Source/Credit: MailOnline / Sunday Times
By TOA Staff Report | April 17, 2016
Maher has apologized for remarks which are being investigated by King's College London
Shiraz Maher, a well-known researcher and recognized expert on Muslim radicalization is being investigated by his university for disparaging remarks he made about slain shopkeeper Asad Shah of Glasgow.
Maher, who is a Senior Research Fellow at the International Center for the Study of Radicalization at King's College London, said in a social media post that the slain Muslim shopkeeper was 'not a real Muslim'
Only days after a taxi driver admitted killing Asad Shah for his faith, UK Newspaper Sunday Times says, Maher wrote on his Facebook wall that he does not 'regard Ahmadis as Muslims'
Mr Shah, an Ahmadi Muslim, was murdered at his place of business in what has surfaced to be a sectarian attack against Ahamdi Muslims.
A Muslim taxi driver, Tanveer Ahmed, who has confessed to the murder, issued a statement following his appearance before a judge which said if he hadn't killed Shah, someone else would have.
The statement by Asad Shah's murderer is indicative of serious anti-Ahmadi undercurrents prevalent in the UK's Sunni Muslim communities.
According to The Times, Maher reportedly wrote on Facebook: 'I really wonder if I'm missing something here but I don't regard Ahmadis as Muslim.'
The newspaper further reported that Maher has since apologized for his 'ill-advised and misjudged' comments 'given the circumstances of Asad Shah's murder and the political context thereafter'.
King's told MailOnline that the comments were Maher's own opinions and the university is investigating the matter.
An Ahmadiyya Muslim Community UK representative reportedly told the Sunday Times that Maher's remarks risked 'creating division.'
However, in a personal tweet, Dr Basharat Nazir, who is the national spokesperson for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community UK, said "this shouldn't develop into a witch hunt. Shiraz Maher removed the comment and regretted any offence that may have been caused."
"Huge body of opinion [is] developing in UK that it's divisive (and unacceptable) for Muslims to consider Ahmadiyya community as non-Muslim," wrote Dr Nazir.
-- UK: King's College investigates top radicalization researcher Shiraz Maher for remarks against slain Asad Shah's faith
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