Islamification

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Radicalisation

Radicalisation is the process by which an individual or a group comes to adopt increasingly radical views in opposition to a political, social, or religious status quo. Radicalisation can result in both violent and nonviolent action – academic literature focuses on radicalisation into violent extremism (RVE) or radicalisation leading to acts of terrorism.

Abu Hamza

Abu Hamza, is an Egyptian cleric who was the imam of Finsbury Park Mosque in London, England, where he preached Islamic fundamentalist views. In 2004, Hamza was arrested by British police after the United States requested he be extradited to face charges. He was later charged by British authorities with sixteen offences for inciting violence and racial hatred.

On 5 October 2012, after an eight-year legal battle, he was extradited from the UK to the United States to face terrorism charges and on 14 April 2014 his trial began in New York. On 19 May 2014, Hamza was found guilty of eleven terrorism charges by a jury in Manhattan. On 9 January 2015, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

In 1979, Hamza entered Britain on a student visa. His initial reaction to life in Britain was to describe it as "a paradise, where you could do anything you wanted". After studying at civil engineering at Brighton Polytechnic Hamza gained employment as a bouncer in the strip bars of Soho under his original name from 1980 until 1983, when club baron Jean Agius was arrested and charged for conspiring to be a pimp. Agius alleges that Hamza may have also co-owned a club during this time.

Hamza was the imam of Finsbury Park Mosque from 1997, and a leader of the Supporters of Sharia, a group that believed in a strict interpretation of Islamic law. On 4 February 2003 (after being suspended since April 2002), Hamza was dismissed from his position at the Finsbury Park Mosque by the Charity Commission, the government department that regulates charities in England and Wales. After his exclusion from the mosque, he preached outside the gates until May 2004.

Yasser Al-Habib

Sheikh Yasser al-Habib is a Kuwaiti Twelver Shia scholar, and the head of the London-based Khoddam Al-Mahdi Organization, as well as Al-Muhassin mosque in Fulmer, Buckinghamshire. Al-Habib was convicted of “questioning the conduct and integrity of some of the ‘companions’ of the prophet Muhammad” in a lecture he had delivered, and sentenced to 10 years in prison in Kuwait but freed through a clerical error of royal pardon. He fled the country first to Iraq, then to Iran before settling and claiming asylum in the United Kingdom.

Yasser Al-Habib promotes and enacts the practice of Tatbir which includes striking oneself with a form of a talwar "sword" on the head, causing blood to flow in remembrance of the innocent blood of Imam Husayn. Some Twelvers also hit their back and/or chest with blades attached to chains. Tatbir are contested among Shia clerics. While some traditionalist clerics allow believers to indulge in tatbir, modernist clerics deem it impermissible because it is considered self-harm, thus haram in Islam.

Abu Usamah

Abu Usamah at-Thahabi is an Imam at Green Lane Masjid in Birmingham, England. An American national born in New Jersey, he converted to Islam and studied at the Salafi-oriented University of Madinah in Saudi Arabia, an Islamic school popular with converts and international students. During Abu Usamah's tenure at Green Lane Masjid, he was among a group of preachers whom were the focus of the Undercover Mosque program which was first aired on 15 January 2007 by Channel 4. In the program, Abu Usamah was quoted, among other things, to have said that "Christians and Jews are enemies to Muslims", to have taught that "jihad is coming against the unbelievers", and to have referred to non-Muslims by use of the term "kuffar" which translates to "unbelievers" or people who reject Islam.

The story caused backlash that resulted in 364 viewer complaints to Ofcom. In addition to this, on 10 August 2017 the West Midlands Police also raised a formal complaint to Ofcom regarding what it considered to be a "completely distorted" view of the intended message by Abu Usamah and the other preachers. However, upon investigation of the matter Ofcom ruled in favour of Channel 4. The West Midlands Police also later apologised for their initial accusation, and offered £100,000 in compensation to Channel 4.

