Shamima Begum left the U.K. in 2015 to join the Islamic State, of which she was then, and remains now, a supporter. She was 15 at the time. When she left the U.K., the Islamic State had already been beheading Christians, Yazidis, and Shi’a Muslims for more than a year. In 2014, the IS fighters had decapitated James Foley, an American journalist, and Alan Henning, a British aid worker. So Shamima Begum knew exactly what kind of group she was joining. She soon married an IS fighter. Now that the last redoubt of ISIS in Syria is about to fall, Shamima Begum has fled to a refugee camp in Syria. She wants to come back to the U.K. She has just been stripped of her British citizenship, but the controversy still rages: should she have been allowed back into the country?
She has not declared her disaffection with, much less horror at, the Islamic State. In fact, she remains committed to the murderous ideology of the Islamic State. She has told the BBC that “she had no regrets but wanted to have her baby — she is pregnant — in the U.K. “No regrets” about being a supporter of the homicidal fanatics of ISIS for five years. Keep that uppermost in mind.
Shamima Begum had her baby, a boy, in Syria after all. So her main reason for wanting to return to the U.K., which she had earlier claimed was in order to assure the safe delivery of her baby, no longer applies. What is of note is that she named the baby Jerah, the same name she had given her first-born son, in what historians have interpreted as a reference to Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, a 7th century Islamic warlord, one of Muhammad’s Companions, famous for killing Infidels. At the Battle of Badr in 624, Abu Ubaidah fought his own father, Abdullah ibn al-Jarrah, who had been fighting on the side of the army of the Quraysh. He later attacked and killed his father. The following verse of the Quran was written about this display of character by Abu Ubaidah:
“Thou wilt not find any people who believe in Allah and the Last Day, loving those who resist Allah and His Messenger, even though they were their fathers or their sons, or their brothers, or their kindred. For such He has written Faith in their hearts, and strengthened them with a spirit from Himself. And He will admit them to Gardens beneath which Rivers flow, to dwell therein (for ever). Allah will be well pleased with them, and they with Him. They are the Party of Allah. Truly it is the Party of Allah that will achieve Felicity. (Qur’an 58:22)
Perhaps the little boy will grow up and emulate the warrior he was named after. Something, though not by any means the only thing, for Shamima Begum to worry about.
The Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, says Shamima Begum could be prevented from returning to the UK.
“My message is clear,” Sajid Javid told the Times: “If you have supported terrorist organisations abroad I will not hesitate to prevent your return.”
He added that if Shamima Begum, 19, did come home she could be prosecuted.
“We must remember that those who left Britain to join Daesh were full of hate for our country,” Mr Javid said.
“If you do manage to return you should be ready to be questioned, investigated and potentially prosecuted.”
Mr Javid added that there were a range of measures available to “stop people who pose a serious threat from returning to the UK, including depriving them of their British citizenship or excluding them from the country.”
Bravo for Sajid Javid. That this commonsensical attitude by the Home Secretary should be questioned by some among the Great and Good of the United Kingdom — see below — is deplorable.
Security chiefs in London could also control Ms Begum’s possible return through a Temporary Exclusion Order.
The controversial legal tool bars a British citizen from returning home until they have agreed to investigation, monitoring and, if required, deradicalisation.
However Lord Carlile, a former independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, said Ms Begum would have to be accepted back into the UK if she had not become a national of any other country.
Under international law, it is not possible to render a person stateless.
When the needs of national security bump up against so-called “international law,” any leader in his right mind will simply refuse to recognize that “international law.” Who’s going to enforce it? A bunch of U.N. peacekeepers? And what U.N. Security Council Resolution (the only kind that is binding) that requires a country to allow back former nationals who have travelled abroad to join such groups as the Islamic State — will not be vetoed by the U.S, or the U.K., or France, or even — for they are just as wary of Islam as the West — China or Russia?
When someone leaves the U.K. to join a terrorist group that likes to kill non-Muslims (which includes most people in the U.K.), that person has become a traitor. The U.K. should be able to strip such a person of citizenship, as Javid suggests, and keep him or her from returning to the country.
Shamima Begum was legally a child when she pinned her colours to the Islamic State mast.
And if she were still under 18 years old, the government would have a duty to take her and her unborn child’s “best interests” into account in deciding what to do next.
But she’s now an apparently unrepentant adult – and that means she would have to account for her decisions, even if her journey is a story of grooming and abuse.
She may have been “groomed” — that is, subject to propagandists, likely online, for the Islamic State, but she’s had four years in Raqqa to rethink her initial enthusiasm, and apparently nothing she experienced in the Islamic State caused her to change her mind. Hers is not a story of “grooming and abuse.”
