In series of videotaped lectures by Sheik Feiz Mohammed, head of the “Global Islamic Youth Center” in western Sydney, Jews were called “pigs” and pronounced “on their way to hell”, in addition to children being urged to become martyrs for Islam. The Sheik made his remarks on a series of videotaped lectures for sale in Australia and overseas, but drew widespread condemnation. “We want to have children and offer them as soldiers to the jihad”, the Australian-born cleric said on a portion of one of the tapes, aired on Australian television.[1] The cleric said many parents were stopping their children from attending Islamic lessons for fear that they “might create a place in their hearts, the love, just a bit of love, of sacrificing their lives for Allah”. “We want to have children and offer them as soldiers defending Islam”, he added. “Teach them this: There is nothing more beloved to me than wanting to die as a Mujahid.” [2]

The state of Islam – Undercover

Many of Sheik Feiz Mohammed’s online lectures focus on preparing oneself for death, but do not explicitly mention jihad or martyrdom. However, in a fiery lecture about the state of Islam posted on the video sharing network “You Tube”, Sheik Mohammed says that today’s Muslims are not as inclined to martyrdom as their ancestors.[3]

United Kingdom’s Channel 4 has investigated a number of mosques run by high profile national organizations that claim to be dedicated to moderation and dialogue with other faiths. But an undercover reporter joined worshippers to find a message of religious bigotry and extremism being preached. The reporter captures chilling sermons in which Saudi-trained preachers proclaim the supremacy of Islam, hatred for non-Muslims and for Muslims who do not follow their extreme beliefs and predict a coming jihad. “An army of Muslims will arise,” announces one preacher. Another preacher said British Muslims must “dismantle” British democracy; they must “live like a state within a state” until they are “strong enough to take over”.

Channel 4’s investigation reveals Saudi Arabian universities recruiting young Western Muslims for training in extreme theology, then sending them back to the West to spread the word. The dispatched reporter discovers that British Muslims can ask for fatwas, religious rulings, direct from the top religious leader in Saudi Arabia, the Grand Mufti.

According to the Channel 4 investigation, Saudi-trained preachers are also promoted in DVDs, CDs and books on sale at religious centers and sermons broadcasted on websites. These publications and webcasts disseminate beliefs about women by saying, “Allah has created the woman deficient, her intellect is incomplete”, and girls by saying, “by the age of 10 if she doesn’t wear hijab, we hit her,” as well as an extreme hostility towards homosexuals.

The investigation reveals that the influence of Saudi Arabian Islam, Wahhabbism, extends beyond the walls of some mosques to influential organizations that advise the British government on inter-community relations and prevention of terrorism. The dispatched reporter attends talks at mosques run by key organizations, whose public faces are presented as moderate and mainstream, and finds preachers condemning the idea of integration into British society, condemning British democracy as un-Islamic and praising the Taliban for killing British soldiers.

Undercover Mosque features interviews with moderate British Muslim figures who are speaking out against the influence of Saudi Arabia’s extreme brand of Islam, which is seeking to overturn Islamic traditions of diversity and peaceful co-existence. “We are losing our children to extremists,” says Haras Rafiq of the Sufi Muslim Council. Dr. Al Alawi of the Islamic Heritage Foundation also warns, “If this continues, you will have extremist mosques in every corner of the UK. You will not have moderate Muslims walking on our streets anymore”.[4]

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Notes:

[1] Associated Press, 15 January 2007