For over a decade, MEMRI has been monitoring UK-based pro-jihad Islamist preacher Anjem Choudary, who was the head and co-founder of the banned extremist U.K. group Al-Muhajiroun, spokesman for the banned Islam4UK organization, and spiritual advisor to the banned U.K. Islamist group Muslims Against Crusades (MAC), and who encouraged young British Muslims to go to Syria to fight for Al-Qaeda and, later, to join ISIS – for which he was sent to prison in 2016.
Below is a selection of clips and reports focusing on Choudary, following his release from a high-security prison to a probation hostel after serving half of his prison sentence. The MEMRI TV clips include Choudary praising terror attacks, eulogizing Yemeni-American Al-Qaeda cleric Anwar Al-Awlaki, calling for the implementation of Islamic law in Britain, supporting the expansion of the caliphate to the West, and calling freedom and democracy "idols that must be destroyed." The reports review Choudary's early use of social media in encouraging support for ISIS, and his activity with Al-Muhajiroun, Islam4UK, and Muslims Against Crusades (MAC), as well as with the Sharia4America.com run by Choudary that advocated for an American "Islamic State," the "Sharia for India" organization that he founded, and his 2016 conviction for supporting ISIS.
MEMRI TV Clips On Anjem Choudary
Jihadi Leaders Anjem Choudary and Omar Bakri Acknowledge Sending Western Fighters to Syria
November 27, 2013
British Islamist Anjem Choudary: We Want to Implement Islamic Law in Britain
January 12, 2010
February 3, 2010
May 6, 2011
British Islamist Anjem Choudary Eulogizes Anwar Al-Awlaki and Says: May the Call for Jihad Never Die
October 1, 2011
December 22, 2011
British Islamist Anjem Choudary: As Muslims We Reject Human Rights
April 11, 2013
British Jihadi Cleric and Pro-Iranian U.S. Commentator Exchange Insults over Syria Crisis
January 13, 2014
London Islamists Campaign for Instating Islamic Law in Britain
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March 2, 2014
British Islamists: The Caliphate Will Expand to Europe and the U.S.
September 16, 2014
British Islamist Anjem Choudary Praises Paris Terrorists: May Allah Accept Them in Paradise
January 13, 2015
March 23, 2015
British Islamist Anjem Choudary Calls to Refrain from Voting in U.K. General Elections
April 5, 2015
September 6, 2016
MEMRI Reports On Anjem Choudary
By: Steven Stalinsky*
November 3, 2011
As part of their online media strategy, jihadi groups have in recent years begun using Western websites and technologies – uploading videos to YouTube[1] and to the Internet Archive,[2] creating official Facebook pages,[3] and tweeting news flashes from the jihadi fronts. Jihadis have come to depend on free web hosting, where content can be uploaded anonymously, reliably, and at no cost.[4] Headquartered in San Francisco, California and with servers in San Antonio, Texas, Boston, Massachusetts, and New York, Twitter – the online social networking and microblogging service – is increasingly being used by terrorist organizations and their media outlets, and their online followers are growing in number. Twitter's Terms of Service include some "restrictions on content" but do not mention terrorist groups.[5]
By: Steven Stalinsky and R. Sosnow*
December 13, 2013
In November 2013, the U.K. nonprofit group Hope Not Hate published extensive research[1] revealing that British Islamist preacher Anjem Choudary – head and co-founder of the banned extremist U.K. group Al-Muhajiroun, spokesman for the banned Islam4UK organization, and spiritual advisor to the banned U.K. Islamist group Muslims Against Crusades (MAC)[2] – has been encouraging young British Muslims to go to Syria to fight for Al-Qaeda. The report stated that the network of Al-Muhajiroun and its European partners has become the "single biggest gateway to terrorism in recent British history"[3] and the largest in Europe that is recruiting foreign fighters to go to Syria. It also estimated that the network has sent 200-300 people to Syria.[4]
August 19, 2016
On August 16, 2016, it was announced that British Islamist preacher Anjem Choudary had been found guilty the previous month of eliciting support for the Islamic State (ISIS).[1] Officials said that a vital piece of evidence in his conviction was his recorded oath of allegiance to ISIS, which he posted on an extremist website on July 7, 2014, the ninth anniversary of the London terror attacks.[2] According to The Guardian, British authorities had since then made repeated efforts to get his Twitter posts and YouTube videos taken down, but the content remained online,[3] even though it is in violation of British anti-terror laws as well as of Twitter's own terms of service prohibiting promotion of terrorism. MEMRI has been monitoring Choudary, including his social media activity as well as video and interviews, since 2011, and has repeatedly warned about him and called for social media platforms to remove his content.
