Abu Hamza al-Masri's influence on Islamic extremism among British Muslims

Islamic Extremism in Britain

How Did a Minority of the Current Generation of British Muslims, Mainly Children and Grandchildren of Muslim Asian Immigrants to Britain After World War 2, Turn to Islamic Extremism, and How Much Influence Did the Preachings of the Fundamentalist Cleric Abu Hamza Al-Masri and His Contemporaries, Have on Them?]

"Euro-Islam: A Cultural Phenomenon" states that the Muslim population in Europe "bears many similarities to other immigrant groups. A large proportion of Muslims have withdrawn into isolation, partly because it is imposed upon them and partly as a matter of choice. Many seem to live alongside, rather than constitute part of, European society." (Schwerin, 2004) This fact has led many to have the concern that these communities, closed as they are, might easily "develop into enclaves of poverty, criminality and violence, and the terrorist attacks of 11th September 2001 have only served to increase these worries. Suddenly Europeans realized that Islamic extremism was becoming an increasingly important issue and not only in the Islamic world but in Europe as well." (Schwerin, 2004)

I. The SPREAD of ISLAM ACROSS EUROPE

Humayun Ansari writes in the work entitled: "The Infidel Within: Muslims in Britain Since 1800" that "since the Second World War Muslims have migrated to Britain in much larger number than before 1945..." (2004) the post-1945 migration is divided into two groups according to Ansari with the first phase being workers from less-developed countries and the second phase starting with the oil crisis of 1974-74. The Muslim workers were willing to take jobs that other immigrant workers found to be "undesirable" and that paid very low wages. Ansari states that Robinson examined data that suggests that "unemployment in Britain significantly reduced Indian and Pakistani migration but that the demand for labour was by no means the only factor influencing net migration flow." (2004) by the late 1980s and early 1990s Bangladesh immigration to Britain was "at its peak" (Ansari, 2004) as they were arriving "in larger numbers than ever before." (Ansari, 2004) by the 1990's Ansari states that plenty of evidence existed that: "...divisions had begun to emerge along generation and gender lines as ever more young Muslims gravitated towards popular culture. The clash between the values of the other and younger generations was creating some tension with traditional male hegemony within the family and the community challenged more often." (Ansari, 2004) Ansari states that arguments exist to support a lack of mutual understanding in the Muslim family and community due to inadequate communication exists that has sometimes led to violence. The younger Muslims people have formulated ideas that are different from their elders in how they should cope with life and yet no full-scale rebellion has developed in that "respect for traditional values and their upholders are still much in evidence." (Ansari, 2004) the expectations of young Muslims are stated by Ansari to be quite similar to "their white counterparts" and as well young Muslims in Great Britain have "redefined their cultural and religious values in relation to standards and values emerging in the environment with which they interact in their daily lives." (Ansari, 2004) This have left many, and in fact most young Muslims striving in determining a course that travels between expectations from not only the home and community but as well the expectations of the "majority British Culture and the mass media." (Ansari, 2004) Even so an antisocial street culture exists and it is inclusive of "taunting, vandalism, drug-trafficking, crime and gang violence." (Ansari, 2004) Ansari informs the reader that in the ghettos that are considered Muslim neighborhoods such as Bradford, Birmingham, and Oldham, there is much unemployment as well as urban decay and corruption and young Muslims in the neighborhoods have alienated themselves from their family clan. Many of the young Muslims hang on at the local arcades and other have "resorted to militancy or found refuge in the Quran." (Ansari, 2004) Because of these facts Ansari relates that the Muslim population in prisons more than doubled in the 1990s, with at least 25% of these young men being incarcerated for drug crimes. Ansar states that this kind of youth has emerged due to alienation from their families and disaffection in the communities "in which they often felt imprisoned..." (2004) Many of the young Muslims felt that Islam was a culture completely lacking in any joy and therefore gangs were formed a violent turf wars were waged. This growing chasm between these youth and the older generation of Muslims is stated to Ansar to be well stated in a letter that was published in the Muslim magazine 'Q-News' as follows:

