Wolverhampton Liberal Democrats attend Medina Mosque to discuss Islam and politics

6.00.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Sun 24th Jul 2005

Today I along with other members of Wolverhampton Liberal Democrats attended a presentation at the Medina Mosque on Newhampton Road East on the political roots of Islam and the politics surrounding the faith.

The meeting began with verses from the Koran which led into a fascinating and wide ranging talk led by Dr. Zahid Parvez, followed by a discussion. A variety of topics such as leadership, democracy, education, finance, law and order and naturally, foreign affairs were examined. The impact of American and British actions in Iraq and other Muslim lands was a thread throughout the presentation.

Whilst some Islamic ideas were difficult to come to terms with, for example the belief that charging interest on a loan leads to exploitation and is therefore wrong, others ideas are quite in tune with Liberal Democrat thinking

I asked Dr. Parvez for the presentation after the Mosque's successful open day. I would like to thank Dr. Parvez and the Mosque for a wonderful session, I certainly learnt more and hope it is just the beginning of an exchange of information which we will continue in the future. I hope to be able to have similar presentations from other religions and faith groups in Wolverhampton.