By: Steven Stalinsky*
December 6, 2011
Through our monitoring of jihadi use of YouTube over the past two years,[1]we have determined that YouTube has emerged as one of the leading websites for online jihad. It has replaced – and surpassed – websites administered by the jihadis themselves, which were previously the leaders in online jihadi efforts. MEMRI has briefed members of the U.S. government and Congress on this issue, and has also met with representatives from Google Inc. to share our findings in identifying videos that incite violence and terrorist acts and to explain the role they play in homegrown terrorism.
By: Tufail Ahmad*
February 9, 2012
British Islamist Anjem Choudary and Omar Muhammad Bakri – both former leaders of British jihadist organization Al-Muhajiroun – have launched an organization called Shariah for Hind (India) to advance their agenda for reestablishing Islamic rule in India. The group has planned a major public event in New Delhi on March 3, 2012, which marks the end of the Turkey-led Islamic caliphate 88 years ago. It should be noted that during the British rule, Indian leaders like Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and Mahatma Gandhi campaigned for the Islamic caliphate led by Turkey – Gandhi doing so perhaps to gain Muslim support against British colonial rule in India.
Shari'a Movement Struggles to Globalize Campaign for Islamizing Western World
By: R. Green*
August 12, 2011
Over recent years, a new phenomenon has emerged among radical Islamist circles: the rise of a global network of groups calling for the total Islamization of Western states and societies via the implementation of shari'a law, the abolishment of democratic states and their replacement by Islamic regimes. These groups, which have referred to themselves as the global shari'a movement, strive to globalize ideas and tactics hatched within radical Islamist circles in the U.K. These circles are led by Sheikh 'Omar Bakri, who was denied reentry into the country after he left for Lebanon following the 2005 London bombings, and his disciple Anjem Choudary, who founded several groups in the country that have since been banned by the British authorities.
Shariah4America.com - Advocating an American 'Islamic State' and Shariah Law in the United States
April 21, 2011
The English-language website shariah4america.com is a website advocating the establishment of a global Islamic caliphate and shariah law in the United States. It features articles and graphics detailing the dismantling of American and international institutions, such as the United Nations and the White House; American monuments, such as the Statue of Liberty and the Washington Monument; and details the various steps that will take place in economics, law, and foreign policy after the establishment of an "Islamic state." The website is apparently run by the British Islamist Sheikh Anjem Choudary, who is prominently featured on the various pages. Choudary headed the British group "Islam 4 UK" until it was proscribed as a terrorist organization in 2010. He has also taken part in the activities of "Shariah 4 Belgium," an Islamist group calling for the establishment of Shariah law in Belgium and Holland.
November 11, 2011
On November 9, the UK Home Office banned the British Islamist organization Muslims Against Crusades (MAC). This means that membership, holding meetings, or wearing clothing or "articles" to show support for the organization are now criminal offenses punishable by up to 10 years in jail.[1] A week ago, MEMRI published an extensive report on the twitter activity of British jihadi Anjem Choudary, who is the group's spiritual advisor and press spokesman as well as spokesman for the banned Islam4UK organization and co-founder of Al-Muhajiroun (see MEMRI Inquiry and Analysis No. 755, "Deleting Online Jihad on Twitter: The Case of British Jihadi Anjem Choudary – Tweeting for the Caliphate and the Conquest of the White House").
