It was Good Friday, and Anjem Choudary was holding a demonstration/gathering outside of the London Central Mosque, commonly known as the Regent’s Park Mosque, in London. I asked a police officer why an extremist would be allowed to hold an event on this particular day that is so dear to Christians. The officer (who was of Indian descent and of a religion unknown to me) proceeded to tell me how Jesus is also a prophet in Islam. At that point I had to stop him. I said, “I’m not asking you for a theology lesson, I’m asking you why a terrorist recruiter is allowed to spew his hatred on the UK streets on a day that is special to Christians. We both know ‘Andy Choudary’ is not here to build bridges and sow the seeds of peace and love and brotherhood. He’s here to get in people’s faces and cause mayhem.”
The officer replied, “There’s no laws to stop him.”
“Fine,” I said to him, “that’s what you should have said at the start instead of trying to educate me on world religions.”
When the Friday prayers ended inside Regent’s Park Mosque, the Muslims standing with Anjem Choudary leaped in number from about 20 to 1,000 – virtually all of the male Muslims who had been inside the mosque praying.
I emailed the mosque’s director to ask him why the mosque hadn’t banned Anjem from their premises. He replied to say that under UK law, they can’t stop people accessing public places of worship. Not even terrorist recruiters, I asked?
I then asked the director why they were unable to ban Anjem from holding talks and gatherings at their gates. He told me that since Anjem was holding these gatherings on public space, then there was nothing the mosque could do about it.
This all had me wondering what kind of power imams are able to exert over their followers. It would appear to be none, but this is symptomatic of every Muslim and imam I’ve encountered. I went to a mosque open day in Tottenham Hale in North London, and they were distributing pamphlets on how to be a good Muslim that were written by the extremist Zakir Naik, who is banned from entering the UK. When I pointed this out to them, they claimed they had never heard of the man and that they would remove the booklets if I was “offended” by them.
“I’m not offended. Only children get offended, not grown men,” I told the imam, “I’m perplexed that you’re handing out booklets that are written by an extremist and claiming to have no knowledge of who he is or what he preaches. Have you even read these books yourself?”
You have to wonder why so many Muslim men got behind Anjem Choudary every time he put on a demonstration at Regent’s Park Mosque. It’s a large mosque, one of the largest in London, and so he was guaranteed numbers to back him up. Of course, Muslims in the mosque looking out the window were looking at a small gathering of EDL supporters who were there to oppose and confront Anjem Choudary, no one else. They weren’t there to attack or protest against any of the worshipers inside. Common sense would have told me, if I had been a Muslim looking out at the two opposing sides – Anjem on one side, the EDL on the other – that I would leave them to it. I wouldn’t affiliate with any of the two groups, neither Anjem nor the EDL. Any imam with half a brain cell, recognizing the potential for violence and trouble and a bad reputation outside, would have said to the worshipers prior to leaving the mosque to simply ignore what was going on outside and to safely make their way home. None of that happened. Instead, the Friday prayers ended, and virtually every adult Muslim male in Regent’s park mosque came out to stand side by side with Anjem Choudary. This belied the media narrative about Choudary being an “extremist” rejected by mainstream Muslims, but of course the media took no notice.
mortimer says
– “As a Muslim, I must have hatred for anything non-Islam” – Anjem Choudary.
BC says
If an Imam had half a brain he would not be an imam.
If the PO claimed Jesus was a prophet of Islam he must be a Muslim, only a Muslim would say such nonsense, as only Islam makes that claim to gain it acceptance by Christians
Charles says
BC, the PO does not have to be a Muslim to say that Jesus was a Muslim prophet. Any dhimmi can and do say such Satanic nonsense.
mortimer says
Quotes from Choudary
– “As a Muslim, I must have hatred for anything non-Islam”
– “Muslims “do not believe in the concept of freedom of expression”
– “Whoever insults the message of Mohammed is going to be subject to capital punishment.”
– “… at the end of the day, innocent people – when we say innocent people we mean Muslims. As far as non-Muslims are concerned, they have not accepted Islam, and as far as we are concerned, that is a crime against God.”
– “As far as far as Muslims are concerned, you are innocent if you are a Muslim – then you are innocent in the eyes of God. If you are a non-Muslim, then you are guilty of not believing in God.”
