Assalamu Alaikum,
Dear brothers / sisters,
The Winter Olympics of 2022 are scheduled to take place in Beijing, China.
The oppression of the Uygur Muslims of China is now an indubitable truth. Credible testimonies and evidence of routine internment, torture, rape, forced sterilisation, forced labour and dehumanising practices abound.
Even those with anti-Islamic agendas concerning other issues agree and are amongst the most vociferous critics of China’s treatment and policy towards the Uygur Muslims. These human rights abuses go squarely against Olympisim and the spirit of the Olympic Games where sport, fair play and solidarity exemplar universal fundamental ethical principles concerned with the preservation of human dignity.
No country would knowingly act against these fundamental principles, let alone sovereign Muslim nations whom we entreat to boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics in China in a show of support and solidarity with the Uygurs.
Allah Almighty in the Qur’an states:
“Verily, this brotherhood of yours is a single brotherhood, and I am your Lord and Cherisher: therefore serve Me (and no other)”.
Our Beloved Messenger (Peace and Blessings be upon him) said:
“The parable of the believers in their affection, mercy, and compassion for each other is that of a body. When any limb aches, the whole body reacts with sleeplessness and fever”.
It thus behoves us as Muslims to identify with the suffering of our Uygur brothers and sisters and to do whatever is within our means to relieve them of that struggle.
We ask and encourage all Muslim countries to Boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China. We also request our brothers and sisters in the Gambian Government to address the plight of the Uygurs in the UN as it did with the Rohingya in Burma.
Yours faithfully,
Lewisham Islamic Centre