As many know I’m not the greatest fan of the ideology of Islam. Islamic terrorism is one of the greatest violent threats that Western nations face today and will continue to be until government’s honestly admit that there is much about Islamic theology that encourages violence. I look at the Islamic nations of the world and I see the cultural, social and economic retardation that these nations suffer from and how the ideology of Islam has often played a part in the poor conditions of these nations.

However, whilst disliking the ideology of Islam I can also a the same time recognise that not every Muslim is a potential terrorist, not every Muslim believes all that is in the Koran and in fact there are many Muslims who are entirely or partially ignorant of what the Koran and Hadith actually say. I am also aware that there are vast numbers of people who are Muslims who are decent and sound individuals because that’s their inherent nature and not anything to do with the instructions given by Islamic theology. Although I’m not a Christian there is much to commend the Christian idea that we should hate the sin but love the sinner.

I also believe that we should give Muslims credit for doing the right thing whether it be creating positively reformed types of Islam, or by joining Islamic paths that don’t treat women like dirt such as the Ismailis or the Ahmediyya. I fully concur with the idea that the broader community should be supporting those who leave Islam for either atheism or other religious paths or as in the case below, are stepping up to deal with conspiracy theories and myths about diseases and treatments. Part of the difficulty the world is experiencing in sending Polio to the history books just as Smallpox was sent there via vaccination, is that conspiracy theories that Polio vaccines are a Jewish or Western plot to sterilise or weaken Muslims are widespread in places like Pakistan and Afghanistan, the last two places on Earth where Polio is still present in the wild.

The Islamic communities across the world have been victims not just of coronavirus but also victims of various conspiracy theories surrounding it. The willingness to believe these conspiracy theories seems to have been a major factor in low take up rates for covid vaccines in places like Tower Hamlets and Muslims allegedly being the majority of those hospitalised for covid in Germany. The various myths about covid and especially about covid vaccines need to be busted and I’m fully behind and supportive of the initiative by the British Islamic Medical Association, a group representing Muslim doctors, to debunk covid vaccine myths.

This initiative really really needed to be done. The presence of a large number of unvaccinated Muslims poses a risk not just to Muslims themselves (including the aforementioned reformers and members of peaceful branches of Islam) but also to the rest of us. Unvaccinated Muslims represent a lake of infection that could cause covid to spread again and also provide a base from which more lethal and vaccine resistant mutations could come from. It’s vital that Muslims see the science on vaccination and also see that being vaccinated does not go against their religion. These doctors are doing what doctors of other faiths and religious leaders are doing which is giving both scientific and religious justification for people to take up the offer of covid vaccination.

Please follow the link below to read the excellent myth-busting page by the British Islamic Medical Association.

https://britishima.org/operation-vaccination/hub/covidmyths/#HEAPRO