The Ideology of Al Muhajiroun

Weeks, Douglas

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-35840-2_4

The Ideology of Al Muhajiroun

Douglas Weeks²

Chapter
First Online: 28 March 2020

117 Accesses

Abstract

The ideology of al Muhajiroun has changed over the years. Its origins began with Ash’ari and Maturidi beliefs but beginning in 1999, Omar Bakri Mohammed (OBM) began to adopt a Jihadi Salafist orientation that largely mirrored al Qaeda beliefs. The reasons for that are numerous but clearly OBM wanted to be on what he considered to be the winning team. The discussion first provides some historical context on Ash’ari and Maturidi beliefs and then goes into substantial detail explaining OBM’s Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jammah (ASWJ) ideology. The information is based on first hand interviews with OBM and his description of exactly what his beliefs are and how he came to those beliefs. One of the main staples of al Muhajiroun and ASWJ ideology is that a Covenant of Security exists between Muslims and non-Muslims in Britain. The covenant prohibits violent confrontation and its origins and practical aspects are explained in detail.

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Notes

1.
Tajfel and Turner, “An Integrative Theory of Intergroup Conflict,” 39.
2.
Drury and Reicher, “Collective Action and Psychological Change,” 581.
3.
For more on suspect communities see Hillyard, Paddy, Suspect Community: People’s Experience of the Prevention of Terrorism Acts in Britain (London: Pluto Press, 1993); Kundnani, Arun, Spooked: How not to Prevent Violent Extremism (London: The Institute for Race Relations, 2009).
4.
Mohammed, Omar Bakri. Interview with author, 2012.
5.
See: Horgan, Walking Away from Terrorism; Borum, “Radicalization into Violent Extremism 1”; Schmid, Radicalisation, Deradicalisation, Counter-Radicalisation; Neumann, “The Trouble with Radicalization.” COT Institute for Safety, Security, and Crisis Management, Causal Factors of Radicalization, 2008; Pisoiu, Daniela, “Coming to Believe “Truths” About Islamist Radicalization in Europe,” Terrorism and Political Violence Vol. 25, No. 2 (2013).
6.
Mandel, David. “Radicalization: What does it mean?” 102.
7.
Stuart, Hannah, Islamist Terrorism: Analysis of Offences and Attacks in the UK (1998–2015) (London: Henry Jackson Society, 2017).
8.
Othman, Omar (Abu Qatada). Interview with author, August 2017.
9.
Byman, Daniel. “Divisions within the Global Jihad: A Primer.” Lawfare, 29 September 2017, 1. Available at https://www.lawfareblog.com/divisions-within-global-jihad-primer. [Accessed 22 November 2017].
10.
Teun A. van Dijk, Ideology: A Multidisciplinary Approach (London: Sage, 1998) 13.
11.
Van Dijk, Ideology, 13.
12.
Van Dijk, Ideology, 16.
13.
The Encyclopedia of Human Rights defines worldview as- “A set of beliefs and opinions regarding the important issues in life. One’s worldview determines his or her responses to and decisions the various ethical and moral questions encountered in everyday life. A worldview is sometimes referred to as a philosophy of life” (Amenia, New York: Grey House Publishing, 2010) 269.
14.
Social Science Glossary. “Ideology.” Available at http://www.qualityresearchinternational.com/socialresearch/ideology.htm. [Accessed 18 October 2017].
15.
Mohammed, Omar Bakri, The Role of the Mosque (London: Al-Muhajiroun Publications) 5.
16.
Al-Mehri (ed.). The Qur’an; With Surah Introductions and Appendices (Maktabah: Birmingham, 2010) 779.
17.
For a more comprehensive discussion on tawhid, see Chap. 7.
18.
Mohammed, Omar Bakri, Interview with author, 2012.
19.
Mohammed, Omar Bakri, Interview with author, 2012.
20.
Discussion with former HT leader, January 2019.
21.
Holy Qur’an: 2:23.
22.
Mohammed, Omar Bakri, Interview with author, 2012.
23.
Mohammed, Omar Bakri, Interview with author, 2012.
24.
Mohammed, Omar Bakri, Interview with author, 2012.
25.
Mohammed, Omar Bakri, Interview with author, 2012.
26.
Mohammed, Omar Bakri, Interview with author, 2012.
27.
Mohammed, Omar Bakri, Interview with author, 2012.
28.
Field notes, 14 April 2012.
29.
Field notes, 14 April 2012.
30.
Field notes, 14 April 2012; Mohammed, Omar Bakri interview with author April 2012.
