Antwerp: Report on extremist mosques and organizations

Antwerp: Report on extremist mosques and organizations

The following report was written by the Flemish Committee for Ex-Muslims and posted by Filip Dewinter, of Vlaams Belang, on his site.  It's a long report and so I will break it up into several parts. 

It is obvious this was written by one person and not by a 'committee'.  My guess would be that this comes from P., a Flemish convert to Islam, who seems to be the source of most news about extremist Islam in Antwerp.   Belgian Dutch-language weekly Knack published a similar report last year (see Antwerp: The Jihadis of Antwerp North (1) and Antwerp: The Jihadis of Antwerp North (2)), based on interviews with P.  This report repeats much of the same information but it is much more detailed.  

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Extremist mosques and organizations in Antwerp

Almost half of the Antwerp mosques are in the hands of the fundamentalist Islamic movement Deobandi,  which calls on Muslims to 'shed blood' for Allah and whose leaders reject Western norms and values, and disdain Jews, Christians and Hindus.  The Deobandi sermons are impregnated by deep-rooted hatred towards  Western society, admiration for the Taliban and martyrdom.  Deobandi forbid art, television, sport and music; demand that women be completely covered and see football as a 'cancerous tumor infecting our youth' (frightening, keeping in mind the candidacy of Belgium as co-organizer of the World Cup 2018).  In sermons it is said that music is a method of Jews to weave the 'satanic web' to lead young Muslims down the wrong path.

The dangerous Deobandi sect originated around 1870 in Deoband, regional center of then British India.  As a response to the British support for modern Koran interpretation, particularly by sheiks who had settled in London, the ultra-conservative scholars decided to set up a madrassa to lead a counter-movement, at the highest possible speed and with foreign financial support, which already then came from the Arabian peninsula.  The colonial government, imprisoned in their own concert of separation between civil administration and religious authorities (known here as Church and State), could do nothing but stand by and watch.

Yet before the foundation of Pakistan, the so-called Deobandis presented themselves as the most influential politic-religious movement within the Indian Muslim community.  The Barelvi Sunnia, the Shiites, the Ahmdiyya; the all had to deal with the violent responses of the Deobandi to 'apostasy' or at least 'erring'.

Jumping ahead now, to the Soviet invasion in chaotic Afghanistan.  The Deobandis got a new missionizing area there.  A new sponsor too: the US.  They were also generous with weapons.  The generous sponsors showed themselves to be boundlessly naive in setting compensation or limits. Why would they be vigilant?  The direct effect was the only one that mattered, politically as well as militarily.  This last aspect turned out well for the US; the soviets were indeed driven away.  But thereafter it went wrong.

The story of the unrestrained jihadis is well known in aviation circles and by the families of thousands of victims after the terror attacks of September 11, 2001.  Less known is the concern of the Pakistani population, the inability to remove the ritual-political caste behind the Taliban, the 'state within a  state' of the Deobandi hierarchy.

The north-western border area (Waziristan) was never really under the control of the government in Islamabad.  The soldiers could either bribe the competing Deobandi citizens or fight them with suicide commandos.  They chose for a combination of both methods, on both sides of the Afghan-Pakistani 'border'. The poverty stricken population supplies its children to Koran schools where they get free food and board, together with training in weapons, hate against the unbelievers and paranoia of the 'ziniost world plot'.  Income for this fundamentalist project comes not only from immensely wealthy Saudis such as Osama bin Laden.  Also local commercial operation are an income source: the sale of drugs and blue synthetic material for the well-known burkas.



a) Khatim-Al-Anbia Msoque

This small Pakistani mosque on Oranjestraat may be seen as the most dangerous Deobandi mosque in Antwerp.  The mosque (association) has already gone underground which is very dangerous.  Pakistani, Afghan and Bengali fundamentalists in particular come and go here.  This mosque is part of the widespread extremist network that has branches in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and the UK.  Jihad and recruiting are central in this house of prayer.

