Free Republic

Ed Husain's autobiography The Islamist: why I joined radical Islam in Britain, what I saw inside and why I left (Penguin, 2007) is a remarkably candid account of the life of a British-born Muslim who was initially seduced by radicalism but gradually came to his senses to return to the more spiritual and devotional Islam that had defined his early years. It is also an important work, in that it both carefully grounds the issue of radicalisation that has so dominated recent intellectual and political discussion of Muslim communities in Britain, and points to potential solutions. Ed Husain grew up...

Muslim fanatics sparked anger today after plastering Birmingham bus stops with sickening posters showing the destruction of the Twin Towers. The radical Al Muhajiroun group, headed by the controversial London-based Sheik Omar Bakri Mohammed, has put up the posters in the Saltley area. They show a graphic image of one of the World Trade Centre towers on fire with a jet about to smash into the second tower. Above, in a parody of the famous Bonfire night poem, are the words 'Re-member, remember the 11th of September'. The posters advertise a three-hour conference called 'September the 11th 2001 - A...

Islamic Cleric Calls UK Soldier’s Beheading “A Courageous And Heroic Act” Pamela Geller Here again, the calls for murder and war in the cause of Islam comes from a cleric. So again we ask, what is being done to expunge the Quran (and Islam) from the violent teachings that inspire jihad? The cleric has praised the beheading.

A man reported to be a serving soldier is dead and two people have been shot in Woolwich, south east London, after what Sky sources understand is being treated as a terrorist attack. Downing Street has called a meeting of the Government's Cobra emergency committee after the incident in John Wilson Street, which David Cameron described as "truly shocking". Sky sources understand that senior police officers believe the killing was likely to be a politically-motivated Islamist terrorist attack. Dozens of weapons - including a number of knives - and pools of blood could be seen on the ground, where a...

Choudary: Refuses to discuss his dissolute youth At 39, Anjem Choudary should be a symbol of success for his peers. Born into the working-class family of a market trader in Welling on the outskirts of London, he has risen - thanks to the opportunities offered by the British education system - to become a qualified lawyer. But it is unlikely his old school will be inviting him to be guest speaker on prize-giving day. Their former pupil is not famous for his elegant oratory in court. Instead, the articulate Mr Choudary preaches hatred and murder in the streets of Britain...

A radical Islamic cleric facing a life sentence on charges of aiding an al Qaeda affiliate has been released on bail while his retrial continues, Lebanon's state news agency reported. A military court convicted Omar Bakri Mohammed in absentia two weeks ago of charges including membership in an armed group, possession of weapons and explosives, and committing crimes against the state, Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA) reported at the time. Bakri was arrested after a shootout two days later. Bakri is having a retrial because he was convicted the first time in absentia. At the start of the retrial Wednesday,...

06 April 2010 "WHAT'S GOOD ABOUT THERE BEING A GENUINE AMERICAN AL-QAIDA MOVEMENT?[1]" SNIPPET: "They write in English and their websites have RSS feeds, that's what. Reduces our overhead, improves our cash flow - thanks guys!"

This is the shocking picture of a young, white schoolboy being converted to Islam by a cleric linked to a radical Muslim hate preacher. The bewildered 11-year-old, who gives his name as Sean was filmed repeating Arabic chants and swearing allegiance to Allah. The boy is prompted throughout by controversial cleric Anjem Choudary, a follower of exiled hate-preacher Omar Bakri Mohammed. The incident was filmed during a demonstration by Choudary's Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jama'ah group in Birmingham city centre earlier this month. Choudary, 42, was one of the masterminds behind the protests at the homecoming parade of heroic British soldiers...

Infamous Islamic hate cleric Mullah Omar Bakri Mohammed has been following a strict diet so that he can breed more ‘jihadi’ recruits. The 50 year old cleric shunned his former wife, and married Lebanese beauty Ruba almost half of his age, and is now planning to start another family with her. “Inshallah (God willing), I will have more children. My wife is still young and we would like to start a family together,” The Daily Star quoted Mohammad, as saying. One of Mohammad’s friend said: “His dream is to produce more children, all committed to following his jihadi cause.” In...

HATE preacher Omar Bakri Mohammed vowed Brits will "pay" for outing his pole dancer daughter. The Muslim tyrant said the revelation Yasmin Fostok, 27, cavorts topless in London clubs was "an attack against Islam". The cleric, who is holed up in a Beirut bolthole after being booted out of Britain, vowed to take revenge. The tattooed party girl pole dances in clubs in London's West End and tours the country with raunchy troupe Ibiza Untouched. And according to a lover she is "very adventurous" in bed. Yasmin was brought up a strict Muslim and used to wear a veil and...