31.
Glasse, Cyril, The Concise Encyclopaedia of Islam (London: Stacey International, 1989) 62, 299, and 248–250.
32.
The collection of Hadith was definitely being collected and studied during the middle of the eighth century but those with access were mostly scholars. The average Muslim at that time relied on the oral tradition of transmission.
33.
The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750) predated the Abbasid Caliphate (750–1258).
34.
Waines, David, An Introduction to Islam (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995) 46–47, 104.
35.
Waines, An Introduction to Islam, 105.
36.
Waines, An Introduction to Islam, 111.
37.
Glasse, The Concise Encyclopaedia of Islam, 256.
38.
Waines, An Introduction to Islam, 106.
39.
Shirk refers to worshipping anything or anyone other than God and is considered the one unforgivable sin.
40.
Waines, An Introduction to Islam, 107.
41.
Glasse, The Concise Encyclopaedia of Islam, 334; Ruthven, Malise, Islam in the World (London: Granta Books, 2006) 106.
42.
Ruthven, Islam in the World, 106.
43.
Glasse, The Concise Encyclopaedia of Islam, 334; Waines, An Introduction to Islam, 116.
44.
Waines, An Introduction to Islam; Ruthven, Islam in the World, 117–118.
45.
Quranic references to the hand of God (23:88, 36:83, 38:75, 39:67, 48:10, 57:29, 67:1), hearing (2:127, 2:256, 8:17, 49:1), seeing (4:58, 17:1, 42:11, 42:27), face (55:27), throne (25:59).
46.
Ahmad, Shams al-din and Sulayman Kamal Pasha, The Differences Between the Ash’aris and the Maturidis (Rotterdam: Sunni Publications, 2018) 26.
47.
Glasse, The Concise Encyclopaedia of Islam, 335.
48.
Waines, An Introduction to Islam, 117–118.
49.
Glasse, The Concise Encyclopaedia of Islam, 335; Ruthven, Islam in the World, 237.
50.
Waines, An Introduction to Islam, 117–118.
51.
Ruthven, Islam in the World, 149.
52.
Glasse, The Concise Encyclopaedia of Islam, 335.
53.
Ruthven, Islam in the World, 149; Ahmad and Pasha, The Differences Between the Ash’aris and the Maturidis, 25.
54.
Glasse, The Concise Encyclopaedia of Islam, 335; Ruthven, Islam in the World, 149; Ahmad and Pasha, The Differences Between the Ash’aris and the Maturidis, 24.
55.
Waines, An Introduction to Islam, 118; Ruthven, Islam in the World, 97 and 118.
56.
Glasse, The Concise Encyclopaedia of Islam, 62.
57.
Glasse, The Concise Encyclopaedia of Islam, 62.
58.
Ruthven, Islam in the World, 194; Ahmad and Pasha, The Differences Between the Ash’aris and the Maturidis, 30.
59.
Glasse, The Concise Encyclopaedia of Islam, 63; Ruthven, Islam in the World, 194; Ahmad and Pasha, The Differences Between the Ash’aris and the Maturidis, 12, 29, and 30.
60.
Waines, An Introduction to Islam, 120.
61.
Ahmad and Pasha, The Differences Between the Ash’aris and the Maturidis, 37.
62.
Ahmad and Pasha, The Differences Between the Ash’aris and the Maturidis, 30.
63.
Waines, An Introduction to Islam, 122–124; Ruthven, Islam in the World, 195.
64.
Waines, An Introduction to Islam, 121; Ruthven, Islam in the World, 195; Rippin, Andrew, Muslims: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices (Oxon: Routledge, 1990) 83.
65.
Waines, An Introduction to Islam, 122.
66.
Waines, An Introduction to Islam, 122–123; Rippin, Muslims: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices, 83.
67.
Rippin, Muslims: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices, 82.
68.
Waines, An Introduction to Islam, 122; Ruthven, Islam in the World, 121.
69.
As a comparison, while Ash’ari promoted the idea the attributes should be accepted allegorically, Salafis belief that if the Qur’an says that God has a hand, He has a hand.
70.
Waines, An Introduction to Islam, 123; Ruthven, Islam in the World, 195; Rippin, Muslims: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices, 82–83.
71.
Waines, An Introduction to Islam, 122; Ruthven, Islam in the World, 195; Rippin, Muslims: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices, 84; Glasse, The Concise Encyclopaedia of Islam, 63.
72.
Glasse, The Concise Encyclopaedia of Islam, 63.
73.
Ash’ari belief is that God empowers man’s actions at the time of the action versus the Mu’tazilite belief is that God empowers man from his beginning (conception).
74.