Another British jihadi bride, Tareena Shakil, who got out of the war zone with her child, lied to the security services on her return and was jailed for membership of [sic] a terrorist group.
If Ms Begum got out of the country, that is the kind of charge she could face – along with encouraging or supporting terrorism.
But that’s a long way off. Assuming she made it to an airport, the UK could temporarily ban her from returning until she agreed to be investigated, monitored and deradicalised.
And what about those who previously seemed to have been successfully “deradicalized” in various programs, not only in the U.K. — that is, they supplied all the “right” answers that were expected of them — but later were found to continue to be supporters of, or even participants in, terrorism? There is not much hard evidence that “deradicalization” programs work, though extravagant claims have been made, nor is there even agreement on how to properly evaluate whether these programs work or not, as the report here makes clear.
eduardo odraude says
The needed immigration policy’s chief characteristic would be that it institutes a moratorium on immigration from any nation that does not protect freedom of speech and freedom of religion. The policy would not mention Islam or any other religion and thus would not provoke huge First Amendment controversies.
The policy could make exceptions for dissidents, oppressed minorities, and perhaps scientists. The policy proposed would obviously affect not only Islamic nations. It would also put pressure on Europe to provide stronger protections for free speech. And it would pressure states like China to liberalize.
mortimer says
Islam is as much an adversarial ideology as are communism and Hitlerism.
Maulana Maududi is a leading Islamic authority on Islamic IDEOLOGY: “It must now be obvious that the objective of the Islamic jihad is to eliminate the rule of an un-Islamic system, and establish in its place an Islamic system of state rule. Islam does not intend to confine his rule to a single state or a hand full of countries. The aim of Islam is to bring about a universal revolution. Although in the initial stages, it is incumbent upon members of the party of Islam to carry out a revolution in the state system of the countries to which they belong; their ultimate objective is none other than world revolution.”
o 1970, Jihad in Islam’ (Jihad Fi Sabillilah), Transl. Abdul Waheed Khan, page 20, Islamic Publications Ltd, Pakistan (Maulana Maududi)
Rob Harris says
Perhaps being a citizen of Bangladesh will prompt Ms Begum to reflect on that country’s sorry Islamic past and present. Bangladesh was born out of the serial rape and murder of Muslim Bengalis in what was East Pakistan. These horrors were perpetrated by the Pak Army – also Muslim. It was only after the flow of Bengali refugees into India became unmanageable that India stepped in and restored order.
It is my understanding that Begum’s parents escaped East Pakistan at that time and were granted refugee status in the UK.
mortimer says
The 1971 ‘OPERATION SEARCHLIGHT’ caused the death of about 3,000,000 Bengalis and the rape of about 400,000 Bengali women. During the war, a fatwa in Pakistan declared that the Bengali ‘freedom fighters’ were Hindus and that their women could be taken as the ‘booty of war’. Imams and Muslim religious leaders publicly declared that the Bengali women were ‘gonimoter maal’ (war booty) and thus they openly supported the genocidal rape of Bengali women by the Pakistani Army. Numerous women were tortured, raped and killed during the war. Bangladeshi sources cite a figure of 200,000 – 400,000 women raped, giving birth to thousands of war-babies. The soldiers of the Pakistan Army and razakars also kept Bengali women as sex-slaves inside the Pakistani Army’s camps, and many became pregnant.
ISLAM IS GENOCIDAL BY NATURE. Why would a sane person endorse Islam?
mortimer says
Shamima Begum has no regrets, but neither did many Nazis who committed mass crimes against humanity!
Begum’s complete lack of a conscience is the SUREST indication that she could KILL AGAIN and at ANY MOMENT. An unrepentant GENOCIDIST will KILL AGAIN if given the opportunity!
Rosie Barnes says
Interestingly, the Muslim-majority school in East London that Shamima Begum and her two friends attended was visited four years ago by a very famous political wife, who told the students that they had to face people who need to “see beyond the headscarf”. Who? Michelle Obama.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/michelle-obama/11677903/Michelle-Obama-in-London.html
gravenimage says
Thanks for that link. No surprise there.
Geoffrey de Brito says
“Under international law, it is not possible [for a State] to render a person stateless.”
But it IS possible for a person to render themselves stateless by acting in support of an evil ideology. Especially such a person with “no regrets”.
Rarely says
We can expect that Britain will abide by international law and withdraw citizenship when it would make the person “stateless” — and it should. What western democracies require are severe criminal laws to cover this sort of situation.
Rarely says
OOPS. I meant “…NOT withdraw…”. Sorry. Typo.
