Hizb-ut Tahrir and the ‘butcher of Buner’

By Houriya | Published: May 18, 2009

Hizb-ut Tahrir (HT) Britain, a global Islamist revolutionary group calling for the establishment of an Islamic state (Khilafah), has recently issued a press statement titled ‘Brown welcomes the butcher of Buner to Downing Street’ – denouncing Pakistani President  Zardari’s visit to the UK. Taji Mustafa HT Britain’s media representative said:

“The whole reason why the British, American and other Western governments sponsor brutal tyrants such as Zardari is because they fear the growing call in the Muslim lands such as Pakistan for Islam and the re-establishment of the Khilafah. Their strategy revolves around the simple objective of preventing Muslims from controlling their own political destiny…”

Continue reading >>
Posted in Human Rights, Islamism | Tagged , , | 10 Comments

Diesel bombers convicted

By Faisal | Published: May 17, 2009
Beheshti, Mirza, Taj

Beheshti, Mirza, Taj

Three men, Ali Beheshti (41), Abrar Mirza (23) and Abbas Taj (31) who conspired to firebomb the residence of publisher Martin Rynja in September 2008, have been found guilty of recklessly damaging property and endangering life.

Rynja had been planning to publish a novel by US author Shelley Jones called the Jewel of Medina.

Fortunately all three men, who possessed the collective IQ of a cabbage, had been under police surveillance. Officers followed them on the night of the attack and arrested Beheshti, a former member of al-Mouhajiroun and Mirza at the scene. The fire was quickly put out. Taj was the driver of the getaway car.

The men were under surveillance by police who had warned Martin Rynja, 43, and his partner, to move out of their four-storey townhouse, which had an office in the basement.

Continue reading >>
Posted in Books, Crime, Freedom of Expression | 8 Comments

The price of engagement

By Faisal | Published: May 16, 2009

What is the direction of the currency of ideas between peaceable (non-violent) and militant (violent) Islamism? Do the two groups influence each other? Can individuals shift effortlessly from one form of Islamism to another or are we talking about discrete self-contained mindsets which, once allegiances are struck, excommunicate one another as a matter of principle?

There are those who will agree with the last assertion; that violent and non-violent Islamist groups are congealed entities, ideologically opposed to each other. In the context of the UK, this is often cited by those who would like to see more engagement of non-violent Islamists on the grounds that failure to do so is a failure of our pluralist, social democratic principles.

Andy Hull of the IPPR, for instance:

Continue reading >>
Posted in Islamism, Terrorism | 4 Comments

BBC “out of touch” about Aaqil Ahmed?

By Retired | Published: May 15, 2009

There are some people out there rather peeved by the BBC’s decision to appoint Aaqil Ahmed as head of religion and ethics. The Daily Mail’s Steven Glover is a case in point. He asks:

Why can’t the BBC understand we are STILL a Christian country?

He concludes his (rather rambling) rant saying:

In all kinds of ways the publicly funded BBC does not reflect the views of the public it is supposed to serve.

No doubt its secular suits assume that Britain is as anti-Christian as they are. They’re out of touch again. In appointing Aaqil Ahmed they do not simply offend against this country’s Christian heritage and traditions. They also further weaken the hold and authority of the BBC.

So, if Mr Glover is to be believed, the whole country should be in uproar that a Muslim chap has been appointed to this positition. Indeed, the Guardian tries to give the impression it already is:

Continue reading >>
Posted in Anti Muslim bigotry | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

The Taliban’s perversion of sharia law

By Houriya | Published: May 15, 2009

(This article of mine was originally published in the Guardian’s Comment is Free: Belief, 3 May 2009)

In the Malakand region of Pakistan, the Taliban have started correcting the “moral wrongs” of society by banning women from shopping in public areas, as it is believed to be obscene. They have have punished men by shaving their hair and moustaches for listening to music, seen as un-Islamic. As non-Muslims living under sharia law, the Sikh community in Orakzai Agency is being forced to pay 15m rupees, approximately £130,000, in tax to live in peace. If Sikhs refuse, then the Taliban will occupy their properties.

The Taliban are, of course, not the first to attempt to implement sharia law. Governments in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Taliban-ruled Afghanistan and northern Nigeria have implemented “Islamic” laws that have resulted in systematic human rights abuses by employing medieval punishments for transgressing God’s “boundaries”, such as death for apostasy and stoning for adultery. The implementation of such sharia laws leads people to question the compatibility of Islam and human rights.