Glasse, The Concise Encyclopaedia of Islam, 62–63; Ruthven, Islam in the World, 106.
75.
Glasse, The Concise Encyclopaedia of Islam, 335.
76.
Glasse, The Concise Encyclopaedia of Islam, 62; Ahmad and Pasha, The Differences Between the Ash’aris and the Maturidis, 65.
77.
This contrasts to both Mu’tazilite and Maturidi belief. Mu’tazilites believe that one’s destiny is solely in the hands of the individual. Ash’ari believed that one’s destiny is in the hands of God. Maturidi belief is that both play a role and that one’s destiny can change.
78.
Ruthven, Islam in the World, 106.
79.
Glasse, The Concise Encyclopaedia of Islam, 299; Rippin, Muslims: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices, 83.
80.
Ahmad and Pasha, The Differences Between the Ash’aris and the Maturidis.
81.
Glasse, The Concise Encyclopaedia of Islam, 299; Rippin, Muslims: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices, 83–84.
82.
Rippin, Muslims: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices, 83.
83.
Taqlid means to follow the faith blindly or from only one source.
84.
Rippin, Muslims: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices, 83.
85.
Rippin, Muslims: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices, 84; Ahmad and Pasha, The Differences Between the Ash’aris and the Maturidis, 81.
86.
Rippin, Muslims: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices, 84.
87.
Rippin, Muslims: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices, 84.
88.
Glasse, The Concise Encyclopaedia of Islam, 299.
89.
Ruthven, Islam in the World, 262; Rippin, Muslims: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices, 76 and 84.
90.
Waines, An Introduction to Islam, 120.
91.
In this case, the community refers to the companions of the Prophet Muhammad (the sahaba) and the next two generations of Muslims (the Tabi’een and the Tabi Tabi’een).
92.
BBC News, “New Group Replaces Al Muhajiroun,” BBC News, London, 18 November 2005. Available at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4449714.stm. [Accessed 02 November 2017].
93.
Mohammed, Omar Bakri. Interview with author 2012; Choudary, Anjem. Interview with author February 2014.
94.
Mohammed, Omar Bakri. Interview with author, 2012.
95.
Mohammed, Omar Bakri. Interview with author, 2012.
96.
Mohammed, Omar Bakri. Interview with author, 2012.
97.
Mohammed, Omar Bakri. Interview with author, 2012.
98.
Mohammed, Omar Bakri. Interview with author, 2012.
99.
For many Salafis, the ideology of OBM and ALM is decidedly not Salafi but a perversion of Salafiyya. For instance, see Abu Ameenah Abdurrahman as-Salafi and AbdulHaq al-Ashanti, A Critical Study of the Multiple Identities and Disguises of al Muhajiroun. (London: Jamiah Media, 2009).
100.
Mohammed, Omar Bakri, Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jama’ah (London: Ad-Da’wah Publications, 2004).
101.
Timidhi, Sham il-. Hadith no. 2565. In Ahl ul-Sunnah Wal Jama’ah. Omar Bakri Mohammad. (London: Ad-Da’wah Publications, 2004) 10.
102.
Mohammed, Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jama’ah, 42.
103.
Mohammed, Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jama’ah, 11.
104.
The term ulema means Islamic scholar but OBM’s reference is contextually limited to those early Islamic scholars who began recording the Qur’an and compiling the Sunnah of the Prophet while he was still alive and immediately after his death.
105.
Mohammed, Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jama’ah, 14.
106.
Mohammed, Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jama’ah: Mohammed, Omar Bakri, Interview with author, 2012; Choudary, Anjem, Interview with author, May 2011; Rahman, Mizanur, Interview with author, March 2012.
107.
Ruthven, Islam in the World, 106; Rippin, Muslims: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices, 84.
108.
Timidhi, Sham il-, Vol. 4, p. 467, Cited in The Islamic Standard, Omar Bakri Mohammed, (London: ALM Productions, 2004) 24.
109.
Maalik, Muwatta’ Imaam. Hadith no. 1395, pg. 899. In. Ahlus Sunna Wal Jama’ah, 37.
110.
Rippin, Muslims: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices, 83.
111.
Batil refers to falsehood.
112.
Haq in this instance refers to truth.
113.
