One wedding and a walkout

For once I find myself agreeing with the Muslim Council of Britain – that organisation that claims to be representative of, ooh, lots and lots of Muslim organisations in the UK, but much of it is strings and mirrors.

However, that’s as may be. Where I agree with the MCB is when it criticises a British MP for walking out of a Muslim wedding because it segregated men from women and he wasn’t allowed to sit with his wife.

This was Jim Fitzpatrick, a government minister, who was at a wedding do at the London Muslim Centre.

“Segregation is a feature in religious, cultural and social occasions,” said a spokesman for the MCB, “and is not specific to Muslims. It is a private matter and is up to families concerned.”

Let me say right from the start, I detest Muslims’ propensity for treating women like shit. But at a private bash it’s really up to them, provided no laws are broken, no one is hurt or threatened – the usual stuff.

Were it a public meeting, then the Islamic organisers should have been told where they could stick their invitations, but it wasn’t. If he couldn’t possibly have known beforehand that this was likely to happen – and he says he’s attended a number of Muslim weddings when it hasn’t – then he should quietly obey the dictum, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” That’s basic courtesy.