Lord Sheikh (Chairman of the CMF) chaired a meeting in the House of Lords on Islam, democracy and human rights on behalf of the United Nations Association Westminster branch.

The meeting was very well attended and there were speakers of high calibre which included a professor and Amedee Turner QC who was at one time a Conservative Member of the European Parliament.

Lord Sheikh (Chairman of the CMF) attended the 7th Civilisation Dialogue between Japan and the Islamic World in Kuwait which was organised by the Kuwait Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs.

Lord Sheikh was invited to make the keynote speech and spoke about various issues including climate change, Islam and the environment and he also emphasised the importance of dialogue between countries to try and combat the ever-increasing global threat of climate change.

Lord Sheikh attended a meeting with her Highness Sheikha Al Amthal Al Ahmad Al Sabah, the sister of the Emir of Kuwait, who is very much concerned with humanitarian issues.

Lord Sheikh also met with Dr. Adel A. Al-Falah, Under Secretary, Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs and Dr Mutlaq R. Al-Qarawi, Assistant Under Secretary, Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs.

Mohammed Amin (Vice Chairman) spoke at the World Islamic Economic Forum in Jakarta on “The Leadership Imperative: Towards a Good Succession Plan.” To Amin’s left in the picture’s centre is the panel chairman, Dato’ Nazir Razak, CEO of the CIMB banking group of Malaysia and younger brother of the new Malaysian Prime Minister.

Lord Sheikh was part of a parliamentary delegation to Nepal organised by the Inter-Parliamentary Union. The delegation met the President, the Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister, heads of the Army and Police and senior members of the Nepali Parliament and the community.

Lord Sheikh has spoken in the House of Lords on the rights of Gurkhas and he was pleased to meet the heads of the Gurkha Welfare Association in Nepal.

Lord Sheikh as well as other members of the CMF Executive Committee are deeply interested in the environment and the delegation visited a forestry programme involving the preservation of trees.

The Conservative Muslim Forum arranged for a petition relating to single sex wards to be signed by 2134 people.

The petition called on the Government to finally fulfil its manifesto commitment of 1997 to provide every patient with the option of single sex wards in NHS hospitals.

The Healthcare Commission’s annual inpatient survey published in May 2008 showed that:

• One in four patients (24 per cent) had to share a sleeping area with the opposite sex when first admitted to a hospital ward.
• One in five patients (18 per cent) had to share a sleeping area with the opposite sex when moved to a second ward.
• Nearly a third of patients (30 per cent) had to use the same bathroom or shower area as the opposite sex.

The above situation is unacceptable and needs to be put right with urgency.

The photograph shows Lord Sheikh with senior members of the Conservative Muslim Forum presenting the petition to Mr Andrew Lansley CBE MP, the Shadow Secretary of State for Health.

Mr Andrew Lansley will now pass the petition to the Secretary of State for Health and pursue the matter further.

On 28 January 2009, Lord Sheikh and Mohammed Amin met with Mark Hoban MP, Shadow Financial Secretary to the Treasury to discuss the benefits of Islamic finance for the UK economy, and the Conservative Party’s strategy for Islamic finance.

CMF Health and ROKO Cancer organised a presentation on Breast Cancer that was held at 7 Millbank. The main speakers were Dr Khalid Khan (Chairman of CMF Health) and Dr Richard Simcox (Oncologist). Lord Sheikh spoke for a few minutes as well. The vote of thanks was given by Zahra Janmohammed and a Quranic Recital was given. The event was well attended and some nice food was served afterwards. It was very informative for those in attendance.

There was a Rememberance Meeting held in the House of Commons for the victims of the despicable attacks of terrorism in Mumbai. In attendance were the Indian High Commissioner, Shiv Shankar Mukherjee and a large number of MPs and Peers (including Lord Sheikh).

There was a Book of Condolences to be signed which would be sent to the speaker of the Indian Parliament. Lord Sheikh condemned the attacks and offered condolences to the High Commissioner. Lord Sheikh and the Executive Committee of the CMF had previously issued a statement on the attacks:

The Chairman, Lord Sheikh and the Executive Committee of the CMF would like to express our horror and shock at the atrocities committed by terrorists in Mumbai last week. We would like to express our deepest condolences to everyone who has been affected by these abominable attacks committed by people who have no regard for humanity and the value of the lives of others. We totally condemn such actions and in fact any other act of terrorism committed anywhere in the world. Unfortunately terrorism is a global problem and everyone must work together to fight any form of extremist activity.

Our hearts and prayers go out to the people of India and other countries who have been affected by these terrorists.

The CMF is totally against any form of terrorist activity and will continue to combat any act where human life is in any way affected. We take the view that these acts are in fact against humanity in general.

Islam is a religion of peace and a person committing any form of terrorist activities has put himself outside the religion. Indeed it says in the Holy Quran verse 5.32 that taking one innocent life is like taking the life of all mankind.

CMF held a fringe meeting at the Conservative Party Conference on 30th September 2008. The speakers included David Lidington MP, Sajjad Karim MEP and Lord Sheikh, Chairman of CMF. The meeting was chaired by Mohammed Amin, Vice-Chairman of CMF.

The topic of the meeting was “How to win support for the Conservative Party with particular reference to ethnic minorities and Muslims”.

The meeting was well attended including various PPCs from constituencies with a large Muslim population.

Karim Sacoor and Cllr Arif Hussain made a presentation on how CMF can help campaign in these diverse communities and how the ethnic minority vote could be the deciding factor in some consitutuencies.

Lord Sheikh hosted a dinner in honour of Dominic Grieve QC MP, Shadow Home Secretary. The dinner was attended by a number of guests who knew Dominic and were pleased at his appointment as the Shadow Home Secretary.

Lord Sheikh in his speech paid tribute to Dominic Grieve’s excellent and dedicated involvement with the ethnic minorities.