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Truly sad… The protesters should be ashamed of themselves, as should the Sudanese court system. Are they going to sentence people for calling teddy bears Adam, Moses or Jesus? It would be no different! We love and respect all the prophets as they were all Gods messengers. These extremists do not represent Islam, rather they are Islam’s worst enemies. In the case of the Danish cartoons or the Satanic Verses, there was intent to slander Muhammad. But even here Islam teaches us to be tolerant and thoughtful in our response.

The best way to defend the holy Prophets reputation is to live according to the noble example he gave us. Muhammad was extremely kind and well mannered. Would he even recognise these people as following his teachings? Obviously Ms Gibbons didn’t mean any harm by allowing one of her pupils to call their teddy Muhammad. The whole matter should be dropped and she should be released. The real enemies of Islam are those protesting on the streets for her death!

I gave this talk at a mosque in Walsall during one of the holy nights of Ramadan. Muslims observe fasts and extra prayers during this lunar month, each year as a way to purify their hearts.

I delivered an explanation of chapter 7 of the book of Matthew. What was Jesus trying to teach us about the nature of religion? Who are the wolves in sheep’s clothing? Are we saved through our faith, our deeds or a combination of both? Jesus’ teaching in Matthew chapter 7 is often quoted by Christians, but has profound implications for all Jews, Christians, and Muslims, or indeed anybody else…

100 years ago, virtually everyone in the UK and other Western countries were Christians. The people in Britain mainly followed the Church of England, which famously broke away from Rome 500 years ago. Although this was partly because King Henry VIII wanted a divorce, there were other reasons for it. Many of the British nobility of the time were concerned about the control exerted upon Britain by the Roman Catholic Church.

Following the example of Martin Luther in Germany, in 1611 King James published the Bible in English. For the first time this allowed English people to read the scriptures in their own language, and started to break the hold which the clergy used to have over ordinary people.

As a result of all these changes, science and reason prevailed in Britain. Many British people have very inquiring minds. We like to learn. In 1859 Charles Darwin published the “Origin Of Species”, unfortunately his theory of evolution did much to damage the church, and Christianity declined largely as a result of his theory. Although this theory has never been proven, in fact modern science has discovered life is far more complicated than Darwin could have known. For instance, it is incredulous to suggest that something as remarkable as DNA came into existence by chance and random coincidences. As a result many of todays scientists are coming back to religion, realising that we were indeed created by God.

Over the last 100 years Britain transitioned from quite a religious Christian country, to a society focused mainly on capitalism and democracy. This is not entirely a bad thing though, as it has allowed people to use their minds and reflect upon different world views. Something which would be very unlikely in a country where one religion is sponsored or enforced.

The Church Of England is still recognised officially as our country’s religion, but in reality this means little, if anything today. Even Christians belong to an ever growing plethora of different brands of their faith.

As I was growing up, I questioned the meaning of my life, from quite an early age onwards. I felt unhappy with the commonly held view that life has no meaning, and is only what you make of it. I also felt unsatisfied with the explanation given to me by the various Christian churches.

Science answers many questions, but while it can answer questions about ‘how’ things are, it is unable to answer the questions of ‘why’. So I knew my best hope would come from religious scriptures if indeed they were inspired. Today, it is possible to acquire the books of virtually all the worlds religions.

I looked into many different religious traditions. I noticed they all had many things in common. Virtually all support that we are created by an All Powerful God. They have many beliefs in common but differ in certain aspects. But only Islam really answered my questions, and could stand up to my criticism and general mistrust of religion.

Islam also supports that Allah is the same God as the Jews, and Christians. Indeed that He sent 124,000 messengers to guide mankind throughout history. As the Last of these, Muhammad was basically reiterating the same message - this time for the whole world. I had already come to similar conclusions from my research into different religions.

Many people in Britain, Europe and even America are discovering the same thing. Islam is currently the fastest growing religion in the West. While it is true that some of this is due to immigration, there are an increasing number of people converting. I personally know quite a few people who have come into Islam, many of them British.

Allah warns us in the Qur’an that if a people turn away from the path He will replace them with others who will not be like you (Surah Muhammad verse 38). Today there are many Muslims in the world, but little Islam. So we should take Allah’s warning very seriously.