"British Islamists Call Conference In Islamabad And Advocate Jihad Against Non-Muslim Nation" MEMRI By Tufail Ahmad
Introduction
Seeking the enforcement of Islamic shari'a in Pakistan, British Islamist leaders have announced a "Shariah4Pakistan" conference for November 30, 2012, to be held at the Red Mosque of Islamabad, a highly controversial site where Pakistan Army carried out a military operation against armed jihadist students and Taliban militants in 2007. The venue seems to have been chosen with an aim at Pakistan's struggling democratic and liberal activists, especially at a critical time when Pakistan is faced with the strengthening of jihadist forces in the run-up to the scheduled withdrawal of the U.S. and NATO troops from neighboring Afghanistan by the end of 2014.
The conference's stated objective is to launch the Shari4Pakistan Project, which is aimed at enforcement of Islamic shari'a rule in Pakistan. Following the announcement of the venue, the Islamist leaders came under pressure, clarifying afterwards a minor change that the conference would be held outside the mosque.
The group's five-point program for the day, as described in the poster above, includes:
- A discussion of the kufr (non-Islamic) nature of the Pakistani constitution, to be led by Islamic preacher Abu Walaa;
- The declaration of a fatwa (Islamic decree) by Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammad against teen Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai, who is currently recovering from an attack by the Taliban for penning an online diary in early 2009 that catalogued the day-to-day enforcement of Islamic shari'a by Taliban militants;
- A lecture on Pakistan's founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah focusing on his betrayal of Islam – notwithstanding the fact that he established the Islamic nation of Pakistan for India's Muslims of India – to be delivered by young radical British Muslim Abu Baraa;
- A lecture declaring Pakistani President Asif Zardari an apostate, which could lead to a call for his assassination, to be delivered by Abu Rumaysah, a former Hindu; and
- A speech by guest speaker Anjem Choudary, Judge of the Shariah Court of UK, on how Pakistan can be transformed into a shari'a-compliant state. Shariah4Pakistan is seeking to uproot the foundations of Pakistan – in an attempt to establish an Islamic caliphate.
Of the speakers named above, the most prominent is Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammad, a radical cleric and founding leader of jihadi group Al-Muhajiroun who while residing in the U.K. delivered speeches and sermons glorifying terrorism to British Muslim youth, prior to departing for Lebanon; he is now banned from returning to the UK. Early this year, he defended suicide bombings as a means to establish Islamic rule in Syria, stating: "In two or three operations, [Al-Qaeda] can make the Ba'ath party flee.... With martyrdom operations – you call them suicide bombings – the Al-Qaeda [bomber] will go to the Parliament when the Ba'ath are inside, he will blow himself up, and he will say 'Oh God, receive me, Oh God, I am hastening to you.'"[1]
The second most important speaker is Anjem Choudary, who notes on his website: "I believe that Islam is something that we must believe in Tawheed [monotheism], live by shari'a and be willing to call for and sacrifice for by way of Daw'ah [preaching] and jihad. As a Muslim, I believe that Islam is superior and will never be surpassed by any other belief or ideology in every aspect of life.... I believe that one day Britain and indeed every part of the world (including the rest of Europe, USA, China and Russia...) will be governed by and under the authority of the Muslims implementing Islamic Law."[2]
Abu Walaa, who is slated to speak about the non-Islamic character of the Pakistani constitution, is described as an Islamic preacher and as the director of the Truth Commission. Abu Baraa, a 29-year-old British Muslim, is described as a lecturer in Islamic jurisprudence. His real name is Mizanur Rahman, and he was imprisoned in the UK for propagating extremism and, following his release, produced a 244-page book this year titled "Are Demonstrations Beneficial? – In Light of The Qur'an and Sunnah," which clarified that copyright is prohibited in Islam and that everyone should feel free to disseminate the book.[3] Abu Rumaysah, a former Hindu and a spokesman for Convert2Islam, is listed in the poster as chairman of the Society of Muslim Converts.
All the speakers listed for the event belong to a close group led by Anjem Choudary and Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammad. The conference in Islamabad is probably meant to gain a propaganda point, as most of the speakers are unlikely to be able to come to Islamabad to address the conference.
It should be noted that Anjem Choudary and Omar Muhammad Bakri planned a similar conference in New Delhi for March 3, 2012, to mark the 88th anniversary of the end of the Turkey-led Islamic caliphate, but the conference was disallowed by India.[4] Nevertheless, their Islamabad conference could invigorate the Pakistani jihadi groups if they succeed in addressing their audience by telephone – a method commonly used by foreign-based Pakistani leaders such as Altaf Hussain and recently by former Pakistani President and ex-Pakistan Army chief General Pervez Musharraf.
A domain name was registered for Shariah4Pakistan website with a U.S.-based company on October 29, 2012.[5] It should be noted that in recent years all jihadist organizations, including Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, have been relying on U.S.-based companies to publish and broadcast their jihadist content among Muslims. U.S. firms that facilitate the jihadi message of these groups include Google and its various services such as YouTube and Picasa, Yahoo and Google Groups, the social networking website Facebook, Archive.org, the micro-blogging site Twitter, and many others. The Shariah4Pakistan.com domain was registered by one Abu Usamah, with the registrant's full details concealed by the U.S. firm Dynadot Privacy, which specializes in protecting individuals' private details on the Internet. The contact details are listed as: Abu Usamah c/o Dynadot Privacy, PO Box 701, San Mateo, CA 94401, United States, phone: 1-650-585-4708.[6]
Shariah4Pakistan Advocates Jihad Against Non-Muslim Nations: "Relationships With Them Are Dictated By What Jihad Demands According To The Divine Law"; "Countries We Are At War With Such As Israel Must Be Confronted With Jihad"
Under the Islamic shari'a rule envisioned by Sharah4Pakistan, the Islamic state of Pakistan will consider all other Muslim nations to be part of a single global Islamic state. In a statement dated November 11, the group noted: "The relationship with other Muslim 'countries' is to be considered as domestic affairs. The Khilafah [caliphate] will never recognize them as separate countries. All existing embassies in Muslim 'countries' will be closed. These territories must be united with the Khilafah under the flag of the Khilafah and no diplomatic relationship will be established with them."[16]
The group also advocates waging of jihad against non-Muslim nations: "All other countries in the world, east to west are considered to be Dar al-Kufr (The domain of disbelief) and Dar al-Harb (The domain of war). Relationships with them are dictated by what jihad demands according to the divine law and the benefit of the Muslims."[17]
In an article titled "What Will Change If Khilafah Is Established In Pakistan? the group clarifies how an Islamic state should establish relationships with the U.S., Israel and other non-Muslim nations, observing: "States with whom we do not have treaties are to be considered as potential enemies and all precautions must be taken against them. This would be the case with states like the USA, Britain, Russia and France. The Islamic state will not establish diplomatic relationships with them and they will not be permitted to have their embassies in our state....
"Countries we are at war with, such as Israel, must be confronted with jihad. Their citizens are prevented from entering the Khilafah and their blood and money becomes halal for us. Islam obliges all Muslims to fight them until the land is liberated.... It is forbidden for the Islamic state to enter into any kind of joint military operation such as the UN. It is also forbidden for any Muslims to fight under the flag of kufr (disbelief), to shed blood for the disbeliever, to protect a disbelieving country or give the upper hand to the disbelievers such as Pakistan's current treacherous alliance with the Americans allowing them to enter Muslim lands and spy, fight and torture Muslims."[18]
