Islamist and terrorist links have been unearthed in connection to a proposed ‘mega-mosque’ in the heart of London. Plans have been submitted to London’s City of Westminster Council for a 1,000 worshipper capacity mosque in iconic Piccadilly Circus. The bid aims to transform parts of the historic Trocadero building in the West End, but locals have objected to the proposal, with some citing the proximity of the city’s gay quarter in the Soho district.
The proposal has been made by the Aziz Foundation, which is a charity offering educational grants and scholarships to Muslims. Heading the bid is Asif Aziz, CEO and founder of Criterion Capital, a Malawian-born tycoon who is the largest property owner between Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square, earning him the nickname ‘Mr. West End’. Aziz has recently taken a ‘hardball approach’ to businesses that have been unable to pay their rent due to lost income during the Corona virus epidemic. He was also in the news in 2017 over a legal wrangle with his estranged ‘wife’. Aziz contested her claim to a share of his £1.1 billion fortune, arguing they were never legally married.
The Aziz Foundation is connected to a network of extremist and terrorist organizations. As a ‘Muslim philanthropist’, Asif Aziz has written for The Forum, journal of the Muslim Charities Forum (MCF), which was stripped of £250,000 in state funding in 2014 after its links with the Union of Good were exposed, a designated terrorist organization created to fund the militant group Hamas. At least six of the ten charities in the MCF are or were members of the Union of Good, which was identified by the U.S. Treasury as an organization created by Hamas leadership to transfer funds to the terrorist organization. The Union of Good is directed by Yussuf al-Qaradawi, a Muslim cleric of Egyptian extraction and one of the heads of the Muslim Brotherhood, who resides in Qatar. The Chairman of the MCF is Hany El Banna, who is also co-founder of Islamic Relief, a charity dogged by accusations of terrorist and extremist (Muslim Brotherhood) links. The MCF Secretary is Syed Lakthe Hassanain, Chairman of Hamas-affiliated charity, Muslim Hands.
Aziz Foundation personnel include a variety of extremist-linked individuals. Its Board of Trustees includes Talat Malik, who is also a trustee of extremist-linked Wimbledon Mosque, which has hosted speakers such as Imam Wasim Kempson, patron of jihadist support-group HHUGS. Director of the Aziz Foundation is Mohammed Abdul Aziz, also a trustee of Muslim Aid, a charity cited as one of the founding members of designated terrorist organization, Union of Good. Programme Manager is Saadia Mahmood, who has worked for the MCF, the Charity Commission for England and Wales and the UK government’s Department for International Development (DfID). Assistant Director is Shenaz Bunglawala, former Head of Research at extremist advocacy group Muslim Engagement and Development (MEND). Bunglawala has been a guest speaker at the Cordoba Foundation, which was accused by the British government of being associated with the Muslim Brotherhood and has openly supported Hamas. Although unverified, Bunglawala is likely sister of Inayat Bunglawala, former Media Secretary of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), a UK umbrella group that has been dominated by Jamaat-i-Islami and usually acts in concert with the Global Muslim Brotherhood.
The Aziz Foundation took part in the 8th Global Donors Forum, which was held in London at the House of Lords, the British Museum and Mansion House. Its panelists included Tufail Hussain of Islamic Relief’s UK Executive Board, also a Trustee at the MCF. Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW) is banned by the Israeli government over an “unauthorized association” with Hamas. Also speaking at the Global Donors Forum was First Lady of Turkey, Emine Erdogan. Under her husband’s rule, Turkey has become a de facto Islamist state; it is now the world’s biggest backer of the Muslim Brotherhood and supported the Islamic State in a variety of ways during the Syrian Civil War. As part of its donor activities, the Aziz Foundation has provided grants to the MCB (2019) and the Islamic Society of Britain (ISB) (2017). ISB was formed by members or former members of the Muslim Brotherhood and Jamaat-i-Islami. It is a member of the Forum of European Muslim Youth and Student Organisations (FEMYSO), which, in turn, is the youth/student arm of the Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe (FIOE), representing the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe. FIOE has direct links to both Hamas and Qaradawi himself; and there is also evidence that some FIOE member organizations have links to Al Qaeda.
