Reformers at Glasgow Central Mosque have resigned. They are, they say, facing threats and intimidation. Police are investigating.
But Shafi Kausar isn't convinced. He has dismissed talk of threats as "lies" and "politicking".
The long-standing elder represents a very different perspective on the Mosque and its recent wranglings than Mr Anwar.
Dr Kausar is one of the four members of the Mosque's ruling committee not to resign ahead of a showdown biennial general meeting in late March. And, a champion of the Tablighi Jamaat orthodox group, he has a very different view of Islam that the young reformers who want to see women on the mosque committee.
Dr Kausar said: "Threats and intimation is a lie. Nobody is threatening or intimidating anybody. Who intimated them?
"Some members of the committee have decided to declare their resignation. There is a general meeting in March and they they think they can't be chosen. So they are politicking.
"They have taken this attitude for their own reason and I won't comment on what that is."
He added: "In our community our democratic credentials are not very high so we become childish.
Background: David Leask on Mosque Turf Wars
Speaking of the reformers, Dr Kausar said: "They could have settled this sittting together. The election was coming. They could have sat down rather than making these allegations, which are sour grapes."
Dr Kausar defended the Old Guard, the property trustees, all Pakistani, who built Glasgow Central Mosque in the 1980s and have exerted control over its organisation ever since.
Below: Dr Kausar and Nabeel Shaikh, the Mosque's outgoing liberal general-secretary
Asked if he was satisfied that property trustees were fit and proper people, Dr Kausar said: "Are you satisfied that Cameron is a proper person to be prime minister? Nobody is perfect. Some will be more intelligent or less intelligent than others. Being a property trusteee is like an honour of this mosque. They have traditions of building this mosque and holding it in time of need. They have the respect of the community.
"They are not the most brilliant people, but they don't claim to be.
"They are honest. Apart from recently, nobody has told them anything against them. They have done the best of their capacity.
"They are willing to improve."
Asked about concerns, reported in The Herald, that accounting practices had left the Mosque open to potential money-laundering, he said: "Up till now, it has not come to a proper discussion. They [the new committee] have called some accountants but they have not served any notice. Nobody has shown anything wrong."
Dr Kausar stressed that the Mosque wrangles had not affected spiritual work. He said: " Regarding the religious side, it is intact and working nicely. It is a beautiful place, a place for achieving your unison with your lord."
Much of the controversy surrounding the Mosque has centred on how involved women are in its running. Reformers had been eager to bring on more women. Their more Orthodox opponents are not.
SNP Minister Humza Yousaf on women in the Mosque
Dr Kausar said stressed Islam, in his view, could not bend to what he saw as Western democratic impositions on traditional practice.
He said: "Regarding our ladies, they are quite happy. The Mosque is a religious thing. Islam is not a small religion or a young one. It has been going for 1600 years and it has ruled over large areas of the world.
"All the rules for women and children are there in Islam.
"We have to follow Islam's rules, which are made by the prophet and the Koran. We don't bring it in to the western politics. There are women who say they want to be Imams. It is not allowed in Islam. It is not needed. You can't pass a rule in parliament for the Mosque. Islam is a faith. If you believe in a religion, you have to believe in all that it dictates."
Dr Kausar also said he believed other ethnic groups were happy with the way the Mosque was run. "You can see the Somalians standing shoulder to shoulder," he said. Complaints about lack of non-Pakistani representation, he said, came from the reformers.
He said: "The group you are mentioning, they are complaining because they have the AGM in front of them and they might lose their support. It is just to build their support. It is politics."
He also rejected criticism about the Mosque being run by elders.
He said: "The mosque is always open to young people. But the young people must come to the Mosque. The Mosque can't go to them. There are 2000 people there for Friday prayers, young and old. Nobody stopped them."
In another swipe at reformers, he added: "It is their own view they want to impose on everybody. But you have to change for Islam. Islam does not change for you."
"There are a couple of people who are emotional, they are not practical.
"They are making these stories because they are emotional."
Mr Anwar, meanwhile, believes that most Muslims in Scotland are ready for reform. He said: "It is a real shame that the silent majority do not speak out. There is a tradition of kowtowing to the kind of elders who demand respect because they still believe there are feudal lords in the Punjab. But that respect has long gone. After all what is wrong with equality and diversity it's what Islam is supposed to stand for, not the cultural practices of our Pakistani forefathers.'
Read Mr Anwar's Sunday Herald essay on the Mosque turf war.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel