British Islamic Scholar And Jurist Haitham Al-Haddad On Muslims In The West: When You Look Outside You Would Think You Are In A Second Afghanistan, But You Are In 'Londonistan'; You Are Not A Subjugated Minority – You Are The Leaders Of Humanity

Haitham al-Haddad, a British Islamic scholar and jurist, the chair of the Fatwa Committee for the Islamic Council of Europe, said in a panel discussing "Muslims in the West" that the situation of Muslims in the U.K. and in the West is a lot better than it was 20 years ago. He said that if you go outside, you would think you were in a "second Afghanistan," but it is in fact "Londonistan." Al-Haddad said that Muslims in the West should not consider themselves a "subjected minority," because they are the "leaders of humanity."

The panel was part of the "Anchored by Quran" conference organized by the Michigan-based Miftaah Institute in Manchester and London during August 2023 and it was uploaded to the Miftah Institute YouTube channel on September 26. Two American Islamic scholars also participated in the panel, Yasser Qadhi, the dean of The Islamic Seminary of America and resident scholar at the Texas East Plano Islamic Center and Abdullah Waheed, co-founder and dean of the Miftaah Institute and Director of Islamic Affairs at Flint Islamic Center in Michigan.

Haitham Al-Haddad: "This brother was telling me: 'Sheikh, I don't see now that our situation is better than before.' I said: 'No, our situation in the UK in particular and in the West in general, is far better than our situation ten years ago.' I said to him: 'Look at the number of Quran memorizers now. Look at the number of mosques. Look at the number of Islamic institutions. Look now, who [would have] imagined that we [would] have Islam Channel, Eman Channel, Iqra TV, all in the U.K.

"This was not there 20 years ago, by the grace of Allah. Look at, mashallah… Our brothers and sisters, if you go outside you think that you are in a second Afghanistan, but you are in Londonistan. So it is really amazing, overwhelming. Don't ever, my brothers and sisters, look at yourselves as a subjugated minority. We are the leaders of humanity. We should look at ourselves as we have something to offer."