– “When we say innocent people we mean Muslims” – one cannot put it more clearly or starkly than that.”
– “… the Sharia (Islamic law) is more important than the legal systems of liberal democracies.”
– “Contrary to popular misconception, Islam does not mean peace but rather means submission to the commands of Allah alone. Therefore, Muslims do not believe in the concept of freedom of expression, as their speech and actions are determined by divine revelation and not based on people’s desires.”
– “I believe that adulterers should be stoned to death. I believe that we should cut the hands off of thieves. I believe the Sharia should be implemented in Denmark. Maybe we should change the Christiansborg Palace [the Danish Parliament building] to Muslimsborg to have the flag of Islam flying over the parliament in Denmark. I think this would be very nice.”
– “We don’t believe in equality. We believe in distinction of gender and distinction of responsibility. So, in a certain respect, a woman is more important and has a greater role than a man, and, in other respects, the man has a greater role and is more important than the woman.”
FYI says
“I believe adulterers should be stoned to death.I believe we should cut the hands off of thieves”
wait a minute…..wait a minute…
Didn’t muhammed…. take the wife of another man after he murdered her husband?… not to mention those CAPTURED SLAVE women….and didn’t he STEAL from the Jews?
Didn’t he,hypocritally,stone women to death for adultery,a sin he himself happily indulged in?{muslim 4206}Not to forget the rapes…
As choudary,allah’s modern apostle of hate might not get…
“Never let the facts get in the way of a good story”
Marty says
Why was anjem released from prison? That is where he belongs and should remain. May he attain martyrdom quickly, allah willing.
infidel says
When a notorious Islamic terrorist died in jail in India millions of Muslims turned up for his funeral.
unbeliever1 says
I am not surprised that Muslims exiting a mosque after Friday prayer would congregate and listen to Choudary. It’s normal for Muslims to attend mosques on Fridays, shout death chants, throw rocks and cause all kinds of mayhem after “prayers”. Friday is when they also congregate on the Gaza side of the Isreali border baying for Jewish blood.
Westman says
If Choudary had been an imprisoned bank robber and, after release, was observed inspecting the interior of banks, would the police say, “We can’t do anything because there’s no laws to stop it”.
It seems like Theresa May didn’t have any problem banning Spencer and Geller from the UK despite the fact they didn’t break any laws.
It is so obvious that the British leadership is frightened of Islam, lying even about their own awareness; a message not lost within the ranks of Muslims who, seeing that weakness, will escalate demands. May is like a hunter who thinks the lone wolf is not a problem when, in actuality, the pack is out of sight, observing.
Esmerelda says
https://2010-14.newenglishreview.org/blog_direct_link.cfm?blog_id=53651
Was this the same Good Friday? We must have passed eachother quite closely.
Esmerelda says
This was the following year – Good Friday 2015
https://www.newenglishreview.org/blog_direct_link.cfm?blog_id=60343
PRCS says
“what kind of power imams are able to exert over their followers. It would appear to be none”
Appears, being the key.
Paul says
The mosque itself is an offence to decent people.
Its at the edge of Regent Park (Where the American ambassador has a big hidden house)
Its purpose is to state we can build what we like where we like. The area around there, St Johns Wood, has a lot of jews. How do they feel about rich arabs joining together to call for their extermination ?
Reciprocity: If we can’t build or repair churches in muslim lands they shouldn’t build mosques.
If we can’t wear swimming clothes they can’t wear the bag over the head.
Paul
Jayell says
The London Central Mosque was built in 1978 and I can’t recall any controversy or problems with it in its first couple of decades. Problems seem to have appeared as the number of muslims in the UK has increased in recent years.
Paul says
Muslims were not then perceived as murderers, paedophiles and inimical to modern standards of life and behaviour.
Paul
PRCS says
Joshua,
You “asked a police officer why an extremistwould be allowed”
Not to start a fight, but he’s not an extremist.
He’s telling the truth.
If we are to accept–as we’re so often told–that Islam “is open to interpretation”, we must also accept that its strictest “interpretation” is as valid as its least.
And the most accurate, IMO.
Philip Martin says
I have difficulty believing there is any respect from moslems of any other faith or culture.
terry bare says
I have no doubt at all why they rallied around Andy.