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Libraries stock Islamic terror books

By Duncan Gardham
Last Updated: 1:54am BST 07/09/2007

Public libraries are stocking hundreds of Islamic books by advocates of "holy war", with many glorifying acts of terrorism, a new report claims.

Council taxpayers' money has been spent on the books, with one library stocking works by the convicted preachers Abu Hamza and Abdullah al-Faisal.

An investigation by a leading think-tank found extremist literature at six libraries, three in the London area, two in the Midlands and one in the North.

It raises fears that public libraries could inadvertently fuel the radicalisation of young Muslims.

The recent case of Dhiren Barot, who was jailed for 30 years for plotting a series of atrocities, showed that terrorists have used university libraries for research.

Patrick Mercer, the Conservative MP for Newark and the Government's new adviser on security issues, said: "I don't oppose free speech but the amount of this material is frightening.

"It has been bought with taxpayers' money and you have got to question the balance here.

"Much of the material has very extreme views and I wouldn't want an impressionable young person to come across it and think that these are the views of the majority of Muslims."

In the report, Hate on the State, published by the Centre for Social Cohesion think-tank, the authors warn that some libraries have become "saturated with extreme Islamist books".

"Many of these books stocked in the Islam section of libraries glorify acts of terrorism against followers of other religions, incite violence against anyone who rejects jihadist ideologies and endorse violence and discrimination against women," the report says.

"In a number of cases these books are not only on library shelves but are also given special prominence in displays.

"In the worst cases they are the tools of radicalisation and increase the risk of Islamic terrorism."

Tower Hamlets, one of the most heavily populated Muslim areas in the country, has eight libraries stocking dozens of books in English, Urdu, Bengali and Somali - including works by Hamza and al-Faisal.

Both were jailed for incitement to murder and their writings were found in the council flat used as a bomb factory by the failed July 21 suicide bombers.

Al-Faisal also influenced at least one of the July 7 bombers and was deported this year after finishing his seven-year sentence.

In a book entitled Natural Instincts, he writes: "The kafirs [non-believers] are the henchmen of the Shaitaan [devil]" adding later: "The only language the kafirs respect is jihad [holy war]."

Other authors on the shelves include Hassan al-Banna, the founder of the radical Muslim Brotherhood, and Sayyid Qutb, a major influence on Osama bin Laden.

Tower Hamlets has a total of 40 books by the two men which include calls for a revival of the principles of jihad.

The borough also has hundreds of books associated with Jamaat-e-Islami, the Pakistani Islamic political party founded by Abu Ala Maududi, who has called for a "universal revolution".

The report also found that libraries in Leicester had 10 copies of books by Maududi and Ealing had 10 by Qutb.

The radical Islamic political party Hizb ut-Tahrir is also represented in Tower Hamlets, with one book, Funds in the Khilafah State, claiming: "The mere apostasy of the apostate gives Muslims the right to shed his blood and seize his property."

Other books advocate polygamy, forbid the "free mixing of men and women" and one, Women Who Deserve To Go To Hell says: "We have no intention to accuse women when we say that they will be in a majority in hell."

There are also dozens of books by moderate Islamic scholars but the report says that there are "excessively large collections of certain Islamic texts designed to incite hatred and violence".

Tower Hamlets Council said yesterday that it would review its policy on Islamic literature.

Birmingham and Ealing councils said they were happy to stock any material that was legal while Steve Rigby of Blackburn council said: "Librarians do not act as censors where titles are freely available."

Inayat Bunglawala, a spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain and a Government adviser, said: "These are authors who are widely read in the Muslim world and it is not surprising that they are stocked in areas where there happens to be the highest concentration of Muslims," he said.

"It does not necessarily mean you agree with them, it is part of a free society."

Libraries stock Islamic terror books (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/09/06/wterror206.xml)

Hardline takeover of British mosques

Almost half of Britain’s mosques are under the control of a hardline Islamic sect whose leading preacher loathes Western values and has called on Muslims to “shed blood” for Allah, an investigation by The Times has found.

Riyadh ul Haq, who supports armed jihad and preaches contempt for Jews, Christians and Hindus, is in line to become the spiritual leader of the Deobandi sect in Britain. The ultra-conservative movement, which gave birth to the Taleban in Afghanistan, now runs more than 600 of Britain’s 1,350 mosques, according to a police report seen by The Times.

The Times investigation casts serious doubts on government statements that foreign preachers are to blame for spreading the creed of radical Islam in Britain’s mosques and its policy of enouraging the recruitment of more “home-grown” preachers.

Mr ul Haq, 36, was educated and trained at an Islamic seminary in Britain and is part of a new generation of British imams who share a similar radical agenda. He heaps scorn on any Muslims who say they are “proud to be British” and argues that friendship with a Jew or a Christian makes “a mockery of Allah’s religion”.

Seventeen of Britain’s 26 Islamic seminaries are run by Deobandis and they produce 80 per cent of home-trained Muslim clerics. Many had their studies funded by local education authority grants. The sect, which has significant representation on the Muslim Council of Britain, is at its strongest in the towns and cities of the Midlands and northern England.

Figures supplied to The Times by the Lancashire Council of Mosques reveal that 59 of the 75 mosques in five towns – Blackburn, Bolton, Preston, Oldham and Burnley – are Deobandi-run.

