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Interview
with Anthony Green
Your background
I was born to
British parents in Darussalam in Tanzania in 1964. My father Gavin Green was a
colonial administrator in the still existent British empire. He later joined
Barclays Bank in 1976 and was sent to Egypt to set up Egyptian Barclays Bank. I
was educated at famous Roman Catholic Monastic School called Ampleforth College
and went on to study history in the London University. However, I left my
education unfinished. Currently, I am
working with an Islamic media company based in England and engage myself in
dawah activities including lectures on Islam in London’s famous Hyde Park. What kept you
from obtaining a degree? I grew totally
disillusioned with the British educational system. It was thoroughly Eurocentric
and projected world history in a way that suggested that the civilisation
attained its full glory and apogee in Europe. Having lived in Egypt and seen
some of the majestic ruins which only archaeologists have access to, I found the
West’s interpretation of history totally fallacious. I began a private study
of histories of other peoples of the world, various religious scriptures and
philosophy. I was practising Buddhism for nearly three years though never
formally embraced it. Study of the
Holy Qur’an immediately attracted me. Its message had a magical appeal and I
grew convinced that it was a divine revelation. I believe only Allah guided me,
none else. I don’t know what made me deserve Islam. But anything
specific that could have appealed to you? I was
dissatisfied with Christianity from the age of eight. The concept that was
taught to us through rhymes such as Hail Mary! Was not at all acceptable to me.
While on one hand the Christians described God to be eternal and infinite they
felt no compunctions in ascribing birth of God from the womb of Mary. This made
me think that Mary must be greater than God. Secondly, the
Christians’ concept of trinity was puzzlesome for me. The similitude like
Canadian Maple leaf being one despite three sections appeared utterly
unapplicable. The crunch came
when an Egyptian started questioning me. Despite being confused about the
Christian belief I was trying to be dogmatic as most white, middle-class,
English Christians do. I was flummoxed when he led me to accept that the God
died on the crucifix, thus laying bare the hollowness of the Christian claims of
eternity and infinity of God. I now came to realise that I was believing in as
absurd a concept as two plus two is equal to five all through my adolescent
years. West’s
prelaid, programmed life intensely repelled me. I began to question if a person
has to live a life merely to get strait-jacketed in a rigorous schedule. I found
Europeans struggling a lot to enjoy life. They had no higher purpose in life.
West’s
capacity to brainwash its people became plain to me when I discussed the
Palestine issue with Egyptians and Palestinians. Several myths-historical,
political, economic - were fabricated by the Zionists and propagated
unchallenged by the Western media. How could a land vacated by Jews 2000 years
earlier be their homeland? I also came to know that existing Jewish people were
actually Slaves, not simites and that Palestinian land was always a green
orchard. Israel fabricated the myth of “magical transformation of desert into
greenland.” The American
double-speak and hypocrisy began to sink in as I studied the US role in planting
and sustaining despotic rulers in Latin America while punishing the Soviet Bloc. What contrast
have you found between people’s lives in Egypt and the UK?
Egyptians were
poor, suffered hardships, yet were happy. They left everything in the hands of
Allah and forget their miseries when they return home. Prayers help them place
their worries before their God. I noticed humility as well as intimacy in
Islamic prayers. But in England
I found people shallow, materialistic. They try to be happy but happiness is
superficial. Their prayers combined songs, dances, clapping but no humility, nor
intimacy with God. I realised that
popular opinion in the West was totally hostage to the Zionist-controlled media.
The question of Palestine was one among these. My conversation with Palestinians
revealed as to how the West had believed in myths about Israel. First among them
was that the Jews had the right to return to their original homeland in Israel.
Secondly they conveniently described themselves semitic while the fact was that
most Jews of the world were salvs who had later converted to Judaism. Thirdly
Israel’s economic miracle was theorised to create the economic and scientific
myth. The fact was
that I never got to know the Palestinian side of the issue. I got convinced that
the people of the West were brainwashed by the media. I found that the US was
trying every trick to punish nations indulging in small violations of human
rights in the third world but was itself sending death squads into Latin
American nations to liquidate their leaders who refused to toe the US line. Such
hypocrisy is never criticised by the US media. How do you find
life as a Muslim in the UK? The Western
psyche emphasizes one’s individuality. This is at variance with Islam. Any
sincere Muslim feels disturbed. He or she is constantly bombarded by sex and
sexuality. Most girls lose virginity by 13 and it is normal for girls to have
three to four boyfriends. The dilemma
before Muslims in the West is as to how to integrate with a society so steeped
in sex, drugs, drinks and sexual intimacy. And if no integration, then how to
save themselves from ghettoisation. Has the dawah
work produced some results in the UK? Dawah is
progressing at a steady pace. Neo-converts have a lot of enthusiasm. They know
how dark is the life for a commoner. How does a
common British citizen look at the organisations like the Muslim Parliament?
This kind of
terminology is frightening and intimidating for a common citizen. The Muslim
Parliament was an organisation founded by Kaleem Siddiqui. I cannot praise him
as a italics. Such attempts are doomed to failure. This is an attempt to create
artificial unity. Does the Hizbut
Tahrir find approval in Britain? Again this
organisation unnecessarily intimidates the people. The objec
tive of dawah
is to invite the people to worship one Allah. The Holy Prophet (Pbuh) did not
preach Khilafah. All this is damaging for Islam in the UK. They say the only
place to meet a Jew is on a battlefield while a Muslim should expect him to be
sitting or standing next to him. Your family
life I have two
wives, both British-born Muslims of Indian origin and six children. Does not the
British law prohibit bigamy? It does. Yet
several Britishers are bigamists. But those who practise bigamy can protect the
second marriage under the provisions of “common law wives”. Under this
children out of such marriages are legitimate and wives inherit property. |
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