Yes you have set up a system of halal meta. Yes, you have built Mosques. Yes, you have taught us Urdu...But you have also...built Mosques that were alien, hostile and irrelevant to our needs and requirements. Mosques that are full of squabbles and fights. Not love and compassion. Mosques full of notices of 'don't do this and don't do that. Mosques whose doors are closed to the destitute, the poor, the orphans." (Ansar, 2004)

Dexter B. Wakefield, writes in the work entitled: "An Islamic Europe?" published in a 2006 issue of the Tomorrow's World journal that: "Islam's spread across Europe reached its zenith in the eighth century. Then over hundreds of years, non-Muslim forces gradually chipped away at Islamic rule." However, according to the work of Wakefield, "There is a new Muslim conquest of Europe underway - but this time, it is a peaceful invasion. Millions of Turks, Arabs, Algerians, and other Muslims have immigrated to European countries, seeking employment and a better life." (Wakefield, 2006) for many years, Europe welcomed these immigrant Muslim workers because of the lower-cost labor however, "immigrant Muslim populations are growing to the point where they have become a major cultural and political force affecting their host countries. Rather than assimilate, they are testing the limits of European tolerance - and social tensions are growing."(Wakefield, 2006)

In a 2005 news report Anthony Browne states that it has been stated by security analysts that "Europe has let itself become a breeding ground of Islamist terrorism. Events in Britain and the Netherlands have made it clear that it is not only a question of foreign extremists coming to Europe, but also that the problem is now home-grown." (2005) Browne relates the statement of Robert Leiken, director of national security at the Nixon Centre, who stated in a journal article of 'Foreign Affairs' entitled: "Jihadists Networks Span Europe" that: "In smoky coffee houses in Rotterdam and Copenhagen, makeshift prayer halls in Hamburg and Brussels, Islamic bookstalls in Birmingham and Londonistan, and the prison of Madrid, Milan and Marseilles, immigrants or their descendents are volunteering for jihad." (2005) Matthew a. Levitt testified before a Joint Hearing of the Committee on International Relations Subcommittee on Europe and Emerging Threats in the United States House of Representatives in April 2005 stating: "The rise of global jihadist movements in Europe is alarming, not only because of the threat such movements pose to our European allies but because Europe has served as a launching pad for terrorist operatives plotting attacks elsewhere." (2005) Radical Islam, also known as Islamic extremism is "propagated by individuals who see the world through a pan-Islamic prism. They view the world in terms of religious unity as opposed to nationalistic unity. They believe that all Muslims should implement Islamic law (the sharia) and they believe the use of violence is justified."(Rice, 2006) During the decade of the 1970s "the Muslim world began to see the process of Arabization begin to take place. The Arab-form, with its new strict interpretation of the Koran, began to be exported around the world. This included other Muslim nations, such as Indonesia and Pakistan, but it was also the beginning of a new radicalized movement in Western European nations like Great Britain." (Rice, 2006)