Poles apart By NICK PARKERand PHILIP CASE Published: Todayhttp://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article1736666.ece   THE daughter of hate cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed is a POLE DANCER, The Sun can reveal. Rants ... Omar Bakri Busty Yasmin Fostok, 27, leads a secret life after rebelling against her fanatical Muslim dad — who rants against Western “depravity”. She has performed in London pole dancing bars and gyrated half-naked in cages at club nights. And she admitted: “I’m willing to go topless if the venue is right.” Yasmin, a party-loving girl who quit the family home in North London four years ago, added: “I don’t get on...

The 27-year-old daughter of radical Islamic cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed has admitted to pole dancing in London bars in defiance of her family's strict Muslim beliefs, the Daily Mail reported Friday. Yasmin Fostok left Bakri’s home four years ago because she did not share her father’s opinions. "I don't get on with my dad. I don't agree with his views,” Fostok told the Daily Mail. “I just get on with my life and that is it.” She currently lives with her 3-year-old son in South East London, whom she had with her ex-husband after their arranged marriage. Fostok performs a...

EXILED hate preacher Omar Bakri Mohammed sparked outrage last night by branding boxing hero Amir Khan an “ignorant deviant”. Bakri, 49, also said devout Muslim Amir was a BAD role model for youngsters because he drapes himself in the Union flag. Pals of proud Brit Amir, 21, said he was “shocked and hurt” by the rant. And warped cleric Bakri was last night challenged to repeat his slur on Amir — face to face in a BOXING RING. The dare was issued by an MP after Bakri branded Amir a “deviant” for brandishing the Union flag in the ring. The...

THERE was a time when Omar Bakri Mohammed embodied every stereotype of the jihadi extremist. From his perch in London, he threw around words like “kafir”— infidel — to describe Christians and Jews, and he openly praised the attackers of Sept. 11. But sitting recently in his new library overlooking the scenic Mount Lebanon in this northern city, with a bloody battle raging at a Palestinian refugee camp a few miles away between the Lebanese Army and Fatah al Islam, a group inspired by Al Qaeda, Mr. Bakri presented himself as a changed man. Whether the shift is as meaningful...

IT SAYS its members brought about the conviction of radical Egyptian-born cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri, uncovered insurgent tactics in Iraq and are now working to provide intelligence from North Korea.The organisation is not the US Central Intelligence Agency or Britain's MI6 but Vigil, a shadowy network of retired spies, senior military personnel, anti-terrorism specialists and banking experts. The group's director Dominic Whiteman said he set up Vigil with two other businessmen last year to act as an conduit between retired spies who were still party to good, raw intelligence, and the police and security services. "This evidence was just getting...

The man who from safe and agreeably leafy north London suburbia offered his continual support to suicide bombers and refused to condemn the attacks of 9/11 and July 7, all the while ranting against the perfidies of western civilisation and its infidel cockroach minions, now wishes to return to the bosom of Satan as quickly as possible.

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The FBI has launched an inquiry into the activities of a grocery store owner who is allegedly the U.S. leader of a radical Islamic group banned in parts of Europe and the Middle East, authorities said. Iyad Hilal, an Islamic author and philosopher who owns an Orange County market, hasn't drawn much attention to his writings or his role in the group, Hizb ut-Tahrir, which means Party of Liberation. But since the July 7 bombings in London, British Prime Minister Tony Blair has suggested banning the group there. Hilal is apparently not suspected of any terrorist...

LONDON — Britain's crackdown on Islamic extremism widened Friday as officials barred radical Muslim cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed from returning to the country that has been his home for the past two decades. Bakri's close associate, Anjem Choudary, told The Associated Press that the ban would not silence the cleric, who left Britain for Lebanon after saying he would not tell police if he knew fellow Muslims were planning attacks such as last month's deadly transit bombings in London. "With the Internet and other means, we can still hear from him wherever he is preaching," Choudary said. "I don't think...

The Council on American Islamic Relations, better known as CAIR, fashions itself as a mainstream, moderate group. Well, read this article by noted scholar Daniel Pipes, and see if you agree with CAIR's claims. An excerpt: CAIR is particularly worrisome because it claims to be nothing but a mild public affairs organization promoting "interest and understanding among the general public with regards to Islam and Muslims in North America," and is widely seen as such. In fact, it is radical to the core; to quote its chairman, Omar M. Ahmad (as reported by the San Ramon Valley Herald in July...

THE radical cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed inflamed tensions further yesterday with an attack on Muslims who took part in inter-faith services after the bombings. He branded any Muslims who attended the Trafalgar Square vigil last week as "hypocrites and apostates". In an interview, Bakri said: "God forbids us from praying with Jews and Christians side by side. These are part-time Muslims or chocolate Muslims. "I cannot be British. I cannot be English. Even if I change my colour, like Michael Jackson, I could not be English." Furthermore, Bakri claimed that he and fellow radicals have helped to protect Britain from...