| Islam in the ascendant? | |
Comment: These three articles from the Daily Telegraph,
spanning a period of five months make it abundantly clear
that there is an Islamic extremist menace in our land, which
the authorities are unable or unwilling to do anything about.
In particular, if the report of the east London meeting is
true, several criminal offences have most probably been
committed (imagine a "Christian" group speaking in similar
terms!), yet there is no hint of any action by the
authorities.
The ringleaders are obvious, however they remain at large,
clearly operating at no risk whatsoever.
This situation was unthinkable thirty years ago.
We are being destroyed from within.
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Sharia law already enforced in 10 courts
============
By Gordon Rayner and Duncan Gardham, 09 Feb 2008
The extent to which sharia law already operates in Britain
was the subject of concern yesterday after it emerged that at
least 10 Islamic "courts" are sitting across the country. The
existence of the courts, in towns and cities including London
and Birmingham, heightened anxiety following the Archbishop
of Canterbury's remarks that the introduction of some
elements of Islamic law was "unavoidable"
The majority of cases heard in the courts involve divorce or
financial disputes, but one reported case involved a gang of
Somali youths who were allowed to go free after paying
compensation to a teenager they had stabbed.
Extremists were said to have used the spread of sharia courts
to justify calls for Islamic law to be adopted "wholesale"
for Muslims living in Britain. Anjem Choudary, a solicitor
and former senior figure in the banned organisation Al-
Muhajiroun, said: "Some element of family law or social and
economic law will not work. It has to be adopted wholesale.
It will not happen tomorrow but it is inevitable because
sharia is superior and better for mankind."
Despite grave warnings from lawyers about the dangers of a
dual legal system, criminal cases are already being dealt
with by some of the unofficial courts. In 2006 an Islamic
Council sitting in Woolwich, south-east London, heard the
case of the Somali gang, who had been accused of stabbing
another Somali teenager and were reportedly arrested by the
police.
Aydarus Yusuf, a youth worker, told Radio 4's Law in Action
programme that the suspects were released on bail after the
victim's family said the matter would be dealt with by the
Islamic community. "All their uncles and fathers were there,"
said Mr Yusuf, "so they all put something towards that and
apologised for the wrongdoing." The Metropolitan Police said
it was unaware of the case, but admitted that officers
sometimes did not proceed with assault cases if the victim
decided not to press charges.
Mr Yusuf told the programme that he felt more bound by sharia
law than by the laws of his adopted country. "Us Somalis,
wherever we are in the world, we have our own law,'' he said.
"It's not sharia, it's not religious, it's just a cultural
thing." He said sharia's great strength was that those who
appeared before religious courts would avoid re-offending so
as not to bring shame on their families.
The first sharia court in the UK started in Birmingham in
1982, and others have followed in London, Rotherham and
Dewsbury, West Yorks. Although their rulings are not
recognised by English law, participants often agree to abide
by the court's decision in the same way that Jewish civil
disputes are often settled in their own court, the Beth Din.
Divorces must still be ratified by civil law courts.
Omar Bakri Mohammed, the former leader of Al-Muhajiroun, who
is banned from entering the UK, said: "If sharia law were
introduced it would have all kinds of benefits. It would get
rid of drinking, night clubs, casual sex, homosexuality,
prostitution, gambling and usury."
David Pannick QC, a leading human rights barrister, said that
if criminal law and marriages were dealt with by sharia
courts, "it would lead to the breakdown of society, if some
groups could just ignore laws that applied to others".
<http://www.telegrap
already-enforced-
Banned cleric Omar Bakri addresses conference
at London primary school
============
Richard Edwards, Crime Correspondent, 01 Mar 2009
Omar Bakri, the radical cleric banned from Britain, has
addressed a conference at a primary school in London in which
he called for the country to become an Islamic state.
Dozens of Muslims attended the rally at Sudbury Primary
School in Harrow, north London, to hear Bakri preach for 40
minutes over the telephone from his exiled home in Lebanon.
The 51-year-old has been living in the country since 2005,
having been banned from returning to Britain after he fled
his London home after the July 7 attacks.