The work of Sullivan and Partlow entitled: "Young Muslim Rage Takes Root in Britain" published by the Washington Post Foreign Service in August 2006 relates that: "...Britain has become an incubator for violent Islamic extremism, fueled by disenchantment at home and growing rage abroad, including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Britain's long tradition of tolerance has made it an oasis for immigrants and political outcasts from around the world, with its largest influx of Pakistanis and other Muslims leading to the nickname Londonistan. Especially during the 1980s and 1990s, Britain became the refuge of choice for the scores of Islamic radicals who had been expelled or exiled from their home countries for their inflammatory sermons and speeches." (Sullivan and Partlow, 2006) of all the countries in Britain struggling to deal with a surge "in recruits and supporters of radical Islamic networks" (Sullivan and Partlow, 2006) Britain faced the largest struggle and according to officials in the country of Great Britain, the threat "is growing much faster than British authorities had expected or planned for." (Sullivan and Partlow, 2006) the British security service, M15, has identified approximately 1,200 Islamic militants and had these under surveillance because of their capability in carrying out violent attacks. In 2006 the government of Great Britain is stated to have: "...toughened anti-terrorism laws, making it a crime to 'glorify' terrorism and easing procedures for deporting clerics and others who advocate violence. There are presently approximately 2 million plus Muslims residing in Britain's Muslim community. In August 2006 a plot to bomb jumbo jets from the skies of Great Britain, jets that were headed to major U.S. cities was foiled. The 19 suspects, who are all Muslims, and 14 of which who are from London range in age from 17 to 35 years of age. Low employment rates among young Muslims ages 16 to 24, or a rate of 28% is said to "provide a fertile environment for extremist groups recruiting new members." (Sullivan and Partlow, 2006) According to the Washington Post report the root of the trouble is "...foreign policy." (Sullivan and Partlow, 2006) During the latter part of the 1990s 'Britain became the center of gravity for militant causes in Europe...and this made a very solid base for radicalization" (Sullivan and Partlow, 2006) according to Petter Nesser, analyst at the Norweigian Defense Research Establishment.

III. ACCOMMODATION of ISLAM in EUROPE

According to Sarah Spencer, of the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society at Oxford University: "We need to move beyond security and the fear of radicalization and to 'set a narrow and potentially divisive context for an agenda that has to embrace broader outcomes such as greater access by the Muslim community to jobs, housing, health, education, poverty and civic participation." (Trifkovic, 2006) There has been much in the way of a "manifestation of the ongoing legitimization of the Sharia as a 'legal code' with a role in the public life of Great Britain" and in fact it has penetrated culture in Great Britain affecting even movie and theatre productions to the point where Christopher Marlowe's 'Tamburlain the Great' was "censored beyond recognition." (Trifkovic, 2006) the Director, David Farr, made an open admission that the scene was edited because "he did not want to upset Muslims." (Trifkovic, 2006) in fact, the entire society of Great Britain have accommodated the Islam religion exampled by the fact that "for many years Muslims have been getting halal meals in British schools and hospitals." (Trifkovic, 2006) Furthermore, the Commission for Racial Equality has made it a rule that there must be a provision of prayer rooms for Muslims in businesses and that Muslims must be paid for being absent on Islam's holidays. Another accommodation has been for building of state-of-the-art housing in London's East End reserved exclusively for elderly Muslims excluding English pensioners. Added to this large areas of many industrial cities in the Midlands and Yorkshire are controlled and run by Muslims and those who are non-Muslims quickly move from these places as soon as possible. One thing that radical and moderate Muslims have in common is the goal of an Islamized Britain exampled in the statement: "There are two main religious traditions among Pakistani-British Muslims. The