It is not suggested that all British Muslims who worship at Deobandi mosques subscribe to the isolationist message preached by Mr ul Haq, and he himself suggests Muslims should only “shed blood” overseas.

But while some Deobandi preachers have a more cohesive approach to interfaith relations, Islamic theologians say that such bridge-building efforts do not represent mainstream Deobandi thinking in Britain.

The Times has gained access to numerous talks and sermons delivered in recent years by Mr ul Haq and other graduates of Britain’s most influential Deobandi seminary near Bury, Greater Manchester.

Intended for a Muslim-only audience, they reveal a deep-rooted hatred of Western society, admiration for the Taleban and a passionate zeal for martyrdom “in the way of Allah”.

The seminary outlaws art, television, music and chess, demands “entire concealment” for women and views football as “a cancer that has infected our youth”.

Mahmood Chandia, a Bury graduate who is now a university lecturer, claims in one sermon that music is a way in which Jews spread “the Satanic web” to corrupt young Muslims.

“Nearly every university in England has a department which is called the music department, and in others, where the Satanic influence is more, they call it the Royal College of Music,” he says.

Another former Bury student, Bradford-based Sheikh Ahmed Ali, hails the 9/11 attacks on America because they acted as a wake-up call to young Muslims. This, he says, taught them that they will “never be accepted” in Britain and has led them to “return to Islam: sisters are wearing hijab . . . the lion is waking up”.

Mr ul Haq, the most high-profile of the new generation of Deobandis, runs an Islamic academy in Leicester and is the former imam at the Birmingham Central Mosque. Revered by many young Muslims, he draws on his extensive knowledge of the Koran and the life and sayings of the prophet Muhammed to justify his hostility to the kuffar, or non-Muslims.

One sermon warns believers to protect their faith by distancing themselves from the “evil influence” of their non-Muslim British neighbours.

“We are in a very dangerous position here. We live amongst the kuffar, we work with them, we associate with them, we mix with them and we begin to pick up their habits.”

In another talk, delivered a few weeks before 9/11, he praises Muslims who have gained martyrdom in battle and laments that today “no one dare utter the J word”. “The J word has become taboo . .. The J word is jihad in the way of Allah.”

The Times has made repeated attempts to get Mr ul Haq to comment on the content of his sermons. However, he declined to respond.

A commentator on religious radicalism in Pakistan, where Deobandis wield significant political influence, told The Times that “blind ignorance” on the part of the Government in Britain had allowed the Deobandis to become the dominant voice of Islam in Britain’s mosques.

Khaled Ahmed said: “The UK has been ruined by the puritanism of the Deobandis. You’ve allowed the takeover of the mosques. You can’t run multiculturalism like that, because that’s a way of destroying yourself. In Britain, the Deobandi message has become even more extreme than it is in Pakistan. It’s mind-boggling.”

In some mosques the sect has wrested control from followers of the more moderate majority, the Barelwi movement.

A spokesman for the Department for Communities said: “We have a detailed strategy to ensure imams properly represent and connect with mainstream moderate opinion and promote shared values like tolerance and respect for the rule of law. We have never said the challenge from extremism is simply restricted to those coming from overseas.”

Hardline takeover of British mosques (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article2402973.ece)

Muslim prayer room call for universities

HALAL food and prayer rooms should be adopted at all universities to help Muslim students meet their religious and educational obligations, a conference heard yesterday.

The religious needs of Muslim university students were addressed at an inaugural conference launched by the University of Western Sydney.

UWS Director of Equity and Diversity Dr Sev Ozdowski said they wanted to develop national standards for Muslim students which could be incorporated by other universities.

The "Access, Inclusion and Success - Muslim students at Australian universities" two-day conference is covering issues relating to gender, discrimination and how to meet the fundamental religious needs of Muslim students.

Dr Ozdowski told The Daily Telegraph the aim of the forum was to raise awareness and to find a way to make sure Muslim students can meet obligations to their religion as well as the university.

UWS already has prayer rooms and halal food at a majority of its campuses for its 2000 Muslim students - the largest tertiary Muslim student population in Australia.

"There is no model or national standard to guide Australia's universities on how they can best address the varied cultural, ethnic and religious needs of their diverse student populations," Dr Ozdowski said.

 "It's important that all people, including those from Muslim backgrounds, have the ability to fully participate in higher education so they can gain good employment and strengthen their place in society.

"We also need to address the practical realities that Muslim students face every day, such as providing prayer space and cafeteria food that is halal, to ensure university campuses are welcoming of all cultures and faiths," he said.

About 150 people are involved in the conference including representatives and speakers from universities and TAFE, the government and local muslim communities.

Muslim student Najwa Hussein - who is completing her post graduate diploma in psychology at UWS - believes the conference is a positive step forward for Muslim students.

"It is part of our obligations to fulfil these religious duties, to pray and to ensure we eat halal meat," the 21-year-old from Guildford said.

"These small things are part of our daily life so if the universities adopt such facilities, that would be awesome," she said.

The conference, held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Parramatta, concludes today with practical workshops.

Muslim prayer room call for universities (http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22355563-5005941,00.html)

The rights granted under a democracy are not a suicide pact. When religious lunatics advocate the overthrow of the very government that justifies their existence, that is not religion it is subversion in the guise of religion and should be viewed as subversion.