Zafar Bangash

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Zafar Bangash (Urdu: ظفر بنگش) is a noted Islamic Movement commentator and analyst. He is also a community leader in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He is Director of the Institute of Contemporary Islamic Thought (ICIT), and president of the Islamic Society of York Region in Ontario, Canada. He is imam at the Islamic Society of York region's mosque and community centre in Richmond Hill, Ontario. He is a former editor of the Crescent International newsmagazine, and a Trustee and formerly assistant director of the Muslim Institute, London, where he worked with Dr Kalim Siddiqui (1931-1996), the founder of the Muslim Institute and Leader of the Muslim Parliament of Great Britain.

Zafar Bangash is best known for his strident analyses of current affairs while editor of Crescent International, and as a columnist and contributor to Crescent since he moved on to become Director of the ICIT. Although he is a Sunni Muslim of Pakistani origins, he (and the bodies that he is associated with) are known for their support for the Islamic Revolution in Iran. For example, he has suggested that there is greater intellectual freedom there than in the United States, having told an Iranian news agency that "I have been in the Islamic Republic of Iran many times and I get a lot of information that is being circulated and there is open discussions, people express their views openly, discussions taking place all the times. All kinds of issues are discussed. There is no comparable level of discussion taking place in the US ..." .^[1]

He is also particularly known for his commentaries on Pakistani affairs, his support for Palestinians, and his opposition to the United States. He has also written on Islamic history and political thought. He is currently engaged in research on the political aspects of the Seerah (life) of Muhammad.

[edit] Controversial New Mosque

Meir Weinstein, Jewish Defense League's Canadian head, helped put on the "town hall" session to raise questions about the Newmarket mosque's connections with Zafar Bangash. The controversial imam has promoted sharia law and vigorously defended Iran's fundamentalist regime and Lebanon's Hezbollah terrorist movement. The mosque spokesperson denied that Bangash will have anything to do with the day-to-day running of the mosque.