Barelwis majority believe in a slow evolution, gradually considering their gains and finally achieving an Islamic state. The Deobandi minority argue for a quicker process using politics and violence to achieve the same result. Ultimately, both believe in the goal of an Islamic state in Britain where Muslims will govern their own affairs, and, as the finishing touch, everyone else's affairs as well." (120; as cited in Trifkovic, 2006) Trikfovic writes that: "The bombings in London were a logical outcome of the Blairite forma mentis, the size of Muslim immigration into the country, and the dynamics of that growing community's symbiotic interaction with the elite consensus." (2006) Prior to the allowance of Muslims in Britain in open opposition of British law, the Islamic Foundation in Leicetster stated in a Declaration that:.." its goal is to change the existing British society into 'an Islamic society based on the Kuran and the Sunna and make Islam, which is a code for the entire life, supreme and dominant, especially in the socio-political spheres." (Trifkovic, 2006) Only one generation later mosques and Islamic centers are spread all across Britain and serve to "provide the backbone to terrorist support network." (Trifkovic, 2006) the mosques in Britain provide a place for those considered faithful to support Osama bin Laden and to cheer the outcomes of the New York and Washington attacks. Trifovic states that "the British cannot complain that they have not been warned" and notes the statement of Mark Steyn in the work "Islamist Way or No Way" published in the Australian in October 2005 who states: "The Islamists don't even bother going through the traditional rhetorical feints. They say what they mean and they mean what they say. 'We are here as on a darkling plan..." wrote Matthew Arnold in the famous concluding lines to "Dover Beach" 'where ignorant armies clash by night. But we choose in large part to stay in ignorance. Blow up the London Underground during a G8 summit and the world's leaders twitter about how tragic and ironic it is that this should have happened just as they're taking steps to deal with the issues, as though the terrorists are upset about poverty in Africa and global warming." (Trifkovic, 2006) the sad truth is that "maintaining the loyalty of the Muslim Diaspora in Britain has been the mullah's top priority, and the system has facilitated their task." (Trifkovic, 2006) a press officer for the British Council, which is a taxpayer-funded organization sponsoring cross-cultural projects was fired for having published four articles in London's Sunday Telegraph that criticized Islam. The press officer, Harry Cummins pointed out that Muslims are granted the right to pursue their own religion in the United Kingdom and yet Christians were denied the right to practice their own religion in the Islamic world "despite the fact that these Christians are the original inhabitants and rights owners of almost every Muslim land." (Trifkovic, 2006) Cummins is stated to have written that: "Muslims had displayed a bullying ingratitude that culminates in a terrorist threat." (Trifkovic, 2006) Cummins noted that: "...it is the black heart of Islam, not its black face to which million object." (Trifkovic, 2006) Trifovic relates that if not for the European Muslim population: "...Europe would be virtually free of anti-Semitic violence." (Trifkovic, 2006) in 2002 a study was commissioned by the European Union on anti-Semitism however at the time the report was completed in February 2003 the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia made a decision that the 112-page study would not be published because findings of this study was that "Muslims were major perpetrators of anti-Semitic acts in the EU. The study was however, released by another groups which showed that there are "an increasing number of anti-Semitic attacks, committed frequently by young Arabs/Muslims in most EU countries." (Trifkovic, 2006) Findings also included that "physical attacks on Jews and the desecration and destruction of synagogues were acts most often committed by young Muslim perpetrators." (Trifkovic, 2006) Trifovic relates that in 1937 the late King Ibn Saud stated that: "...the word of God teaches us, and we believe it, that for a Muslim to kill a Jew, or for him to be killed by a Jew, ensures him immediate entry into Heaven and into the presence of God Almighty." (Trifkovic, 2006)

