Here is something. A few years ago Muslim activists lobbied for an incitement to religious hatred law which was rejected by parliament on a free vote. Tony Blair supported it though. Many people lobbied against because they suspected in spirit an attempt to smuggle in a kind of blasphemy code.
Well here's the thing. The Muslim Council of Britain whilst lobbying for this law, sought to exempt the Quran and Hadith from it.
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MUSLIM COUNCIL OF BRITAIN ASKS FOR QUR'AN TO BE EXEMPT FROM RELIGIOUS HATRED LAW
July 11, 2005
Muslim leaders in the UK have raised with a Home Office Minister the possibility of the Islamic scriptures being exempted from the proposed new law banning incitement to religious hatred, which is being debated and voted on in the British Parliament today.
These scriptures include both the Qur'an and the hadiths ("ahadith" in Arabic) which are traditions recording the words and deeds of Muhammad and his first followers. The Racial and Religious Hatred bill is being debated and voted on in the House of Commons today. This is the third reading of the bill, and if passed today will move forward to be debated in the House of Lords.
REPORT FROM THE MUSLIM WEEKLY
The following excerpt is from the report in "The Muslim Weekly", 8th-14th June issue, on this meeting.
A delegation of Muslim leaders and senior scholars met Home Office Minister Paul Goggins this week to seek clarification on the Incitement to Religious Hatred Bill.
The delegation requested the meeting to seek clarification on a number of matters relating to the bill. Recent confusion regarding freedoms to deliver khutbahs and to recite and quote from the Qur'an and ahadith had raised concerns in the community that dawah and propagatory practices may be curtailed under the new legislation.
The Minister assured the Muslim community that there was nothing in the bill that would prevent scholars from delivering their sermons or from reciting from the Qu'ran and ahadith. The Minister reiterated that what the bill would do is criminalise incitement to religious hatred against individuals.
Sir Iqbal Sacranie stated that he was at eased that matters that had caused some obfuscation in the community had been cleared.
'We're happy that the Home Office has agreed to consult the faith communities when preparing the guidelines to the bill. Muslim scholars may proceed uninhibited in the performance of their duties', he said. The delegation made suggestions to the minister to that tit may be preferable to totally exempt the holy text, which will include the Qur'an and the hadiths from the remit of the Act.
The minister said, it would be difficult to exempt scriptures because there is likelihood that extreme groups like the BNP may use verses of the Qur'an to incite hatred against the Muslim community. Therefore, the very purpose of the Act would be defeated.
Scholars had expressed their reservation but fully support the bill.
http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/print.php?storyid=2727
Topic: UK Freedom of Speech