The Aziz Foundation annual report of 2018 provides insight into its activities. Included is funding of Faith Associates, which has worked with extremist and terrorist linked Al Manaar Muslim Cultural Heritage Centre (linked with ‘Jihadi John’). The Foundation provided key funding towards a report by the Runnymede Trust. This contribution marked the 20th anniversary of the Trust’s 1997 publication that launched the ‘Islamophobia’ industry: Islamophobia: a challenge for us all. The Baroness Warsi Foundation has also received funding. Warsi, who now sits in the House of Lords, was co-Chair of the Conservative Party and Foreign Office minister in David Cameron’s 2010 coalition government, until resigning in 2014 over the government’s support of Israel’s Operation Protective Edge in Gaza. Warsi has associated with MEND on numerous occasions and is a high-profile advocate for investigating the Conservative Party for ‘Islamophobia’.
With the Aziz Foundation being situated in this network of Islamist associations, it is hoped that London’s City of Westminster Council will deny planning permission for the proposed mosque.
mortimer says
Many thanks to John Russell for this illuminating and alarming article about the Muslim buy-out of London, the capital of the UK.
No wonder the UK is being Islamized at an alarming rate. I think the UK should consider laws prohibiting foreign ownership of property or business in the UK.
The UK is simply GIVING foreigners the rope with which to ‘hang’ British culture and identity and Islamicize the whole nation piece by piece.
You know, Britons, there WILL BE a point of no-return when the Muslims will rule over you and your chance to restore Britishness will be gone forever. Are Britons THIS suicidal?
There’s a song that says, ‘THERE’LL ALWAYS BE AN ENGLAND’ … not at this rate.
Carl says
united kingdom has NUKES.! Islam needs prestige.
Maybe muslims want to grow mushrooms.
Carl says
PS . china Is looking for war too. They’re even practicing in bio-WMD.
Carl says
Most of the west are grovelling to the evil feet of both muslims and china.!!
eu, uk, ca, and most of their people-“citizens” are INSANE – NUTs
USA appears to be following right behind.
After Trump will we be who we are?
James Lincoln says
mortimer says,
“There’s a song that says, ‘THERE’LL ALWAYS BE AN ENGLAND’ … not at this rate.”
Agree.
I think a more fitting song would be “Past The Point of Rescue” by Hal Ketchum…
gravenimage says
James, a couple of years ago I wrote “There’ll always be an Al-Britani” to the tune of “There’ll Always Be an England”:
There’ll always be an Al-Britani
I give you a toast, ladies and gentlemen.
I give you a toast, ladies and gentlemen.
[this is Haram! There will be no alcohol in Islamized England, and no mixing of the sexes! The Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice هيئة الأمر بالمعروف و النهي عن المنكر will remove these blasphemous lyrics!]
May this fair dear Dunya we love so well
In dhimmitude and oppression dwell.
Though worlds may change and go awry
While there is still one voice allowed to cry
There’ll always be an Al-Britani
While there’s an ugly Mosque,
Wherever there’s a Madrassa
Beside a stoning ground
There’ll always be an Al-Britaini
While there’s a busy slave market,
Wherever there’s a violent Muslim mob,
A million marching feet.
The Shahada on a field of black; what does it mean to you?
Surely you’re proud, shout it aloud,
“Muslims, awake!”
The Ummah too, we can depend on you.
No Freedom remains. These are the chains
Nothing can break.
There’ll always be an Al-Britani,
And Al-Britani won’t be free
If England means as little to you
As England means to me.
Carl says
Gravenimage,
That was very meaningful, and down right poetry
Thanks for reposting
gravenimage says
Thank you, Carl.