A_M_Swallow says
Currently committing terrorism is a crime but not ‘camp following’. The best we can do is get the women for is leaving the country.
gravenimage says
A_M_Swallow, you are mistaken in believing that joining the Islamic State is merely ‘camp following’. She went off to join what she knew was a terrorist state.
A_M_Swallow says
“A_M_Swallow, you are mistaken in believing that joining the Islamic State is merely ‘camp following’. She went off to join what she knew was a terrorist state.”
ISIS is a very sexist organisation so IMHO she would not have been allowed to bomb or kill anyone. Armies have many types of camp followers such as merchants selling food and ammunition. However when using the term most people mean the prostitutes servicing the soldiers. I believe she was the equivalent of a ‘Last cigarette’ present to have sex with the terrorists before a suicide attack and to give birth to new recruits.
gravenimage says
A_M_Swallow, I take your meaning (and yes, I know what camp followers are).
What I meant was that this was not just a matter of following the army out of town as it was in the past–she knew where she was heading, and what it meant.
And while you are right that she was not apt to be in combat, Muslimahs in the Islamic State have kept slaves and sex slaves for family members, and have even killed them.
I doubt Shamima Begum’s hands are as comparatively clean as was the average camp follower of the past.
A_M_Swallow says
Some Tokyo Rose style propaganda broadcasts by Shamima Begum would make imprisoning her easier. Recruitment of terrorists or active part in the slave trading (such as striping the girls) would do nicely.
Now she has lost her British citizenship I suspect she will be sent to Bangladesh, one of the poorest countries in the world. For a girl without family that is a very nasty fate.
gravenimage says
She will be with her coreligionists. That should make her happy…
Jayell says
Begum talks about “coming home’, but the UK clearly isn’t ‘her’ home since (a) she had long enough to be educated in and informed about the traditional standards and values of the UK and has shown clearly that she has no respect for them and is unable to abide by them, and (b) she in any case has dual British/Bangladeshi citizenship so she could never have claimed the UK as her ‘home’ in the first place. In addition, with her stupid comments about the Manchester bombing, she has demonstrated zero loyalty towards the people of the UK whom she can now hardly claim to be ‘her’ people (would you condone your own brother or sister being blown to pieces?) and can hardly expect to be accepted as such by them -:although Begum doesn’t seem to be bothered abour anyone ir anything much beyond herself. This whole Begum business begs a lot of questions about people such as her and the community she comes from. A study has shown that the majority of recruits to the ISIS and Jihadi cause comes from the descendents of immigrants to the UK and NOT so much from the initial immigrants themselves – which in turn begs two questions; 1. What are the immigrant parents teaching their children about respect for their adopted cointry and its people, because the Begum case and all the other outrages (e.g. the grooming gang debacle) suggests that their input hasn’t exactly been satisfactory;
2. What does this tell us about the viability and desirability of a so-called ‘mulicutural society’, which anyone with any sense would have dismissed as a ludicrous oxymoron, and which can certainly hardly be taken as a guarantee of safety for its own citizens sny more than it can be taken as a a guarantee of the existence ‘a country’ to belong to – especially when an antipathetic and undemocratic monstosity such as islam is involved.
Lastly, isn’t it nice to be able to communicate with an honest organisation like Jihad Watch from Civilisation here in Hong Kong rather than having one’s communications blocked by some ‘authority’ in the UK!
gravenimage says
Is Jihad Watch blocked in the UK? But there are a lot of Britons there who post here.
What is the situation there, Jayell?
A_M_Swallow says
I always come via email.
DuckDuckGo found ‘Jihad Watch’ from the UK. So did the search built into Windows.
gravenimage says
Thank you, A_M_Swallow.
Jayell, is JW blocked on some platforms in Britain?
gravenimage says
The UK should never let her return.
Rezali Mehil says
The sunni went to shaam… to set up their ideal society, under the auspices of the Calipha to set up the mood, laws, clothes, food, education and atmosphere of the time when the Prophet SAW was alive.
At that time they has grand plans and expansion of their way of living, they had planned to get Islamic style of living over half of the world within 10 years.
In old times, those closest to the Prophet SAW started to cry when he told them of the introduction of Shariat… they cried because they said that had heard of perfection for the 1st time of their life.
Rules like the thickness of cloth for the burka was finely discussed to reflect the appropriate modesty, and this Jannat is what they thought they were flocking to …willing strong young sunnis protecting them, going to battle bat always coming back… a utopia.
In short they had gone to discover themselves and find Allah SWT with a gilded edge of living in the 7th century…. I mean could they have asked for more by being away from the poison living of the kaffur.
