[6] In August 2005, he became press spokesman of the Ramadhan Foundation, a group aimed at helping young Muslims in the United Kingdom and fostering interfaith dialogue.
[17] Shafiq also regularly reviews the newspapers on Stephen Nolan's weekend late night show on Fridays at midnight on BBC Radio 5 Live along with former Conservative MP Jerry Hayes.
[19] In October 2013, Shafiq was alerted by anti-terrorist police that he, as well as a number of other prominent Muslim figures in the UK, had been specifically mentioned in a propaganda video created by Al-Shabaab, the terrorist group responsible for the attack on the Westgate shopping mall in Kenya.
[22] In February 2008, he was asked to resign as vice-chairman of Rochdale Liberal Democrats, following comments he posted online under the name "Deeplish Lad", accusing a colleague of racism and using "tricks from the BNP handbook" – a move said by Lib Dem sources to be "the final straw".
[26] In January 2014 Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate Maajid Nawaz, a secular Muslim, posted a "Jesus and Mo" image on his Twitter account.
"[30][31] Shafiq further Tweeted "Ghustaki Rasool Quilliam," linking Nawaz's anti-extremist think tank with an Urdu term which means "defamer of the prophet".