IV. ISLAMIC EXTREMISM in EUROPE HEARING

The 2005 "Islamic Extremism in Europe Hearing" before the Subcommittee on Europe and Emerging Threats of the Committee on International Relations, House of Representatives" Peter Bergen testified stating the following:

The greatest threat to the United States from al Qaeda, its affiliated groups, or those animated by al Qaeda's ideology, emanates today from Europe. Today, the Islamist terrorist threat to Americans largely emanates from Europe, not from domestic sleeper cells or, as is popularly imagined..." Future terrorist attacks that will be damaging to American national security are therefore likely to have a European connection. Citizens of the European Union who adopt al Qaeda's ideology can both move around Europe easily and also have easy entree into the United States because of the Visa Waiver Program that exists with European countries. As the eminent French scholar, Gilles Kepel, has pointed out: "The war for Muslim minds around the world may turn on the outcome" of how European Muslims deal with Islamist militancy in their midst, and the extent to which European Muslims can be truly integrated into their host societies." (2005) Bergen goes on to relate that there are between "ten and fifteen thousand British Muslims [who are] supporters of al Qaeda or related groups." (2005) Bergen also reports that eight thousand Muslims attended a conference hosted by Hizb-ut-Tahir, which is an extremist organization. Bergen states that "Most British Muslims are young and many are poorly integrated into society and therefore vulnerable to extremism. Seventy percent of them are under thirty years old, compared to forty-five percent for the UK as a whole. The unemployment rate among the British Muslim community runs ten percentage points above the national average of 5%. In the case of 16- to 24-year-old Muslim men the unemployment rate is 28% and, unsurprisingly, a sense of anger shows up in polling data among British Muslims. Eight out of ten believe that the war on terrorism is a war on Islam, while a poll conducted last year under the auspices of the Guardian newspaper found a surprising 13% who said that further attacks by al Qaeda or similar organizations on the United States would be justified. London -- "known for these purposes as Londonistan -- "has attracted a wide range of Islamist militants in the past decade who are inspired by the actions and rhetoric of bin Laden. One of the most well-known is the one-eyed cleric, Abu Hamza, who until 2003 was the imam of the Finsbury Park Mosque, where both Zacarias Moussawi and Richard Reid worshipped. Serious Arab opposition figures in London regard Abu Hamza as a self-publicizing joke, as he is neither a profound scholar of Islam, nor an important political figure. but, as we shall see, sometimes jokes can turn deadly serious. And the story of Abu Hamza is also emblematic of how young British men are incited to acts of terrorism, and the somewhat slow response of the UK authorities to clamp down on those who abuse its honorable tradition of tolerating dissident views. In late 1998, after Abu Hamza had called for the killings of "non-believers" in Yemen, a group of eight-second-generation British Muslims of Asian and Middle Eastern parentage, several of whom had ties to Abu Hamza, responded to that call. One was his son, Mohammad; another was his son-in law. The eight Britons, aged between 17 and 33, grew up in the Midlands or the London area. Most of them had gone to school for courses in business studies, computers or accounting, and those who had jobs, worked in unexceptional lines of work like the insurance business. They told those who asked that they were on vacation to Yemen to visit family members, or pick up some Arabic. But a routine traffic stop by a Yemeni cop near Aden on December 24, 1998 unraveled a far more interesting tale. Inside the car were three of the Brits who sped away, only to be quickly arrested. Their arrests led the Yemeni government to a house where they found a trove of items not normally associated with a quiet vacation: mines, rocket launchers, computers, and encrypted communication equipment. The Yemeni government said that the Brits were planning a veritable festival of Christmas bombing attacks in Aden, directed at a church; the British consulate, and an American demining team working in the area. Five days after the Brits were arrested, eighteen tourists from the United States, Britain, and Australia vacationing in Yemen were seized by a group of jihadist kidnappers who were hoping to spring their British colleagues from jail. The leader of the kidnappers was in touch by phone with Abu Hamza during the operation. A botched rescue effort by the Yemeni army led to the deaths of four of the tourists. It took six years until Abu Hamza was finally arrested in the spring of 2004 on extradition charges from the United States on the grounds that he had provided recruits to al Qaeda in Afghanistan, and that he was involved in the 1998 Yemen attack. Last August, British authorities also belatedly brought charges against Hamza for inciting racial hatred.' (Bergen, 2005)

In 2003 the "Report of the United Kingdom Pursuant to Paragraphs 6 and 12 of Resolution 1455 (2003)" states that the United Kingdom is unaware of "any direct activity by Usama Bin Laden or the Taliban within the UK. The UK is aware of the activities of Al-Qa'idi within its borders, and take action where appropriate." (2003) in Section II: Consolidated List of this document it is stated the United Kingdom has taken appropriate action against designated individuals and entities identified within the UK. Abu Hazma al-Masri has been made subject to the measures set out by the appropriate resolutions. The Home Secretary has recently decided to remove Abu Hamza's UK citizenship status, but this is currently subject to an appeal process."

It is clear from this document alone that dealing with the Muslim radical threat in Great Britain was postponed for a very extended period of time.

