So, The Quilliam Foundation has extended it's tentacles to the north of England.

Whilst there has already been much criticism of their work one could say this is due to them being so close to the government and its questionable anti-terrorism strategy.

Admittedly the Foundation is asking the right questions of the Muslim community. It is saying we should look to change how we as a community are managed. It is right to call for a change in Mosque leadership and structures.

It is also correct to ask for input from Muslim women. It is right to suggest we Muslims need to weed out the extremists wherever they may be.

But where it fails miserably is it’s failure to recognise that we Muslims are not one homogenous body.

The organisation fails to recognise that many Muslims in this country are essentially Muslims by name only. We leave our mosques empty for much of the year. This is a truth that even we as Muslims do not want to admit to ourselves.

We do not live our lives as many in government agencies and those orgainstions that it funds would have you believe. That picture of Muslims was tarnished and destroyed a long time ago.

It has to be said the Foundation is based on the very premise it looked to replace. And this will lead to it’s own extinction.

Whilst they may not claim to represent the Muslim community they indirectly do. This may be through no fault of their own.

Regardless of what has been said on countless websites they will continue to be quoted as and represented as speaking on behalf of the Muslim community.

It is also useful to note one important point that many writers have failed to highlight.

Other organisations that have come out to criticise the Foundation do so because they were not consulted. Sadly, this common ‘ailment’ continues to affect the Asian and Muslim community in general. Given the opportunity, many representative bodies would have done the exact same thing.

They may not be so overt in their support of almost every controversial Government policy but many would find it difficult ‘to bite the hand that feeds'.

There has criticism from other organisations about the Foundation's credibility amongst the Muslim community.

The Sufi Muslim Council had little or no credibility within the community. How is the Quilliam Foundation any different?

For starters you could say they actually are attempting to make a change within the community.

But again it may well become the very thing it ceased to eradicate.

It wished to portray a new modern brand of Muslim independence. One which was not afraid to ask the tough questions and look to break itself from the mistakes of the past.

In the eighties and nineties many Muslims had their concerns voiced by first generation Muslims. Yes, some of them had little grasp of English. Some were accused of simply rubber stamping government policy. Some were not taken seriously by the majority of the community.

Quite a few were keen to make a name for themselves regardless of how their community was portrayed.

And some found themselves torn between pleasing their backers and voicing the concerns of their community.

We have come a long way as Muslims in this country but whatever your thoughts of the Quilliam Foundation - it seems old habits die hard.