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 PrintableVersion Virtual caliphateIslamic extremists and their websitesTalking up terrorismVIRTUAL CALIPHATE Many groups, including churches, seek to make themselves known and promote their views by way of internet websites. Islamic extremists in Britain increasingly see the internet as one of their most potent weapons in both communicating with their supporters and winning new converts to their cause. This book is an investigation into some of these websites. It shows that, though the British government has responded by criminalising ‘the glorification of terror’ in the 2006 Terrorism Act, nevertheless these websites still encourage violent jihad and the overthrow of Western democracy. The study is based on an online discussion on the password-protected forum of the islambase.co.uk website in which many of the website’s most active users discussed their favourite Islamic websites. The report has found evidence of four things. First, that British extremists have set up several websites in order to distribute material justifying terrorist acts. Second, that these same websites are being used to circulate texts and videos produced by members of al-Qaeda and other extremist groups. Third, these websites are used by British extremists to organise public meetings and publicise their events. Fourth, the websites also distribute messages from individuals imprisoned on terrorism-related offences. Preaching hatredWhile the Islambase forum is password-protected, the website’s sections on books, lectures and religious songs are open to all. The site contains many recordings by four prominent Muslim preachers jailed by UK courts for inciting extremism and supporting terrorism. In the 1990s, Abu Hamza controlled London’s Finsbury Park Mosque and turned it into something of a base for jihadist movements. In February 2006, he was found guilty of six counts of soliciting murder and other charges. On the website there are 12 sermons by him, several of which denounce Jews and Christians and call for violence. According to this book, Abu Hamza says that Jews and Christians should be fought until we accept living under Muslim rule and pay the jizya, a discriminatory tax on non-Muslims. He preaches that sexual and religious equality are incompatible with Islam: ‘Democracy is shirk (idolatry). (There is) Shirk in legislation. … Shirk in everything… One man, one vote. What do you mean, ‘one man, one vote’? One man, one vote. One sahabi (companion of Muhammad), one vote; one prostitute, one vote. One Muslim, one vote; one kafir (non-Muslim), one vote.’ He goes on to insist that it is against Islam for Muslims to be treated equally with non-Muslims. Similar messages can be found by Sheikh Abdullah Faisal, a Jamaican-born convert to Islam, who apparently played a key role in radicalising the July 7 London bombers. There are also talks by Omar Bakri, one of the most high-profile radical preachers active in the UK prior to the July 7 bombings, who now has moved to Lebanon. Bakri denounces secularism and Muslims who compromise with it: ‘You Muslims today if you want to believe in deen (Islamic religion), you don’t want to establish it in power and to make it a superior and nothing superseded, you’re going to become like the Christian, you’re going to say: “Oh mighty Allah mind your business in the Mosque and we mind our life ourselves in the society and in the parliament.” That’s exactly what secularism is about. It’s a form of Kufr (the rejection of truth) in high level corruption…They deserve to be humiliated. They deserve to be down because they accept it to be a slave of man instead of slave of almighty Allah.’ Abu Qatada is a Jordanian preacher currently in Belmarsh prison for encouraging terrorism and appealing against extradition to Jordan. His messages on the website tell Muslims to desire and seek martyrdom: ‘Jews hate death. A Muslim seeks death and longs for it; the only way to achieve our goals is through jihad. We must fight the kafirs (those who reject Islam). We can’t reason with them. We can’t reach a compromise and we can’t be friends.’ Nasheeds and e-conversationsSeveral of the websites contain many Nasheeds, traditional Arabic songs, which glorify Islamic violence and attacks against Israelis, the West and Muslims who are opposed to extremism. Here are some extracts: With machine guns we have returned to own the day of reckoning in groups and individually And, again, presumably with reference to Westerners present in Muslim lands: Blow them up… Blow them up where they stand and behead them and kick them out. Or again:The jihad is calling for you In addition to distributing recorded speeches, the websites also contain forums and blogs where readers can chat to each other. Recent terrorism trials have shown how swiftly some individuals can be radicalised through online conversations. For example, Younis Tsouli, a Moroccan-born British citizen, began taking part in online radical forums in 2003. By 2004 he was stealing credit card details online. He then began distributing information on how to build car bombs and suicide bomb vests while communicating with terrorist cells in Scandinavia and the Balkans. In December 2007 he was sentenced to 16 years for offences under the 2006 Terrorism Act. As many extremists grow older, get married and have children, so they try to pass on their ideas to younger generations. Many posts on Islambase forums reveal a pre-occupation with radicalising children. One message reads: ‘One’s family and children are the preparation for the future…so it is a must to raise one’s family and children upon the love of jihad and the mujahidin, and the concepts of martyrdom and sacrifice for the Religion of Allah.’ Users of websites like Islambase seem very aware of how anti-terrorism laws may be used against them. For example, in January 2008, ‘deatharoundthecorner’, a relatively inactive member of Islambase, asked readers of the forum whether it was permissible to carry our jihad in the absence of a caliphate. Regular readers reacted cautiously to the question, perhaps suspecting the writer to be a provocateur from the security forces. ConclusionsIt is not easy to know how many people use these websites. On April 11 this year, a typical day. A visitor counter on the Islam base forum registered 581 members and said that 47 members had interacted on the forums that day. The website also records how many times each post on the forums are read. Some popular posts are read as many as 1,500 times. The average seems to be around 60-70 readers per post. In his summary, James Brandon, the author of the report, draws a number of conclusions. Among these are that media reports of extremist websites being ‘virtual training camps’ are exaggerated. There is also evidence that extremist networks are becoming weaker. There appears to be a shortage of pro-jihadist Islamic theologians in the UK. The 2006 Terrorism Act has led to radical speakers toning down their public talks. There is also evidence that extremists are becoming more estranged from the general Muslim community. Brandon feels that although in recent years the government and the security forces in Britain have had success in inflicting considerable damage on extremist Islamic networks, nevertheless the present approach is not fully succeeding and laws glorifying and promoting terrorism are not being adequately enforced. John Benton© Evangelicals Now - September 2008 |
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