As British society keeps getting Islamized, its other facets are fast adapting to changes. ‘Lords’, the first stadium in the world specially designed for playing cricket is also one of them. The stadium is colloquially called the “Mecca of Cricket”. Now its administrators have decided to literally convert it into Mecca.
Iftaar Party at Lords
On 26th April, the famous Long Room of Lords reverberated with the sound of Azaan. While people outside may not understand why it was coming from a place designed to talk about Cricket, the England and Wales Cricket Board knew what they were doing.
ECB organised the first-ever Iftaar party in the coveted long room of Lords. The idea of celebrating Ramzan was pitched to the ECB by Tameena Hussain, who manages the IT Helpdesk of the ECB. Later, ECB appointed her as the main organiser of the event and gave her full autonomy to do it in whatever manner she and her community wanted.
ECB’s anxiety about catering to Islamists can be gauged from the fact that it sent in some of the best names of English Cricket to attend the event. World Cup Winning Captain Eoin Morgan, English legend Graham Gooch, ECB CEO Tom Harrison, Women Cricketers Lydia Greenway and Tammy Beaumont validated Islamism in the event.
Speaking about the event, ECB CEO Harrison said, “This evening’s been all about connecting through people’s love of cricket, but also about understanding and starting to develop a much deeper learning about each other’s cultures”
ECB gets what it wanted
Meanwhile, the ECB got all the accolades from the section of the population it wanted. A Maulvi called Hassan Rasool who was called to recite prayers in front of the heavyweights of English Cricket said that when Azaan was being called, then everyone was in sync with humanity.
Pakistani Cricketer Shahin Shah Afridi called ECB’s attempt to induct religion in sports as an ‘incredible step’ and thanked the Board for coming forward for the Muslim community.
It's indeed an incredible step and must be thoroughly appreciated and acknowledged by all. Kudos to @ECB_cricket for coming forward in reconnecting with the Muslim community. https://t.co/P90GlnRtYl
— Shaheen Shah Afridi (@iShaheenAfridi) April 26, 2022
Aatif Nawaz, a BBC commentator gave a shout out to Azeem Rafiq for hosting the party,
THIS GUY is about to host the FIRST EVER ECB Iftar event at Lords in the Long Room. What an honour 😊 pic.twitter.com/kUUMQZmBJ4
— Aatif Nawaz (@AatifNawaz) April 21, 2022
Iftaar Party at lords – A part of ECB’s guilt trip
It is indeed Azeem Rafiq who can be fully credited for giving birth to a controversy which resulted in this religious stunt by the ECB. The iftar party by ECB is speculated to be a part of their guilt trip for not acting on time when Azeem Rafiq was allegedly facing racism at Yorkshire Cricket Club. Azeem labelled 43 charges of anti-Muslim racism against his club, out of which 36 turned out to be false and 7 of them were upheld by investigating team.
But the scandal left the Cricket Board bewildering and without having many valid reasons, it is now in damage control mode. Before the Lords iftaar party, Edgbaston also witnessed a party on similar lines by local cricketers, coaches, and club staff.
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England does not belong to English anymore
A Cricket Board hosting a party for a religious community, to which most of its members do not even belong is just the tip of the iceberg. Delving deep into the modern English culture will tell you that Islam is now a force to reckon with in England. Believe it or not, in terms of sheer numbers, Islam is now the second-largest religion in England. According to the 2011 census, the total number of Muslims stood at 26,60,116.
The rise of the Muslim population in the country has given birth to a totally different kind of problem unforeseen by liberal politicians advocating for Muslim immigrants. They peddled to their population that when Muslims would come to England and start living according to what they called ‘liberal values’, the community would be able to transform itself, leaving behind radicalism. To be fair to them, initially, they proved to be right as the first generation of Muslims whose livelihood opportunities were attached to following English culture did adapt to the local circumstances.
But, as they kept growing in numbers, they started to create a niche of their own. Islamists have started to establish their own colonies in which state interference is minimal to nil. According to a report by The Economist, Masjids are creating more radicalised youth by teaching what the magazine called ‘literal interpretation of Quran’. The report further mentions that books preaching about putting women in Hijab, stoning homosexuals, and waging Jihad are being sold in the open market.
London-A capital of Islam in England
The situation in London, the place where the aforementioned Cricket ground is located, is worse. While in all of England, the percentage of Muslims is only 3.1, Muslims now comprise 12.4 per cent of the total population in the capital of England. According to a 2016 study, London has more than 1,500 Masjids. Now compare that with the ratio of the Christian population and the number of Churches in London. Despite Christianity being the main religion for 48.4 per cent of Londoners, there are barely more than 2,000 churches in the city. By 2030, the number of Masjids in London is expected to overshoot the number of Churches in the city.
Muslims have also established themselves as an economic force in London. According to a 2013 report, 13,400 Muslim owned businesses provided jobs to 70,000 Londoners. The numbers are only expected to rise in the wake of Sadiq Khan taking charge as Mayor of London.
Islam, Quran and Sharia are now a reality in England. Because Muslims have also established themselves in the economic domain, it is next to impossible for the government to do away with their radical aspects. However, a concerted effort towards recognising the radical threat can be taken by authorities. Loyalty is not a one-way street. If ECB or any other authority is loyal to every member of the community, then they should start talking about the threats as well.
