Al-Muhajiroun

Al-Muhajiroun (Arabic: المهاجرون; "The Emigrants") is a defunct [ [http://www.furqaan.com/refutations/exposmenace.htm Al-Muhajiroun or Al-Mujrimoon!?] ] Muslim organization whose two offshoots, The Saviour Sect and Al-Ghurabaa are banned under the British Terrorism Act 2006 [http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/security/terrorism-and-the-law/terrorism-act/proscribed-groups] , for the 'glorification' of terrorism. It operated in the United Kingdom from 14 January 1986 until the British Government announced an intended ban in August 2005. [http://www.pipelinenews.org/index.cfm?page=reynalds72406.htm Radical terror cleric Omar Bakri tries to flee Lebanon] Pipeline News] Omar Bakri Muhammad and Anjem Choudary led Al-Muhajiroun [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/3110115.stm Police raid Islamic group] BBC News] . It became notorious for its conference "The Magnificent 19", praising the September 11, 2001 attacks. Home Secretary Charles Clarke banned Bakri from the United Kingdom on 12 August 2005 because the British government considered his presence in Britain "not conducive to the public good." [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,22989-1733144,00.html 'Preacher of hate' is banned from Britain] Times Online] [http://www.aina.org/news/20060424105053.htm Islamists Down Under] Assyrian International News Agency]

History

Bakri founded Al-Muhajiroun in Mecca, Saudi Arabia on 3 March 1983, "the 59th anniversary of the destruction of the Ottoman Caliphate," in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Accordnig to Bakri, he had built a "Hizb ut-Tahreer" cell with 39 members their but HT leadership would not accept the group as HT was not legal in Saudi Arabia. Al-Muhajiroun created to provide a home for the group. [http://www.jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?search=1&articleid=23622 Al-Muhajiroun in the UK: An Interview with Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammed] The Jamestown Foundation]

Bakri claims ["Essential Fiqh", Bakri (London: The Islamic Book Company, 1996), page 3 [http://www.amazon.co.uk/Essential-Fiqh-Omar-Bakri-Mohammad/dp/1899534008] [http://www.lawbooks-online.com/index.asp] ] that he studied at the universities of Umm ul-Qura' in Makkah and The Islamic University of Madeenah. Bakri also studied with, and was assessed by, Dr. Abdur Rahman Dimishqia "Hizb ut-Tahreer", Dr. AbdurRahman Dimishqia, (Istanbul: Maktabah ul-Ghurabaa', 1417 AH/1997 CE)] . It was also discovered that during the 80s he was working for "Eastern Electric" owned by Shamsan and Abdul-Aziz as-Suhaybi in Riyadh, and then Bakri moved to the Jeddah branch. Later he travelled to America to study English after which he traveled to the UK to assume the leadership of Hizb ut-Tahreer and became their Mufti. The Saudi Arabian government banned Al-Muhajiroun in January 1986, prompting Bakri to flee Saudi Arabia. On 14 January 1986, he arrived in Britain, where he worked to build up Hizb ut-Tahrir while Al-Muhajiroun was kept on "a separate platform" and its underground activities were pursued "as part of the global HT network."

Bakri's involvement in Hizb ut-Tahrir ended on 16 January 1996 acrimoniously. In 1999 Bakri became the chief sponsor in Britain of the International Islamic Front, an organization that trained and sent British Muslims to fight in Chechnya and the Balkans. In October 2000 the Bakri and others issued a "Warning to All Jews... in the UK" that if they supported Israel "financially, verbally or physically" they would be killed.

NUS ban

In March 2001 Britain's National Union of Students banned Al-Muhajiroun after they received complaints from Muslim and non-Muslim students about the group distributing hate literature and the organization training members in militant camps. Al-Muhajiroun members put up posters and handed out leaflets in Manchester University's campus where the police were called and at the University of Birmingham campus that called on Muslims to kill all Jews. A spokesman for NUS said that if Al-Muhajiroun did not support violence against Jews then they should change their "highly militant and definitely not peaceful" literature. [http://web.archive.org/web/20011122202951/http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewPrint.asp?Page=%5cForeignBureaus%5carchive%5c200109%5cFor20010921g.html UK Islamic Group, Banned from Campus, Claims Misrepresentation] CNS News]

Islamic Council of Britain

Convicted terrorist Abu Hamza al-Masri created the Islamic Council of Britain to "implement sharia law in Britain," on 11 September 2002, the first anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks, primarily through funding from Al-Muhajiroun. Masri celebrated the establishment of the ICB and the 9/11 attacks by holding a conference in Finsbury Park mosque in North London entitled "September the 11th 2001: A Towering Day in History." Bakri, who attended the conference, said, that attendees "look at September 11 like a battle, as a great achievement by the mujahideen against the evil superpower. I never praised September 11 after it happened but now I can see why they did it." Flyers distributed at the conference referred to the 9/11 hijackers as the "Magnificent 19." Bakri said he saw Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda terrorists as "sincere [and] devoted people who stood firm against the invasion of a Muslim country." Anjem Choundary, British spokesman for Al Muhajiroun also attended.

Disbandment and after

Al Muhajiroun disbanded on 13 October 2004. [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/01/21/nhate21.xml Muslims in police will rise up, Bakri insists] The Daily Telegraph] However, it is believed that The Saviour Sect is to all intents and purposes Al Muhajiroun operating under a new name.

Shortly after the 7 July 2005 London bombings Tony Blair announced the group would be banned as part of a series of measures against condoning or glorifying terrorism.