Mohammed, Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jama’ah, 56.
114.
See cult definition. Stevensen, Angus and Maurice Waite (eds.), Concise Oxford English Dictionary 12th edition, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011) n.p.; also see Rousselet, M., O. Duretete, J.B. Hardouin, and M. Grall-Bronnec. “Cult membership: What factors contribute to joining or leaving?” Psychiatry Research, Vol. 257 (2017) 27.
115.
Mohammed, Omar Bakri. Interview with author 2012.
116.
Mohammed, Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jama’ah, 61.
117.
Mohammed, Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jama’ah, 62.
118.
Mohammed, Omar Bakri. Interview with author, 2012.
119.
Jihad means to struggle. However, in this context the lesser jihad refers to fighting against the enemies of Islam.
120.
The Holy Qur’an, 2:216.
121.
An-Nasaie should actually be al-Nasa’i.
122.
Matn is the actual quote that is made and captured in the hadith.
123.
Ahmed, Imaam and Abū `Abd ar-Raḥmān Al-Nasa’I, In Ahlus Sunna Wal Jama’ah, Omar Bakri Mohammed (London: Ad-Da’wah Publications, 2004) 58.
124.
Taymiyyah, Ibn, In Ahl ul-Sunnah Wal Jama’ah, Omar Bakri Mohammad (London: Ad-Da’wah Publications, 2004) 59.
125.
Mohammed, Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jama’ah, 100; Mohammed, Omar Bakri, Interview with author, 2012; Choudary, Anjem, Interview with author, February 2014.
126.
Mohammed, Omar Bakri, Interview with author, April 2012; Choudary, Anjem, Interview with author, February 2014.
127.
Mohammed, Omar Bakri, Interview with author, 2012; Choudary, Anjem, Interview with author, February 2014.
128.
The Zaahiri Group refers to those that follow the madhhab of Dawood ibn Ali al-Zaahari. The following accepts a literalist interpretation of the Qur’an, and do not recognize other rulings or analogies from Islamic scholars. See Abdul-Rahman, Mohammed Saed. Schools of Thought, Religions, and Sects (London: MSA Publications Ltd., 2004).
129.
Ihyaa Faridatul Jihad wal Munaafah means to follow the “treatise on the obligation of Jihad.”
130.
Riwaayah means tradition. In this case the tradition of the Prophet and the Companions.
131.
Diraayah refers to the study the hadith, the rules and lessons that can be obtained from them and assessing the strength of a hadith by understanding the chain of its narrators (Isnad).
132.
Deen refers to one’s religious life on earth.
133.
Ahl Bid’ah means “people who innovate.”
134.
Ta’weel refers to the verses in the Qur’an which describe God.
135.
To make sense of these differences, two interviews were conducted with a former HT leader. 27 January and 06 February, 2019.
136.
The Kaaba is revered as the holiest place in Islam. It is referenced in the Qur’an and is considered the first house of worship for Muslims.
137.
Dar ul Kufr, refers to a land where un-Islamic practices are accepted.
138.
Dar ul Harb refers to a land of war.
139.
The Dhimmi system was established by the Prophet Muhammad in Medina and protected the life, property, and freedom to practice one’s religion for non-Muslims, provided they were loyal to the state and paid the jizya (tax).
140.
Mohammed, Omar Bakri, Jihad: The Method to Establish the Khilafah? (London: MNA Publications, N.D) 17.
141.
Obligations of non-Muslims living under the Dhimmi system.
142.
Mohammed, Jihad, n.d., 19.
143.
Mohammed, Jihad, n.d., 19.
144.
Mohammed, Omar Bakri. Interview with author, 2012.
145.
Mohammed, Omar Bakri. Interview with author, 2012.
146.
Mohammed, Omar Bakri. Interview with author, 2012.
147.
Mohammed, Omar Bakri. Interview with author, 2012.
148.
Drury and Reicher, “Collective Action and Psychological Change,” 581.
149.
Wiktorowicz, Radical Islam Rising, 77.

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School of Criminology, Criminal Justice and Emergency Management, California State University, Long Beach, Long Beach, CA, USA
Douglas Weeks

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Weeks, D. (2020). The Ideology of Al Muhajiroun. In: Al Muhajiroun. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35840-2_4

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35840-2_4
Published: 28 March 2020
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