According to a report by the Centre for Social Cohesion, Usamah "advocates holy war in an Islamic state; preaches hatred against non-Muslims; that apostasy and homosexuality are punishable by death; and that women are inferior to men", following an undercover recording of him preaching to his congregation which featured in a Channel 4 Dispatches episode on radical Islam at British universities. During the documentary, Usamah also praised Osama bin Laden, and defended his right to freedom of expression, saying: "If I were to call homosexuals perverted, dirty, filthy dogs who should be murdered, that's my freedom of speech, isn't it?".

Abu Izzadeen

Abu Izzadeen (born Trevor Richard Brooks) is a British spokesman for Al Ghurabaa, a British Muslim organisation banned under the Terrorism Act 2006 for the glorification of terrorism. Abu Izzadeen is a British citizen born on 18 April 1975 in Hackney, east London, to a Christian family originally from Jamaica. Brooks converted to Islam the day before he turned 18, on 17 April 1993, changing his name to Omar, but preferring to be called Abu Izzadeen. He is fluent in Arabic.

“Izzadeen, had called for the Islamic flag to fly over Downing Street”.

Abu Izzadeen met Omar Bakri Muhammed and Abu Hamza al-Masri at Finsbury Park Mosque in the 1990s. He visited Pakistan in 2001, before the 11 September attacks, as part of Al-Muhajiroun; he said he went there to give a series of lectures. He also said he had attended terror training camps in Afghanistan. He described the 7/7 suicide bombers in London as "completely praiseworthy". On the eve of the anniversary of the 7/7 attacks in London, he was filmed preaching to a group of Muslims in Birmingham mocking and laughing at those who believe in the war on terror and who feel a need to resist Islamic terrorism. He has openly stated that he wishes to die as a suicide bomber.

On 20 September 2006, Abu Izzadeen and Anjem Choudary disrupted Home Secretary John Reid's first public meeting with Muslims since his appointment. He called Reid an "enemy" of Islam. John Humphrys interviewed Izzadeen on the edition of 22 September 2006 of BBC Radio 4's Today programme. In a heated discussion Abu Izzadeen stated that his aim was to bring about Sharia law in the UK and that this should be achieved without following the democratic process but rather "in accordance to the Islamic methodology".

Anjem Choudary

Anjem Choudary is a Pakistani Islamist and a social and political activist who has been described as "the face" of militant Islamism or the "best known" Islamic extremist in Britain. Members of his group have been accused of being linked to between 25 and 40% of terrorist events in Britain up to 2015 (according to various researchers, journalists and others),and of inspiring more than 100 foreign fighters to fight in jihad (according to the UK government).

After staying "just within the law" for many years (according to police), in summer of 2014 Choudary pledged allegiance to the Islamic State's "caliphate", and its "caliph" (Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi) by Skype. Two years later he was convicted under the Terrorism Act 2000 of inviting support for a proscribed organisation, namely the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. In 1996, Choudary, with Omar Bakri Muhammad, helped form the Islamist al-Muhajiroun organisation in Britain. The group organised several anti-Western demonstrations, including a banned protest march in London for which Choudary was summoned to appear in court.

“Islam is not a religion of peace ... It is a religion of submission. We need to submit to the will of Allah”.

“Whoever insults the message of Mohammed is going to be subject to capital punishment.”.

The UK government banned Al-Muhajiroun in 2010 and Choudary subsequently founded or helped found a series of organizations considered by many to be Al-Muhajiroun under new names such as Al Guraba', Islam4UK, Sharia4UK, Sharia4Belgium. Among the controversial causes espoused and statements made by Choudary and the group include implementation of Sharia throughout the UK, "Europe, and the wider world"; the conversion of famous British landmarks (Buckingham Palace, Nelson's Column) into palaces for a caliph, minarets, and mosques; praise for those responsible for the 11 September 2001 and 7 July 2005 attacks; calling for the execution of the Pope for criticizing the Islamic prophet Muhammad; and declaring that Muslims reject the concepts of freedom of expression, democracy, and human rights.

