Date: 7th February 2018
Location: London
Audience: Local community, professionals and businessmen
Speaker: Jamal Harwood
Event synopsis
Brexit is just one of the many phenomena taking place around the globe which signal fractures in the western system internally.
This presents an opportunity for the Islamic system to be presented to the western peoples and for the Muslim Ummah to take a leading role in the international arena via the establishment of the Khilafah Rashidah.
Summary
The speaker, Jamal Harwood, started by presenting the reality and background of Brexit, why it is happening and the latest developments relating to it.
He then went on to analyse Brexit in the context of the changing global order and the disaffection of people over the political systems in the west and their desire for change.
The exit of the U.K. from the EU is just a symptom of a wider ideological malaise in western society. It explains the rise of the far right in Europe, as well as the ghettos now emerging in every western state.
It is clear that the British people don’t trust what they see as a disconnected – sometimes corrupt – establishment and a rigged system. They don’t trust the experts who couldn’t predict the financial crisis and they certainly don’t trust the politicians who they consider aloof, unrepresentative and utterly self-serving.
Brexit is part of a wider concern across many democratic states where people feel left behind by the global system and the liberal elite.
Brexit has also put a big question mark on the whole European project & consequently the influence of Europe on the global stage. The Big Three (Germany, France & UK) of Europe could never act together on global issues and Brexit complicates this even further.
Jamal then went on to discuss how Muslims need to have an angle on the issue, but not from the perspective of whether it’s beneficial for Britain to be in or out, rather to take the opportunity to present the Islamic vision for change – the Khilafah Rashidah.
The event concluded with a lively discussion and Q&A with Jamal exploring some of the challenges of the Islamic vision for change and the practical actions Muslims living in Britain can take to present the Khilafah Rashidah as a political alternative.