Posted on May 9, 2016

London’s Iconic Red Buses to Declare ‘Glory to Allah’

Raheem Kassam and Oliver Lane, Breitbart, May 8, 2016

Britain’s largest Islamic charity says it wants to “break down barriers” and portray Islam positively by launching a new advertising campaign which will slap the phrase “glory to Allah” on the side of London buses.

The new campaign by Islamic Relief is, ostensibly, targeted at raising donations for their Ramadan aid to Syria, but is attracting attention for the “hundreds” of buses which will be decorated with the phrase “Subhan’Allah”, or ‘Glory to Allah’.

Muslims reading the advert are told that to “gather the rewards of Ramadan”, they must to donate to Islamic Relief, an organisation which had its accounts with banking giant HSBC closed after “concerns that cash for aid could end up with terrorist groups abroad”.

{snip}

A major 2008 controversy was the purchasing tens of thousands of pounds worth of advertising space on the sides of London buses to promote the message “there is probably no God”.

Rejecting the message, the Russian Orthodox Church booked bus adverts in London in response, declaring “There IS a God, BELIEVE. Don’t worry and enjoy your life”, reported the Guardian at the time.

{snip}

Breitbart London reported in November on a snubbed campaign launched by the Church of England, which featured the Lord’s Prayer. England’s state church had sought to screen the 60-second slot, which featured a farmer, a weightlifter, gospel singers, children, and the Archbishop of Canterbury praying before the new Star Wars film but were banned by cinemas.

Although it was passed for publication by the British Board of Film Classification and the Cinema Advertising Authority, it was blocked by the Digital Cinema Media (DCM) agency which controls advertising for Britain’s biggest cinema chains including Odeon, Vue and Cineworld. The company claimed they didn’t want to offend non-Christians.

The Church of England called the decision “chilling in terms of free speech”.