In 2006 Russian government officials asked the British government to ban Al-Muhajiroun because members who attended the London School of Economics were fighting against the Russian army in the Second Chechen War. Fact|date=August 2008

Aims

Al-Muhajiroun's proclaimed aims were to establish public awareness about Islam, to institute sharia, influence public opinion in favor of Islam, increase membership in Al-Muhajiroun, convince non-Muslims to convert to Islam or accept it as the political norm, to unite Muslims in facing threats to the Ummah on a global scale, to increase al-Muhajiroun's influence in societies throughout the world, to create a "fifth column" community pressure group to push for Islamization of the non-Islamic world, and to recreate the Caliphate globally.

Controversy

tatements

Aside from declaring the 9/11 bombers "the Magnificent 19", controversial statements made by al-Muhajiroun include one warning the British government that it was "sitting on a box of dynamite and have only themselves to blame if after attacking the Islamic movements and the Islamic scholars, it all blows up in their face".

BBC quoted one Al-Muhajiroun leader, Abu Ibrahim, as saying,

"When they speak about September 11th, when the two planes magnificently run through those buildings, OK and people turn around and say, 'hang on a second, that is barbaric. Why did you have to do that?' You know why? Because of ignorance. ... For us it's retaliation. Islam is not the starter of wars. If you start the war we won't turn the other cheek. ... According to you it can't be right. According to Islam it's right. When you talk about innocent civilians, do you not kill innocent civilians in Iraq?" [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/3670007.stm Al-Muhajiroun] BBC News]

Attacks

Lethal attacks on civilians or military perpetrated or planned by people connected to al-Muhajiroun include a 29 April, 2003, bombing of a café in Tel Aviv, Israel, that killed three people and injuring 60 others. The bomber was Asif Hanif, a "regular visitor" to the north London office of al-Muhajiroun. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/may/06/terrorism.jamiedoward The network.... With a worldwide influence and a radicalised following, is al-Muhajiroun waiting to strike again? Jamie Doward and Andrew Wander report. May 6 2007 ] guardian.co.uk] [http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,249521,00.html New poll shows worry over Islamic terror threat, to be detailed in special FNC Report] Fox News] In 2006 another al-Muhajiroun militant allegedly detonated a bomb in India, killing himself and destroying an army barracks.

In 2007, five young Muslim Britons with Al-Muhajiroun connections - Omar Khyam, Waheed Mahmood, Anthony Garcia, Jawad Akbar and Saladhuddin Amin, — were convicted of a multiple bombing plot to use fertiliser bombs "which police say could have killed hundreds of British people. The men were caught after police and MI5 launched a massive surveillance operation." [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6153884.stm Fertiliser bomb plot: The story. By Chris Summers and Dominic Casciani. 30 April 2007 ] ] The targets included "the Bluewater shopping centre in Kent, the Ministry of Sound nightclub in London and Britain's domestic gas network." According to Professor Anthony Glees, director of the Brunel Centre for Intelligence and Security Studies.

The fertiliser bomb trial has given us the smoking-gun evidence that groups like al-Muhajiroun have had an important part in radicalising young British Muslims, and that this can create terrorists.

References

ee also

* Al Ghurabaa
* The Saviour Sect
* Hizb ut-Tahrir in the United Kingdom
* Hizb ut-Tahrir
* Islamism
* UK Islamist demonstration outside Danish Embassy
* Operation Crevice

Further reading

* cite journal
quotes =
last = Connor
first = Kylie
authorlink =
coauthors =
date =
year = 2005
month = April
title = "Islamism" in the West? The Life-Span of the Al-Muhajiroun in the United Kingdom
journal = Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs
volume = 25
issue = 1
pages = 117–133
issn =
pmid =
doi =
id =
url =
language =
format =
accessdate =
laysummary =
laysource =
laydate =
quote =

External links

* [http://www.salafimanhaj.com/pdf/SalafiManhaj_BakriAppeal Omar Bakri calls for his British Residency Status to be given back!?]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/3110115.stm BBC - 'Police raid Islamic group']
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/3670007.stm BBC Newsnight's Richard Watson interviews Al-Muhajiroun recruits]
* [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,22989-1733144,00.html The Times (London) - 'Preacher of hate' is banned from Britain]
* [http://www.jamestown.org/news_details.php?news_id=38 10 March 2004, Mahan Abedin of Jamestown.org interviews Omar Bakri Mohammed at his London home]
* [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/05/02/wbomb202.xml Telegraph - Al Muhajiroun under scrutiny]
* [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2001%2F10%2F31%2Fnmus231.xml Telegraph - Militants of Al-Muhajiroun seek world Islamic state]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/hardtalk/3014703.stm BBC HARDtalk interview, 5 May 2003, Anjem Choudary refuses to condemn suicide attacks.]
* [http://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20050110-082616-6312r.htm Washington Times - British Muslims called to take up jihad]
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/religion/Story/0,2763,739813,00.html Militant groups in the UK] 'The Guardian", June 19, 2002
* [http://www.homelandsecurity.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Intel&file=index&view=649 The Landscape of Islamic Extremism in London: Possible Players in the Attacks of July 7, 2005]
* [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8987716/site/newsweek/ Transplanted Jihadi]
* [http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewPrint.asp?Page=ForeignBureausarchive200109For20010921g.html UK Islamic Group, Banned from Campus, Claims Misrepresentation]
* [http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/homeland.php?id=572544 "Al-Muhajiroun - Islamists In The United States: Part One"] , [http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/challenges.php?id=585453 "Part Two"] , "Family Security Matters", 8 January 2007