An Open Letter to Dr Muhammad bin Abdul Karim Issa On Your Call for British Muslims to “Talk Less About Gaza”

To: Dr Muhammad bin Abdul Karim Issa
Secretary-General, Muslim World League
Former Minister of Justice, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Subject: Your Call for British Muslims to “Talk Less About Gaza”

Dr Issa,

Your recent comments, reported in The Times, suggesting that Muslims in the United Kingdom should “talk less about Gaza,” are not a call for unity—they are a call for silence. And silence, in the face of genocide, is nothing less than complicity.

You made these remarks at a time when the world is witnessing a brutal, ongoing massacre in Gaza. Communities across the UK—Muslim and non-Muslim alike—are marching in their thousands, demanding an end to the genocide, calling out the arms trade, and refusing to let the suffering of Palestinians be normalised or ignored. For you to describe this as “divisive” is not only out of touch—it is dangerous.

What makes your message all the more alarming is the government you represent. Saudi Arabia, despite its immense economic and political leverage, has failed to take meaningful action to ease the suffering of our brothers and sisters in Gaza. Instead, your leadership has prioritised optics, foreign investment deals, and international diplomacy over justice, while preaching to diaspora Muslims about the need for “social cohesion.”

Billions have been poured into boxing bouts in Riyadh, football takeovers, Formula One races, and glossy 2030 “vision” rebranding campaigns—yet none of this wealth is meaningfully leveraged to uphold the right of Palestinians to live free from occupation and slaughter. This is not a vision of justice. It is a vision of spectacle, distraction, and moral bankruptcy.

It is frankly absurd that someone representing Riyadh would lecture others on cohesion while the Saudi state jails its own religious scholars for expressing dissent. Sheikh Saleh al-Talib, former imam of the Grand Mosque in Makkah, was sentenced to ten years in prison for simply delivering a sermon critical of public entertainment events. Dr Yusuf al-Ahmad, a respected Islamic scholar, was detained after criticising the Interior Ministry’s treatment of detainees. These are not marginal figures. They are voices of integrity, silenced because they dared to speak truth to power.

Your remarks are being eagerly echoed by the British government and media, who are always quick to suppress dissenting Muslim voices. They feed into a broader agenda: downplaying the war on Gaza, criminalising protest, and portraying Muslim political expression as a threat rather than an Islamic obligation. You have handed them a convenient narrative—that Muslims should limit themselves to domestic issues and leave foreign policy to the elite. But for us, Gaza is not “foreign.” It is a wound that runs through the heart of the global ummah.

That Britain and the Saudi monarchy appear aligned on this matter is no surprise. Your government’s very existence was underwritten by British colonial interests in the early 20th century. And this is the same Britain that issued the Balfour Declaration, laying the foundations for the theft of Palestine. That both states now call for silence on Gaza is not a coincidence—it is the latest chapter in a long, shameful history of betrayal. Their uniforms may differ, but their hands are bloodied in the making—and maintaining—of this catastrophe.

British Muslims are not defined by postcode, ethnicity, or polling statistics. We are defined by our īmān, our shared values, and our unwavering solidarity with the oppressed. The people of Gaza are not distant strangers—they are our kin. No amount of government-led “integration” or Saudi-funded “cohesion” initiatives will ever sever that bond.

And let me be clear: the overwhelming sentiment among Muslims in Britain, and across the globe, is that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has no legitimacy. His reign has been marked by repression, vanity, and a chilling disregard for the sanctity of human life—especially Palestinian lives. He has rendered the blood of Gazans cheap, while transforming Makkah and Madinah into backdrops for concerts, celebrity visits, and PR campaigns.

This is not the leadership we want. The ummah yearns for principled, courageous leadership in Saudi Arabia—leadership that defends the sanctity of the Haramain, upholds the dignity of Islam, and confronts the illegal occupation of Palestine with moral clarity and conviction. Your crown prince has shown neither the capacity nor the will to meet this standard.

The holy sites of Islam are not a red carpet for influencers or a stage for state propaganda. They are the beating heart of a global faith. And those entrusted with their care must act like stewards—not showmen.

Our call for justice is not radical. It is born of our love for Allah (subḥānahu wa taʿālā), our faith in Islam, and our duty to stand alongside our oppressed brothers and sisters. The global Muslim community sees through the façade—and the calls for real change will only grow louder.

Your message was clear: “Don’t talk about Gaza.”
Here is our message in return: We will talk about Gaza.

We will talk about apartheid. About occupation. About the bombs dropped with Western money and Gulf silence. And we will speak about those leaders—Saudi or otherwise—who have betrayed the cause of Palestine by remaining silent, or worse, by urging others to be.

We will not be silent. Not for the comfort of Western governments. Not for the convenience of autocratic regimes. And certainly not for the reputation of those who have traded away their moral authority for political expedience.

R3run Editor.
M Khan