Ijaz Mian

Saudi-educated Dr Mian, has for years toured British mosques giving controversial lectures championing extreme Islam. Mian featured on Channel 4's undercover Dispatches documentary Undercover Mosque. He was recorded preaching at Ahl-e-Hadith mosque, in Derby. Imam Dr. Ijaz Mian on the subject of non-Muslim laws said, “You cannot accept the rule of the kafir [infidel]. We have to rule ourselves and we have to rule the others”, meaning, he was talking about establishing Islamic Sharia or Caliphate in Britain. This directly went against the British law though, no action had been taken against Dr. Ijaz Mian.

“King, Queen, House of commons….if you accept it, you are a part of it. If you don’t accept it, you have to dismantle it. So you being a Muslim, you have to fix a target. There will be no House of Commons. From that White House to this Black House, we know we have to dismantle it. Muslims must grown (sic) in strength…then take over. You are in a situation in which you have to live like a state within a state, until you take over. But until this happens, you have to preach, until you become such a force that the people just submit to you."

Dr. Mian praised the Saudi religious police practice of imprisoning people who do not pray: "They send the police, and they say, well, if you don’t come for prayer, close your shop, we will arrest you. But if you don’t, then we have to bring the punishment on you, you will be killed, and nobody will pray on you.". Dr Mian lives in a £200,000 detached home he shares with his wife, two miles from 6 of 11 Birmingham addresses raided by anti-terror police. He had ranted about a dead serviceman at a meeting in a Birmingham mosque: "There was an individual killed in Afghanistan recently. Do you know what was written in a newspaper? Hero of Islam! The hero of Islam is the one who separated his head from his shoulders!".

Zakir Naik

Zakir Abdul Karim Naik is an Indian Islamic public orator who focuses on comparative religion. He is the founder and president of the Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) and Peace TV. Naik is currently a wanted fugitive in India, where, in 2016, the authorities charged Naik for money laundering while he was abroad in Malaysia; Naik did not return to India and became a permanent resident of Malaysia. Peace TV is banned in India, Bangladesh, Canada, Sri Lanka, and the United Kingdom.

In August 2006, Naik's visit and conference in Cardiff caused controversy when Welsh conservative MP David Davies called for his appearance to be cancelled. He said Naik was a "hate-monger", and that his views did not deserve a public platform. The high-profile Indian Muslim preacher was banned by Theresa May when she was home secretary, after he praised Osama bin Laden and said “all Muslims should be terrorists”. Announcing the exclusion order, Ms May said: “Numerous comments made by Dr Naik are evidence to me of his unacceptable behaviour.” David Cameron, the former prime minister, has described Mr Naik as a “hate preacher”.

Other speakers listed on Peace TV’s website include Bilal Philips, a Jamaican-Canadian Islamic preacher who was named by the US as a co-conspirator in a 1993 plot to bomb New York’s World Trade Centre. Dr Phillips has been banned from several countries, including the UK. In 2012, Peace TV was found to have breached Ofcom rules by broadcasting a speech in which the Dr Naik said he “tend[ed] to agree” that Muslims “should be put to death” if they converted to another faith and tried to spread their new religion against Islam.

Fundermentalism

Fundamentalism is a tendency among certain groups and individuals that is characterised by the application of a strict literal interpretation to scriptures, dogmas, or ideologies, along with a strong belief in the importance of distinguishing one's ingroup and outgroup, which leads to an emphasis on some conception of "purity", and a desire to return to a previous ideal from which advocates believe members have strayed. Fundamentalism within Islam goes back to the early history of Islam in the 7th century, to the time of the Kharijites. From their essentially political position, they developed extreme doctrines that set them apart from both mainstream Shia and Sunni Muslims.

