Insha Allah, This message finds you all in the best of health and spirits and enjoying the blessings of the last days of Ramadan. There is something you should know about Shaykh Hamza’s participation in the Tony Blair Faith Initiative Program recently held in Los Angeles. He was manipulated and set up by the organizers. He had absolutely no knowledge that the program was being sponsored by Tony Blair’s organization. I know because I was used by the organizers to help facilitate the set-up.
I had been working with an organization called “Malaria No More,” to help get Muslims involved in an effort to eradicate Malaria in Africa, a laudable goal as a majority of those suffering from Malaria in Africa are Muslims. Saleema Abdul Ghaffur works for that organization and had approached me about the issue several months ago.
I was asked by Saleema to help Malaria No More and the UN Development Fund to help get Muslims involved in the effort through a program they were sponsoring in the Los Angeles area to expand the effort at eradicating malaria. They also asked me to put them in touch with Shaykh Hamza because they wanted him to speak as a representative of Muslims, to be joined by Rick Warren as a representative of Christians, in an effort to raise awareness around the issue.
There was no mention of any involvement of Tony Blair’s organization as the sponsor of the event. In fact, Saleema knew that I would not help in any way if Tony Blair’s organization was the event sponsor because I had been invited to the launch of Tony Blair’s organization in New York a few months back, and had flatly refused to attend stating that Tony Blair was in part responsible for the murder of over a million innocent Muslims in Iraq because of the role he played in the current war there. Shaykh Hamza would not have agreed to participate either under those circumstances because he has consistently and vociferously condemned that war, which is part of the public record.
This is the background for Shaykh Hamza’s involvement with the event. All of this transpired over a month and a half ago. I stopped monitoring the events after that. In the couple of weeks leading up to the event Shaykh Hamza was in Morocco and assumed that the event was proceeding as a joint effort between Malaria No More and the UN Development Fund, and that it was timed to coincide with the convening of the UN General Assembly in New York, September 25, 2008.
Three days after he arrived back in the States, Shaykh Hamza went to LA for the event. Rick Warren had canceled at the last minute, something he was not informed of. He was taken to a hotel meeting room, having never been informed, or even it being hinted that the event was sponsored by Tony Blair’s group. When he arrived at the hall, he realized he had been manipulated by the Tony Blair people in order to attempt to give some type of legitimacy for his work among Muslims. He was constrained and did not wish to be there, as is clear from the footage of the event. I told him he should have left, but he felt he had given his word and preferred to take the risk of the kind of abuse he would receive for attending than to break his word, as he had promised to attend.
That is what happened and that is how Shaykh Hamza ended up at the program. He was set up and all of us involved should have been more diligent in monitoring the event and investigating the sponsors. However, the last thing any of us would have suspected is this type of treachery.
Since he was there, Shaykh Hamza condemned Tony Blair to his face and warned him of the sad fate he would have when he met his Lord, precisely because of the role he played in the war. He does not endorse in any way the work of Tony Blair’s organization, nor does have any past (or future) connection with Saleema Abdul Ghafur. His only intention was to help eradicate malaria, a disease he was personally afflicted with during his years of study in Mauritania, and a disease whose devastating effect he has witnessed first hand during his years of traveling and studying is West Africa.
Shaykh Hamza has not asked, nor would he ever ask that I write these words. I felt that I am obliged to write them because I was instrumental in getting him involved in this mess. I would caution those critics whose political passion moves them to cast aside Islamic teachings such as verifying news or having a good opinion of other Muslims or respecting scholars, as I would caution myself, to fear Allah.
These are the days of praying for Allah’s mercy and forgiveness, not the days of blind condemnation of other Muslims. Allah will treat us during this month as we treat each other. If we do not beseech Him to be merciful and to forgive others, He will not shower His mercy and forgiveness upon us. What we receive from Allah is a reflection of what we offer Him. Is there any among us so secure with Allah that we do not need His mercy and forgiveness? Is there any among so sure of his or her standing with Allah that we can squander the precious moments of this blessed month in slander and scandal-mongering, as opposed to trying to do some good for our souls?
I might add, that because of this treachery, I have ended my relationship with Malaria No More, and have already initiated an effort to explore how Muslims might effectively address the disease through the auspices of Islamic Relief.
May Allah bless us all during the balance of Ramadan, and may He bring our hearts together and guide us to understand who our real enemy is.
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Shaykh Hamza Yusuf and the Tony Blair Faith Initiative 
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Originally Posted by Yousef al Khattab 
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