London, England - The head of a major body representing British Muslims said the country must beware of fostering a culture like Nazi Germany and warned of "suspicion and unease" about Muslims in an interview Saturday.
Muhammad Abdul Bari of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) said there was "a disproportionate amount of discussion surrounding us" and criticised the head of MI5 for "creating a scare" by saying Al-Qaeda was "grooming" children here.
"The air is thick with suspicion and unease. It is not good for the Muslim community, it is not good for society," he told the Daily Telegraph newspaper and the BBC in a joint interview.
"Every society has to be really careful so the situation doesn't lead us to a time when people's minds can be poisoned as they were in the 1930s.
"If your community is perceived in a very negative manner, and poll after poll says that we are alienated, then Muslims begin to feel very vulnerable.
"We are seen as creating problems, not as bringing anything and that is not good for any society."
There are about 1.6 million Muslims in Britain, which is home to some 60 million people, according to the latest census in 2001.
The MCB's assistant general secretary, Inayat Bungalawala, later told BBC radio that there was a danger of the threat from extremists being magnified "out of all proportion".
"What you had in the 1930s was all sorts of popular fictions were spread about the Jewish community that they were responsible for all ills that were occurring to Germany," he said.
"They were made into folk-devils and I think there is a danger that the word Muslim in the UK is becoming synonymous with bad news."
Bari, a special needs teacher, also said it was wrong to describe someone as an Islamic terrorist, adding: "We never called the IRA (Irish Republican Army) Catholic terrorists."
He also said comments by MI5 chief Jonathan Evans that Al-Qaeda was targeting young people and Britain was facing "the most immediate and acute peacetime threat" his agency had ever seen, could help rather than hinder terrorists.
"I think it is creating a scare in the community and wider society," he said.
"It probably helps some people who try to recruit the young to terrorism.
"Muslim young people are as vulnerable as any others. Under this climate of fear they will begin to feel victimised."
He also said he believed that suicide bombers were often emotionally damaged young people.
"Children come to hate when they don't get enough care and love," he said.
"They are probably bullied, it makes a young person angry and vulnerable.
"The extreme case could be suicide bombers, it is all they have."
He stressed there was no justification for suicide bombing in Islam but argued that British foreign policy in Iraq had been used by extremists to entice young people to join them.
"The country has been destroyed for no reason, that had an impact on the Muslim psyche," he said.
The Muslim Council of Britain is one of the biggest and most influential umbrella groups representing British Muslims and is seen as moderate, having encouraged the community to work alongside police and politicians.
In response to the comments, the Home Office said in a statement it was committed to working with British Muslims "to increase their sense of inclusion."
"Through open dialogue we can discuss concerns, explain policies and foster greater understanding," it added.