Bakri told his followers: "The existence of the Islamic state
is a necessity for justice to be established, a necessity for
the people in order to keep away from personal desire and
greed. I believe the way forward is Islam. It is time to go
back to basics. I believe Islam is the future."
The conference was organised by Bakri's right-hand man Anjem
Choudary. the former head of the extremist group Al
Muhajiroun. A panel of three other speakers also spoke at the
gathering to mark 85 years since the Islamic state Khilasah
was abolished by Kemal Ataturk in 1924.
Bakri was a member of the radical extremist group Hizb ut-
Tahrir in Britain in the Eighties and early Nineties - and
was dubbed "The Tottenham Ayatollah''. He went on to found
the al-Muhajiroun extremist movement and caused outrage when
he praised the terrorists behind the September 11 attacks in
America. Asked if he condemned the disciples of Osama bin
Laden, he said: "I condemn Tony Blair. I condemn George Bush.
I would never condemn Osama bin Laden or any Muslims.'' He
later blamed the Government and the British public for the
July 7 bombings in which 52 people died. The outbursts led to
the revoke of an order allowing him to stay in Britain.
<http://www.telegrap
der/4903920/
London-primary-
Radical Muslims warn of another 9/11
============
By Duncan Gardham, Security Correspondent, 13 Sep 2008
Muslim extremists have held a meeting at the heart of the
area where the liquid bombers lived in which they warned of a
British September 11. One speaker at the meeting, held on the
anniversary of the attacks in America, told the assembled
crowd that the West should "listen to the warnings."
The meeting, in front of a 100-strong crowd at a community
centre on the Lea Bridge Road in Walthamstow, east London,
was also addressed by the exiled preacher Omar Bakri Mohammed
via video link from the Lebanon. His appearance was greeted
by cheers of "faith" and "god is great" as he claimed to have
foiled a bomb plot against him by agents of the British
Government, although much of his speech was inaudible due to
technical difficulties. Among the speakers were a number of
former members of the banned group al-Muhajiroun, once led by
Bakri from his council home in Edmonton, North London.
Walthamstow was home to two of the three members of a gang
found guilty of conspiracy to murder. They face a retrial
over allegations they were targeting trans-Atlantic flights.
The most incendiary speech was delivered by Saiful Islam,
from Luton, Bedfordshire, who praised Osama bin Laden and al-
Qaeda for their "courage" in retaliating against the
"dictatorship and oppression" of the West.
He said: "The blame of 9/11 belongs to no one but the
American government. They are the terrorists. Sheikh Osama
warned America numerous times, it was because of their own
arrogance, because they thought they are a superpower and
nobody could match them, that Sheikh Osama taught them a
lesson - a lesson they still haven't learned."
Mr Islam warned that unless British and American troops were
withdrawn from "Muslim lands" they would be to blame for the
consequences, saying the West would "never achieve security
until our own lands achieve security. Wake up. Withdraw.
Listen to the warnings. Muslims will stand side to side, not
just al Qaeda. The actions of the British and Americans have
given prominence to al Qaeda. All of us have a part to play
in stopping the violence or the next 9/11 will take place in
Britain, the next 7/7 could take place locally," he added.
The meeting was led by the lawyer Anjem Choudary under the
name of a group called the Association for Islamic Research.
He was the last to speak to the group of largely young Muslim
men and criticised the Government for persecuting "innocent
Muslims" including Syrian-born Bakri who was banned from re-
entering the country in the wake of the July 7 attacks.
He also talked of the defendants in the airliner trial along
with the jailed preachers Abu Hamza and Omar Brooks, another
of Bakri's followers, as well as Abu Qatada, recently
released on bail: "They [the Government] say they are
civilized but they don't act very civilized," Mr Choudary
said. "They jailed Sheikh Abu Qatada in Belmarsh prison. Is
that the way you treat your guests?"
He spoke against mainstream bodies like the Muslim Council of
Britain, who condemned the September 11 and July 7 attacks,
accusing them of "selling their souls to the devil". Mr
Choudary talked about the black "flag of Sharia" flying over
Downing Street by 2020, saying 500 people a day were
converting to Islam. He laughed that Muslim families in
places like Whitechapel and Bethnal Green in east London were
having "10 or 12 children each".
<http://www.telegrap
Muslims-warn-
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