The work entitled: "A Slow Awakening to the Threat" states that by 2000 the United Kingdom "had become...the European center for the promotion, recruitment and financing of Islamic terror and extremism. The debate over how this came to be is ongoing. Author of the book "Londonistan," Melanie Philips states that she wrote "Londonistan" for the purpose of rousing "Britain our of what she argued was a palpable state of denial over the jihadist 'war' being waged against it." (the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, 2007) the following facts were cited by Phillips to illustrate what she meant by the fundamentalist Islamic rise in the United Kingdom:

London is home to al-Qaeda's European headquarters;

Sixty percent of British Muslims would like sharia law to be established in Great Britain;

Numerous individuals residing in the UK would face arrest in their birth countries on charges of being a threat to the state;

The UK's domestic security services are currently tracking 1,600 individual terrorists who have already expressed a willingness to die for their cause;

The UK's domestic security services discovered more than 30 plots to attack in Britain using dirty bombs or other radiological devices;

The UK's domestic security services currently monitor 200 organizations in Britain that have been deemed terrorist threats to British citizens. (the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, 2007)

According to Phillips, even in the face of these facts: "...many Britons have convinced themselves that terrorist attacks in the UK are a reaction to anti-Muslim bias. The terrorist elements in Britain are explained as disaffected youths driven to violence by racism and poverty" but according to Phillips such assertions are "ludicrous." (the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, 2007) the fact is that the bombers of the London subway were "young, British-born men well integrated into their surrounding communities. Their economic status ranged from solidly middle class to wealthy." (the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, 2007) the Pew Research Center, in the 2006 research report entitled: "In Great Britain, Muslims Worry About Islamic Extremism" states that a "Pew Global Attitudes Project survey conducted this Spring (2006) found 43% of British Muslims 'very concerned' about the rise of Islamic extremism among Muslims living in that country." (Pew Research Center, 2006)

Muslims Who State Concern about the Rise of Islamic Extremis in the countries of Great Britain, Germany, Spain and France

Source: Pew Research Center (2006)

The Pew Research center further relates that 15% of British Muslims stated that in the struggle between moderates and fundamentalists in the country that they tend to sympathize with the fundamentalists. In France, on 6% of French Muslims identified with the fundamentalist Muslims in the country of France and in Germany 7% and in the country of Spain only 4% sympathized with fundamentalist Muslims.

Results when Muslims asked whether they consider themselves National Citizen or a Muslim First

Source: Pew Research Center

In a 2007 Pew Global Attitudes Project report the number of citizens in Great Britain is a stated 84% as it now seems the country of Great Britain has awakened to the threat posed by Muslim extremism. The following chart lists the percentages of concern by country of individuals who are concerned about Muslim extremism in their country.

Concern about the rise of Islamic Extremism in the World

When asked who is most responsible for Muslim Nation's Lack of Prosperity the answers given were as follows:

What is Most Responsible for Muslim Nation's Lack of Prosperity

Source: Pew Research Center (2007)

Muslim Opinion on the Struggle Between Modernizers and Islamic Fundamentalists

Source: Pew Research Center (2007)

SUMMARY and CONCLUSION

Abu Hazma was ignored for far too long in Great Britain and while he and other extremist Muslims were being ignored, accommodated and catered to, great trouble was brewing as Hazma went about the business of poisoning young minds and taking advantage of young people who were homeless and wandering aimless. Many of the young men who were involved in the bombing in London and in the plan to bomb the jumbo jets were young men from affluent backgrounds so Hazma's reach extended far beyond only those who were suffering from economical conditions. The question remains as to why this issue was so long ignored by officials in the country of Great Britain. These young Muslim men were indoctrinated into a society that taunted them, and drew them into a world far away from the society in which they were raised and due to this crime flourished among this younger set of Muslims. Abu Hazma and his associates are by all accounts the extreme end of the spectrum of the Muslim society. As shown by the Pew Research Surveys, the moderate Muslim society is greatly concerned about the growth of Muslim extremism and this certainly is not the way that young Muslims in the moderate Muslim society are being reared.