Jim Fitzpatrick, a Government minister, has publicly condemned the Muslim tradition of separating men and women at weddings.
The farming minister and his wife walked out of the marriage ceremony of a constituent after discovering they would have to sit in separate rooms.
He said the gender segregation was a sign of increasing radicalisation and was damaging to social cohesion.
However, Muslim leaders insist the custom is traditional at Islamic weddings as well as in mosques, and expressed surprise that Mr Fitzpatrick, a third of whose east London constituents are Muslims, was unaware of the fact.
It was suggested that the Labour MP was trying to appeal to white voters who may fear divided communities.
His comments echo the row triggered three years ago when Jack Straw, now the justice secretary, called Muslim face veils a “visible statement of separation and difference” and called for women to remove them during surgeries in his Blackburn constituency.
Sir Iqbal Sacranie, a founding member of the Muslim Council of Britain, said: “I think in the interest of cohesion it would be better if Mr Fitzpatrick established more contact with the Muslim community.
“It shows a lack of interest on the part of the MP to engage with people with different backgrounds and sadly it reflects badly on him.
“If he had a little bit of knowledge he would have found it was quite normal and nothing unusual for them to enjoy the celebration in this way.
“There are some who prefer segregated events and some where they are joined together. We live in a society where we need to respect all traditions.”
George Galloway, the Respect MP for Bethnal Green and Bow who will contest the new Poplar and Limehouse constituency against Mr Fitzgerald at the election, said: “If he doesn’t wish to attend an Islamic wedding and observe the religious customs preferred by the bride and groom, he should not go rather than insult them for perceived political gain.
“I am absolutely amazed and astonished that a Government minister with a substantial Muslim minority in his constituency should have decided to give such a gratuitous insult to so many Muslims.”
Tim Archer, who will stand for the Conservatives locally, said: “I can’t help but feel he’s playing a certain race card to save his skin at the next election. I think it’s a desperate strategy.”
Ghayasuddin Siddiqui, a director of the Muslim Institute, a leading think tank, added: “He shouldn’t have been surprised, or perhaps he didn’t read the invitation card properly.
“But he’s going to annoy a number of people in his constituency.”
Mr Fitzpatrick, a former fireman, has represented Poplar and Canning Town since 1997 and served as a junior transport minister, London minister and as Post Office minister.
Most of his constituency is in Tower Hamlets, where an estimated 35 per cent of the residents are Bangladeshi Muslims, and he says he regularly attends Islamic weddings where men and women mix freely.
On Sunday he and his wife Sheila, a GP, were invited to a wedding where they found male and female guests were seated in separate rooms, and promptly walked out. The event was held at the London Muslim Centre, next door to the prominent East London Mosque in Whitechapel.
The minister later told his local newspaper: “It’s a disappointment. We are trying to build social cohesion in a community but this is not the way forward.”
He told The Daily Telegraph: “My wife and I go to weddings to celebrate the occasion jointly. If we are welcome as a couple we go as a couple and if not it is our right to say we don’t want to do that.
“I’m not pandering to any minority opinion.”
Mr Fitzpatrick claimed the invitation to the wedding, of a couple he did not know personally but who were related to a friend of his, did not make it clear that the event would be segregated.
He said he had only ever once encountered a similar situation at the centre, and had left that wedding as well.
The minister blamed the policy on the Islamic Forum of Europe, a hardline group based at the East London Mosque.
He said: "The segregation of men and women didn't used to be as much of a strong feature.
"We've been attending Muslim weddings together for years but only recently has this strict line been taken.
"But it is an indication of the stricter application of rules that is taking place that didn't exist before."
"I think the stranglehold influence of the IFE is present more than ever before."
However, the mosque insisted that men and women have been kept apart at weddings in the centre since 2004.
The policy is traditional at Muslim marriages, as it is in mosques, as an illustration of the importance the religion places on modesty.
A spokesman said: “Segregated weddings have always been popular in the Muslim community; the London Muslim Centre has facilitated them for over five years. It is part of the attraction for Muslim families so they can celebrate their happy day in a religious atmosphere, a custom which is also found in other religious traditions represented in Britain.
“We have always allowed non-Muslim guests to be seated together without segregation, but this is entirely at the discretion of the families who have hired the halls.”
Syed Ahmed, a spokesman for the IFE, said his organisation had nothing to do with the wedding policy.
He said: "It is a bit confusing. If he has got a problem then he should take it up with the relevant person who invited him.”
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