Continue reading >>
Posted in Human Rights, Islamism, Sharia | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Forced into Hijab: a response to Katharine Quarmby

By Houriya | Published: May 15, 2009

(This article of mine was originally published in First Draft, the Prospect Magazine blog, 18 March 2009)

In Britain, freedom of consciousness and liberalism thrive. Women can choose to wear the hijab (headscarf) or not, and so Katharine Quarmby can ponder at will its aesthetic and fashion implications. In Iran, however, such a luxury is unimaginable. A woman’s worth and modesty is dictated by misogynist Islamist clerics who force women to wear the hijab and throw feminists in jail for daring to protest for equal human rights.

Unfortunately, some do not appreciate the freedoms held in Britain. In a recent talk I attended, Alastair Crooke, a former MI6 agent, labels what we see in Iran as ‘Muslim values’, praising Iran’s leaders for using their ‘creative imaginative faculties’ to construct a society based on collective ‘Islamic’ norms. Most Iranian women recognise this as Khomeini’s politicisation of religion. Crooke rejected the idea that the Iranian regime abuses a woman’s human rights, as these are a ‘Western’ construct – Christian, capitalist and rooted in individualism.

Continue reading >>
Posted in Democracy, Fashion, Human Rights, Islamism, Secularism | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Nothing British about the BNP

By Shikwa | Published: May 15, 2009

Tim Montgomerie of ConservativeHome has launched an excellent campaign this morning challenging the BNP on the ‘Nothing British’ website.

There’s more over at the Telegraph.

Posted in Anti Fascism, Democracy | 2 Comments

Al-Qa’ida Cool

By Retired | Published: May 14, 2009

Jamie Bartlett, leader of Demos’s violent radicalism project “From Threat To Opportunity”, has a piece in Prospect Magazine this month. In it he makes some interesting observations:

[M]embers of terrorist cells tend to be young men with little religious knowledge other than a few cut-and-paste lines from the rockstars of jihadi literature, like radical Egyptian cleric Sayed Qutb. In comparison to such founding fathers of modern Islamic terrorism, this generation has suffered no serious repression.

He also argues, on the back of research from McGill University, that:

Ultimately it is not the ideas of al Qaeda that need dismantling; it is the idea of al Qaeda. This is tough. As has been proved by counterproductive anti-drug warnings, anything government proscribes can become more exciting for young people. The key is to strip al Qaeda of its mystique, and show that the average day of an Islamic extremist is more like that of a petty criminal than a secret agent. (This happens to be true: seven out of ten European militants in al Qaeda training camps return home because of tough training and being treated like skivvies.)

Continue reading >>
Posted in Terrorism | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Quilliam director attacked

By Shikwa | Published: May 14, 2009
Tayyab Muqeem sitting pretty in Pakistan

Tayyab Muqeem sitting pretty in Pakistan

Maajid Nawaz, director of the Quilliam Foundation has been attacked in Pakistan by a British member of the Islamist group Hizb ut Tahrir – an organisation to which Nawaz previously belonged. Nawaz is currently touring Pakistan as part of an anti-extremist initiative on a trip that will take him to over 30 universities.

He’s clearly riled a few of his ex-associaties.

Quilliam says the attacker – identified as Tayyab Muqeem (a Hizb member from Stoke) – had to physically restrained and warned Maajid:

‘this is only a slap compared with what I am going to do to you’.

Muqeem runs a company in Pakistan called ‘University Connections’ which helps local students study abroad – including at British universities. According to his biography he has provided:

training to Members of Parliament, Councillors and various government officials on community development.

Continue reading >>
Posted in Islamism | 234 Comments

FOSIS’s Annual Conference

By Retired | Published: May 14, 2009

I recently blogged about the individuals Queen Mary’s Islamic Society has been inviting to address its members. At the end of the piece, I suggested that the NUS or FOSIS, the Federation Of Student Islamic Societies, should encourage the Islamic Society to invite speakers who condemned all forms of terrorism, did not spread outlandish conspiracy theories and promote community cohesion.

David T, of Harry’s Place, responded in sceptical terms:

But FOSIS is hardly going to lay down the law to QMUL’s ISOC, considering they lay on events with similarly vicious speakers.

Now, there are people who condemn FOSIS for its close links to the Muslim Brotherhood and because it is affiliated to the MCB, who don’t exactly have the best reputation at the moment.

And there are those who point to FOSIS’s support for overturning the NUS ban on Hizb ut-Tahrir.

Continue reading >>
Posted in Anti Fascism, Antisemitism | Tagged | Comments closed

  • Categories

  • Archives