Bashir Maan CBE (22 October 1926 – 20 December 2019) was a Pakistani-Scottish politician, businessman, judge, community worker and writer.
In 1970 he became the first Muslim to be elected to a representative office in the United Kingdom,[1] serving as a Labour Party councillor for the Kingston ward of the City of Glasgow Corporation.
In 1970, he was the first Muslim to be elected to a public office in the United Kingdom, serving as a Labour Party councillor for the Kingston ward of the City of Glasgow Corporation.
[5] Bashir Maan was asked to resign as President of the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations in 2006 after deploring the teaching of gay sex education in schools.
"[6] Bashir Maan spearheaded the campaign by the Council of Glasgow Imams to encourage Muslims not to vote for candidates in Scotland's 2012 local government elections.
He highlighted the positive role of Pakistan Army troops serving as UN peacekeepers there to the world through a series of articles in the press.
In 2000, he was elected the President of the Scottish Council of Voluntary Organisations, a post he held until being asked to resign for anti-gay views in 2006.
In recognition of his extensive work in the community, race relations and the voluntary sector, he was presented with the CBE in the Queen's New Year's Honours List in 2000.
In The Thistle and the Crescent, Bashir Maan states "East and West or Islam and Christianity are not irreconcilable.
"[9] He further comments, "in the light of the great positive values of the teaching of the Qur'an and the practical successes which resulted from it, the inadequate perceptions of Judaism and Christianity cannot be accounted serious weaknesses, such as to negate all that is sound and true.