Wakefield Quran scandal

Four boys from Kettlethorpe High School were suspended after one of them, an autistic 14-year-old, brought a copy of the Islamic holy book onto the school site as a forfeit for losing a video game. It is alleged the book was “accidentally” dropped and “slight damage” was inflicted as a result. Police became involved in the episode, recording it as a “non-crime hate incident”.

The mother of the 14-year-old who brought the holy scripture onto the Kettlethorpe site told a local mosque that her son was “absolutely terrified” after he received “death threats”. She addressed the Jamia Masjid Swafia mosque, as did headteacher Tudor Griffiths, assuring those in attendance that her son had no “malicious intent” when he brought the Quran into school. Attendees at the mosque were told that “going forward” her son will be doing “more research on Islam”.

This quasi-judicial mosque hearing, denounced by observing members of the public as a Sharia Court, was supported by a West Yorkshire Police chief inspector despite no blasphemy laws or law or rule existing within the United Kingdom to revere or ‘respect’ any book.

“As the Muslim population has grown, and the state-sponsored creed of multiculturalism has become ever more powerful, so Sharia law has strengthened its grip on our society.”.

Akef Akbar, a once conservative councillor, now an independent councillor and self-appointed arbiter, dismissed death threats to a child as nothing more than "passions flaring", echoing the responce by the mosque's imam. There has been no police action against (or expulsion of) pupils who issued death threats.

Local Labour Councillor Usman Ali (@UsmanAli4Ward5) issued a statement on Twitter in relation to events before deleting the tweet; he said:

“After todays events at Kettlethorpe High School, where a Quran has been desecrated are a serious provocative action which needs to be dealt with urgently by all the authorities, namely, the police, the school and the local authority. This terrible action could destroy all the good progress that has been made in Wakefield to highlight and tackle Islamophobia”.

All faithful Muslims were summoned (Dīn) to make strong feelings (“upset and hurt”) known to school headteacher and chief police officer investigating:

A tweet by Cllr Akef Akbar, suggests that rather than defusing and de-escalating the situation, he is actually on something of a robust investigative mission to ensure the school complies with sharia. Clearly, 'watered down' is precisely what is required.

Minister for Schools Nick Gibb condemned reported death threats against pupils from Wakefield who allegedly damaged a copy of the Koran as “totally unacceptable” adding that there is “no blasphemy law” in the UK and schools should be supporting “British values” including “individual liberty”.

It is outlandish that some felt it was necessary for an autistic child and his mother to be humiliated in such a public spectacle, displays a lack of humility, valued in British society, which is surely one of the most beautiful human attributes and worthy of respect perhaps even from God.

Batley Mohammed Cartoon Row

A teacher who received death threats after showing his pupils a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed is still in hiding a year later. The image, which was shown to children at Batley Grammar School in West Yorkshire during a religious education class, sparked days of heated protests by parents and activists at the school gates.

The 30-year-old teacher, who was forced to flee his home, was suspended at the time but later cleared when an independent investigation found that he had not intended to cause offence. Paul Halloran, a family friend, revealed that the teacher, who has not been named, has found it ‘immensely hard’ to rebuild his life after the row. Speaking in a video posted online, Mr Halloran said:

“I obviously can’t go into too much detail, but as with anybody who goes to work one day and then is run out of their job and has to move away and build a new life, I am sure that people can imagine how very hard it is for him.”.

People in Batley still feel ‘very raw’ about the way the teacher was hounded from his home, he added:

“The mob turned up at the school gates and applied immense pressure on the school. The pressure they put on ended up with the teacher having to go into hiding – and it can never be right.”.

Purpose of Life, an aid group identified the teacher on Facebook; the Charity Commission gave an official warning. This event occurred months after another teacher, Samuel Paty, was murdered in France by an extremist. Paty had shown pupils a depiction of the Prophet Mohammed during a class on free speech, having first given Muslim children permission to close their eyes.