My mother and aunt were in the British army as young women and went through the London blitz. My mother often sang the original song.
That this parody is salient now is actually terribly grim. I hope that patriotic Britons eventually stand up now as they did then. It took some time for Britain to stand up to Hitler, as well.
James Lincoln says
gravenimage,
A wonderful piece of work, thanks for sharing…
gravenimage says
Thanks, James.
pragmatist says
You are wasting your breath in referring to a ‘point of no return’. Virtually everyone I speak to in my acquaintance sees no problem at all with the Muslim community in Britain. They all live in a bubble of complacent ‘it’ll never happen’ delusion, and any suggestion of mine that the Islamisation of the UK is now inevitable is met with extreme derision. The reason is that they think the problem is solely confined to what they see as an issue with a tiny minority – e.g. isolated terror attacks and the like – which, although they agree are appalling, they see as peripheral only and easily dealt with on an ad hoc basis. They fail to understand that real the problem is not with their imagined, easily dealt with, minority, but with the mainstream, who, although mostly non-violent, espouse all the aims of the activists, and actively desire, and are prepared to wait for, the imposition of a Sharia state.
Grace says
Unless the British citizens rise up in a mass and oust this pox on their country it will soon be bye-bye Britannia. British leaders in government are a bunch of sappy liberals who are stupid enough to think they would survive the creeping J’had. By the time the Muslim mob takes charge of the country and institutes Sharia law the cowards will be looking for a safe zone.
Bill says
The Brits are crazy if they allow this mosque to be built!
Robert McCormack says
Time to deny all applications for mosques in the UK and in addition shut down existing ones. Never mind what lefties say. The West is pathetic in its response to the so called religion of peace. Kick them all out.
Walter Sieruk says
Regardless if there Muslim terrorist links with this proposed construction of that mega-mosque at Piccadilly Circus ,there probably are.
The symbolic meaning of the construction of that grand mosque in the main enter of Capital city of London, England , shouldn’t be overlooked
This symbolic meaning of the building of that large mosque has been explained by a former Muslim who is now a Christian, Dr. Daniel Shayesteh, in his book ISLAM THE HOUSE I LEFT BEHIND for in page 99 it informs the reader that “The mosque is vital for establishing Muslims as sovereign over non-Muslims in a non-Islamic society or country. Building a mosque in a non-Islamic society or country symbolizes Islam’s claim over that society or country, even with a non-Muslim majority.”
Rufolino says
Absolutely, Walter.
The building in the above photograph is not in Piccadilly Circus. Looks like Knightsbridge,(incidentally Knightsbridge is a word containing 6 uninterrupted consonants, the most in the English language !)
gravenimage says
UK: Islamic terrorist links to proposed Piccadilly Circus mega-mosque
………………
Is anyone surprised by this? I know I’m not.
This is a fine and informative article by John Russell–and, I believe, his first for Jihad Watch. Hope it is not his last.
gravenimage says
The Aziz Foundation is heavily involved in infiltration and stealth Jihad, as well:
http://azizfoundation.org.uk/publications/
Stephen O'mara says
Learn from the record of the Finsbury Park Mosque. Anjem Choudary ”preached ” there and four of the Beslan school-massacre terrorists attended.337 died in that Russian infant’s school. More shame on Britain.
iananthonyharris says
Apart from all the above comments with which I entirely agree, one result will be iconic Piccadilly Circus being swamped with Muslims every Friday, conveying an altogether inappropriate message for tourism which is so important to UK.
libertyORdeath says
What a freaking shocker!
OLD GUY says
Mosque’s the local headquarters for the islamic invasion of your country. Muslims and islamic people are not going to become apart of your society. They are going to destroy your culture, society and kill you if you get in their way. They didn’t come to integrate in they came to dictate the rules and laws under islamic sharia law.
David says
Five times a day flash mobs arrive at the mosques and start dancing to the music.
gravenimage says
Dancing and music are forbidden…