World Ahlul Bayt Islamic League (WABIL) welcomes the guilty conviction of the hate preacher Anjem Choudary for inviting support for ISIS - which is obviously against the teachings of real Islam - contrary to section 12 of the Terrorism Act 2000. This vile ungodly man who had put himself up as a spokesperson for Islam, has spent the last 20 years spreading discord, tainting the name of Islam and deliberately preaching a hate-ideology which is wholly opposite to the Islam of the Prophet and his Holy Progeny (peace and blessings be upon them all).
 

As a minority faith British community, Muslims have worked hard to bring harmony and social cohesion in their wider society, efforts which were constantly undermined by Anjem Choudary and his followers. He preyed on vulnerable Muslim youth, radicalised and twisted their minds, and more than anything, he worked against the principles of Islam that encourage love and loyalty to the land where one lives and seeks sustenance, comfort and peace from.
 

Muslims in the UK are culturally British, and any promotion of extremism and affiliation with the barbaric satanic ISIS is an affront not only to our national values of freedom of choice but also the Islamic values of free will and peaceful co-existence.
 

We commend the British justice system for this verdict. However, let us not forget that Choudary was allowed by the media to promote his hate for years by giving his marginal extreme voice a platform. His proscribed group attacked a Shia during a march on Edgeware Road, London, in May 2013 where he led a sectarian anti-Shia protest and called for jihad in Syria – the same calls that led to many radicalised Muslim youth travelling via Turkey to kill and spill innocent blood in Syria and Iraq. He also constantly berated other Muslims as being out of the fold of Islam, and yet we still found that the reasonable voice of Islam was overshadowed by allowing him a platform.
 

While we wait for a sentence, WABIL reminds British Muslims, the media and the government that the best way forward for a cohesive society is to give a platform to majoritarian peace-loving Muslims, and to work with the community to eradicate the salafi-influenced scourge of extremism which is posing a huge threat to the world.
 

Sayed Mohammad Al-Musawi
World Ahlul Bayt Islamic League (WABIL)
London, UK
 

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