the Sunni tradition of Islam and its adherents believe in all of the five pillars and all of the articles of faith required of Muslims. Ahmadis are considered non-Muslims by many mainstream Muslims since they consider Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the founder of the movement, to be the promised Mahdi and Messiah awaited by the Muslims.
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community was established in United Kingdom with the pioneering efforts of Chaudhry Fateh Muhammad Sial, who arrived in London in July in 1913. Sial was the first missionary sent overseas by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and was under the direction of Hakeem Noor-ud-Din, the first caliph of the movement.
The 2016 London mayoral election was held on 5 May 2016 to elect the Mayor of London, on the same day as the London Assembly election. It was the fifth election to the position of mayor, which was created in 2000 following a referendum in Greater London. The election used a supplementary vote system.
Islamophobia in the United Kingdom refers to a set of discourses, behaviours and structures which express feelings of anxiety, fear, hostility and rejection towards Islam or Muslims in the United Kingdom. Islamophobia can manifest itself in a wide range of ways; including, discrimination in the workforce, negative coverage in the media, and violence against Muslims.
Ahmadiyya is an Islamic movement in Australia, first formally founded in the country in the 1980s, during the era of the fourth caliph. However, the history of the Community dates back to the early 20th century, during the lifetime of the founder of the movement, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, with the first contacts arising as a consequence of Australians travelling to British India, and also as a consequence of early, "Afghan" camel drivers settling in Australia during the mid to late 19th century. Today there are at least four Ahmadi mosques in four of the six Australian states, representing an estimated 6,000-8,000 Australian Ahmadis in the country.
The 2021 London mayoral election was held on 6 May 2021 to elect the mayor of London. It was held simultaneously with elections for the London Assembly, other local elections across England and Wales, and devolved elections in Scotland and Wales. The mayoral and Assembly elections were to be held on 7 May 2020, but in March 2020 the government announced the election would be postponed until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mohammad Tawhidi, also known as the Imam of Peace, is an Australian Shia Muslim influencer and self-proclaimed "Imam". He currently serves as the Vice President of the Global Imams Council, headquartered in the Islamic Seminary of Najaf, Iraq.
Susan Mary Hall is a British politician who has served as a Member of the London Assembly since 2017 and a councillor on Harrow London Borough Council since 2006. She was leader of the London Conservatives on the London Assembly from December 2019 until May 2023.
R v Secretary of State for the Home Department was a challenge by way of judicial review to the ban on Louis Farrakhan entering the United Kingdom. The ban was imposed on Farrakhan, the leader of the black separatist Nation of Islam in the United States, in 1986. He sought to overturn the ban in 2001, relying on the provisions of the Human Rights Act 1998, and was initially successful in the Administrative Court of the High Court of Justice – the first time that an exclusion order had been successfully challenged in court.
Allegations of Islamophobia in the UK Conservative Party have been made, including against senior politicians, such as Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and Zac Goldsmith.
Boris Johnson served as mayor of London from 1 May 2008 until 5 May 2016, being elected in 2008 and reelected in 2012. During his mayoralty, Johnson oversaw the preparations and hosting of the 2012 Summer Olympics and oversaw the cycle hire scheme. He also with introduced the New Routemaster buses and the Thames cable car, while promoting the proposed Garden Bridge over the River Thames; the project was later abandoned after Johnson left office. Johnson also banned alcohol consumption on much of London's public transport.
The 2024 London mayoral election is due to be held on 2 May 2024 to elect the next mayor of London. It will take place simultaneously with elections to the London Assembly and local elections across England and Wales. Following the Elections Act 2022, voting in this election will take place under the first-past-the-post system for the first time, replacing the supplementary vote system.