In recent times ofcourse things have not gone well for their sunni group , I guess they found that other people don’t like their limbs being chopped and fight back… and willing young strong sunni too get injured or killed… the worst was that giant metal bird in the sky that hovered there out of sight for over 10 hours and then fire a hellfire at the most difficult time …during cooking supper with meager supplies … I mean FFS.
All this apologising and wanting to go back to kaffir countries must really be pissing off the injured Caliphate and indeed many sunni groups like Cage , qullian foundation and Anjum Chowdrey.
Personally I think she has lost sight of her objective …which was to find herself and Allah SWT.
Shamima, grow up , grow a pair and get back to your objective …stop asking to come back and start praying 5 times, rock back and forth and you will forget the hunger pangs.
You made your bed… now lie in it …. there is a good sunni…
More Later
Rezali
gravenimage says
The repulsive Rezali Mehil wrote:
The sunni went to shaam… to set up their ideal society, under the auspices of the Calipha to set up the mood, laws, clothes, food, education and atmosphere of the time when the Prophet SAW was alive.
At that time they has grand plans and expansion of their way of living, they had planned to get Islamic style of living over half of the world within 10 years.
In old times, those closest to the Prophet SAW started to cry when he told them of the introduction of Shariat… they cried because they said that had heard of perfection for the 1st time of their life.
…………………………….
Iran under Shari’ah is not much better. Both Sunni and Shi’ite Muslims seek to set up the Caliphate, with all of its attendant horrors.
More:
Rules like the thickness of cloth for the burka was finely discussed to reflect the appropriate modesty, and this Jannat is what they thought they were flocking to …willing strong young sunnis protecting them, going to battle bat always coming back… a utopia.
In short they had gone to discover themselves and find Allah SWT with a gilded edge of living in the 7th century…. I mean could they have asked for more by being away from the poison living of the kaffur.
…………………………….
No, instead they committed genocide and enslaved women to use as sex slaves, and crucified kids who had a snack during Ramadan. *This* is what Rezali Mehil considers “perfect” and a “utopia”.
Meanwhile, she stayed in Britain, nice and safe with the “poison” of the Kuffur.
Why? Several reasons. One, it’s nice and comfy in civilized Britain. Then, she wants to destroy the free West.
And, finally, because her pious Sunni coreligionists would have raped or murdered her.
This is why her family fled Pakistan for England in the first place.
More:
In recent times ofcourse things have not gone well for their sunni group , I guess they found that other people don’t like their limbs being chopped and fight back… and willing young strong sunni too get injured or killed… the worst was that giant metal bird in the sky that hovered there out of sight for over 10 hours and then fire a hellfire at the most difficult time …during cooking supper with meager supplies … I mean FFS.
All this apologising and wanting to go back to kaffir countries must really be pissing off the injured Caliphate and indeed many sunni groups like Cage , qullian foundation and Anjum Chowdrey.
…………………………….
Why would Jihadists piss off Muslim supremacist groups? Unless they think that they might be tipping Muslims’ hands to the Infidels a bit too soon?
More:
Personally I think she has lost sight of her objective …which was to find herself and Allah SWT.
Shamima, grow up , grow a pair and get back to your objective …stop asking to come back and start praying 5 times, rock back and forth and you will forget the hunger pangs.
You made your bed… now lie in it …. there is a good sunni…
…………………………….
The only reason Rezali Mehil wants to see this Jihadist suffer is because she is Sunni. If this Jihadist were Shia, she would be begging us to take her back in.
More:
More Later
Rezali
…………………………….
This is inevitably true. Rezali Mehil always turns up again, like a bad penny…
Harold Armitage says
No doubt eventually she’ll get back to the UK with £m legal aid.
The sprog may well be her passport.
Then she’ll get benefits and a council house while some of our ex-servicemen are on the streets.
Harold Armitage says
Her father is an islamist. No doubt he groomed her. He kept very quite when she buggered off to Syria.
Kilauea says
What happened to her face? She looks like she was attacked by an Octopus.
gravenimage says
This is from a passport photo–these are stamped with background figures to make it harder to reproduce.
celia1000 says
Begum is a citizen of the Islamic State. She desired to become such and the IS accepted her and gave her many of the supports it gave its other citizens. And she says that it went great and she was happy there until it finally crumbled recently. It was a real, functioning state, with laws, currency, schools, passports, taxes, courts, electricity and water supply systems. And many of its citizens came from elsewhere to become citizens in it. She should be subject to the same treatment as all its other citizens who actively supported Isis. She willingly gave up her UK citizenship.