Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah (organisation)

"For the Islamic Muslim Arabic term see Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah"

Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah (Arabic: أهل السنة والجماعة; English: Adherents to the Sunnah and the community or Followers of Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah; alternately transliterated: Ahl ul-Sunnah Wa al-Jamma; ASWJ) is an Islamist organization operating in the United Kingdom, intended to be a successor to the banned Al-Muhajiroun organization. Founded in November 2005 in north London, its head is "Simon" Sulayman Keeler. Also attending the organization's launch were Anjem Choudary, the former head of al-Muhajiroun, Abu Yahya, Abu Izzadeen and Abu Uzair. The group claims up to 1000 members, many of them members of the now-banned groups Al Ghurabaa and the The Saved Sect. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4449714.stm "New group replaces al-Muhajiroun" "BBC News" 29 October 2006] ]

ASWJ operates mainly through an invitation-only Internet forum set up in 2006 by Mizanur Rahman called "Followers of Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jama'aah Muntada" [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2546266,00.html "UK preacher in secret web call for jihad"] , "The Times", 14 January 2007] , of which Anjem Choudary is a prominent contributor, under the screen name "Abou Luqman". The forum currently has 700 members. A reporter visiting the site found calls for holy war, and recordings of Osama Bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and, notably, Omar Bakri Mohammed, the founder of al-Muhajiroun. [ [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2426770,00.html "Banned extremists regroup" "The Sunday Times" 29 October 2006] ]

In February 2006 ASWJ helped organize the Islamist demonstration outside Danish Embassy in London in 2006. [ [http://www.zone-h.org/content/view/14481/30/ "Digital propaganda calling to Jihad"] , "Zone-h", 5 January 2007]

In November 2006 the BBC programmes File on 4 and Newsnight, in an investigation into the radicalisation of young British muslims reported that Omar Bakri is regularly broadcasting hate messages against the UK government and non-Muslim people via the internet, using a range of pseudonyms. His voice was reportedly confirmed by speech analysis experts to be that of Bakri. The BBC penetrated the broadcasts using undercover investigators from the group "Vigil". [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6143632.stm "Covert preaching of banned cleric"] "BBC news" 14 November 2006]

In December 2006, ASWJ issued a call on one of its websites for Muslims to fight the Ethiopian attack against the Islamic Courts Union in Somalia in whatever way possible, "financially, physically and verbally". [ [http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3345665,00.html "UK website: Join Somalia jihad"] , "Ynetnews", 28 December 2006] This call was reiterated by Anjem Choudary in early January 2007.

References

External links

* [http://web.archive.org/web/20070225191500/http://muntadaa.aswj.net/ old website]
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20060824114946/http://www.aswj.eu/ second old website]