UK-based campaign The Muslim Vote appears to have been worked by the former leader of a now banned terrorist organisation, GB News can reveal.
The controversial political campaign is urging millions of Muslims to vote out MPs who did not call for a Gaza ceasefire.
Muhammad Jalal, formerly known as Jalaluddin Patel, has previously shown public support for the group and operated as the UK leader of the now banned terrorist organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir between 2000 and 2007.
Jalal told the Jamestown Foundation in 2004 that “Muslims are acknowledging more and more that the governments of America and the West are the enemies of Islam and do not want to see them prosper”.
Muhammad Jalal
He appeared to throw his weight behind the Muslim Vote in December in a post to X, formerly Twitter, saying he is “pleased to announce a project we have been working on”.
Jalal added: “A united group of organisations have come together and launched https://themuslimvote.co.uk, the aim of the campaign is simple. In the 2024 election, we will focus on those MPs in 55 large Muslim-populated constituencies the voted against the Gaza ceasefire.”
Speaking on GB News, host Patrick Christys this is a sign of Jalal “backing” the campaign.
He has been outspoken on cultural issues surrounding Muslims in the past, including the idea of integration, which he appears to have rallied against.
Jalal told the Guardian in 2004 that it’s a “front for coercive assimilation, and no more than an assertion of western values as being superior”.
Jalal describes himself as a political scientist and hosts The Thinking Muslim podcast.He has also distanced himself from The Muslim Vote, claiming he is only collecting data for the organisation.
Approached by GB News for comment, both The Muslim Vote and Jalal are yet to provide a response.
An invite to appear on GB News has been extended to Jalal.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Jalal insisted he is “neither affiliated with the Muslim Vote campaign nor an organiser.”
He added: “I certainly value their efforts to hold advocates of genocide to account, and encourage Muslims to constructively engage politically.”
The Muslim Vote is plotting to oust at least 55 Labour and Tory MPs who voted against or abstained on the Gaza ceasefire vote in Parliament last December.
The Muslim Council of Britain found in 2019 that 31 marginal seats could be decided by Muslim Votes, potentially enough to swing an election.
Clarification - March 24 2024: Since this article was originally published Mr Jalal has contacted GB News to confirm that he does not support terrorism and ceased to be involved with Hizb-ut-Tahrir in 2008, prior to it being banned early this year. He also informed us that the beliefs expressed by him in 2004 do not represent his current views.