London, England - A new Muslim organisation created to represent the "silent majority" of British Sufi Muslims and tackle extremism has been dismissed by the Muslim Council of Britain as unrepresentative and divisive.
The MCB rejects claims by the Sufi Muslim Council (SMC), which was launched today, that existing Muslim organisations have not done enough to tackle radical extremism within the Muslim community.
The SMC launch in Westminster was attended by politicians of all parties and was endorsed by Ruth Kelly, the communities and local government minister.
Ms Kelly told the meeting: "We must work together to protect our young people from recruitment to violence and help them reject forces that seek to destroy our wonderfully diverse society. That is why we are looking to organisations and individuals across the Muslim communities to be vocal and challenge the ideology of the extremists."
The group says up to 80% of Britain's 2 million Muslims come from the Sufi tradition, which is a mystical and personal interpretation of Islam and largely apolitical.
One of the SMC founders, Haras Rafiq, says: "Up to now they [Sufis] have lacked a [representative] voice, and the intent of forming this council is to provide such a strong voice."
Mr Rafiq, who served on the government's Muslim taskforce, created to tackle Islamic radicalisation following the 7/7 London bombings, says the SMC is seeking to fill a "vacuum" within the Muslim community.
"Unfortunately, many UK Muslim organisations lack the courage to stand up and speak forthrightly about extremism," he told Guardian Unlimited.
His appearance last Friday on a Channel 4 documentary, Who Speaks for British Muslims?, which accused Muslim leaders and government officials of pandering to Islamic extremists led to an extraordinary attack by the MCB.
In a press release, the MCB accused Mr Rafiq of being part of a "motley crew of discredited figures" wheeled out to support the "ludicrous arguments" of the programme. The journalist who presented the documentary, Martin Bright, was labelled an "Islamophobe" seeking to divide British Muslims.
When contacted by Guardian Unlimited, the spokesman for the MCB, Inayat Bunglawala, claimed Mr Rafiq was an "unknown". "Who is he? Who does he represent? Let's wait and see just how many groups affiliate to his group, but at the moment it's obscure and unknown."
The SMC says it has already formed a partnership with the British Muslim Forum, a group representing around 300 mosques, mainly outside London.
Mr Rafiq says the SMC would be prepared to work with all faith communities, including the Jewish Board of Deputies, to help fight the "evil ideology that is gathering momentum within the community".
"There is an urgent need for the British Muslim community to engage in an internal debate to isolate the ideologies that falsely claim to represent Islam, to develop a strong field of moderate, intellectually astute, forward-thinking leaders and scholars who can promote the moderate values of civic society, engagement and diversity which characterise classical Islam," he said.
The MCB says its criticism of Jewish groups in Britain and its boycott of Holocaust memorial day reflect the anger of British Muslims at the actions of Israel and their desire for justice for the Palestinians.