The international association Khatme Nubuwwat also has here one of its main headquarters.  This organization appears on the official terror list of the UN and EU.  Belgium is actually the only European country that doesn't recognize this terror list.  The Pakistani association has been followed for years by the anti-terrorism cell of the Federal Police and State Security Service.  It is an important international cover for terrorism movements such as al-Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Toiba, Jamaat Tabligh, Minhaj Ul-Quran, Sipah-e-Muhammad-Pakistan, Harakat ul-Mudjahidin and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam.  The imam of this mosque is Abdul Hameed, a Pakistani with residences in both Antwerp and London.

He is someone who can be linked with 'al Qaeda in Europe' and is also a leading agent of the Pakistani branch of Jamaat Tabligh and Minhaj Ul-Quran.   His mosque/house on Oranjestraat also functions as a hiding place for radical youth from all over the world.  These youth stay there several months and then go back or infiltrate the Antwerp radical Islamic community.

Maybe you think that this armed jihad is not something to concern you?  Well, then I must unfortunately disappoint you.  The attacks of September 11 in the US and these of Madrid and London were mostly planned in Belgium, more specifically in Antwerp and Brussels.  The suicide commandos of the London terrorist operations of July 2005 maintained close contacts with the Pakistani mosque Khatim-Al-Anbia, which is known among Antwerp Muslims as one of the al-Qaeda branches of Europe.

There is evidence that this Pakistani mosque has direct links with al-Qaeda (mainly with al-Qaeda cells in the UK, Belgium, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and Bangladesh).  How can I prove this? Well, in the mosque there are authentic tapes with sermons by Pakistani al-Qaeda heads.  Most of these tapes are from Lahore.  What alarms me is that some tapes were probably taped in Pakistani or Afghan training camps of al-Qaeda.

Many of these tapes sound very aggressive and often include slogans against the West and India.  On those tapes Osama Bin Laden and Ramzi Yousef are glorified.  Everybody knows Osama bin Laden, but who is Ramzi Yousef?  Ramzi Yousef is the terrorist who wanted to blow up the WTC towers in New York in 1993.  His uncle is Khalid Sheik Mohammed.  The latter is the brain behind the attacks of September 11, 2001.  Imam Abdul Hameed also has contacts with various terror suspects from the UK.  This according to the contacts of his personal address book.  These people are on the black list of the UN which contains various names of terror suspects.  These people are also on the black list of the Bank of England for financing terror.

Some of these names are: Tariq Mahmood (Pakistani from Birmingham), Mustafa Kamel (Moroccan from London) and Mohammed Tufail (Pakistani from London).  These people are directly linked to al Qaeda and Ummah Tameer E-Nau.  That last group has headquarters in Kabul (Afghanistan) and Lahore (Pakistan) and openly supports the Taliban.  Several years ago two radical Pakistani clerics, a certain 'Fahzlur Rehman' and 'Sammy-ul-Haq', visited the mosque on Oranjestraat.  They also visited the Brussels 'Pakistani Center'.  Fahzlur Rehman is considered by the Pakistani security services as one of Osama bin Laden's right hands.  

He is the leader of the terror groups Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam and Harakat ul-Mudjahidin.  These two groups actively work together with al-Qaeda and the Taliban.  Fahzlur Rehman openly announced his fatwa against the West on Pakistani media in February 1998.  He also led a training camp of al-Qaeda in Rawalpindi (Pakistan).  He is also active in Pakistani politics and an intense opponent of the Pakistani government. According to him it's too moderate and a lap dog of the US.

Sammy-ul-Haq heads the extremist madrassa Dar-ul-Uloom Haqania in Peshawar (Pakistan). This Koran school is known by the Pakistani security service to be a training center for the Taliban.  Dozens of Pakistani youth from Antwerp and Brussels got spiritual and physical training there. The Pakistani Ali Zulfigar, residing at Dambruggestraat nr. 35 Antwerp, is the top man of the militant wing of Jamaat Tabligh, namely Minhaj Ul-Quran.  The Pakistani security services see him as extremely dangerous.  In Antwerp he walks about unconcerned.  From Belgium he financially supported the murder attack on Pakistani opposition leader and former PM Benazir Bhutto.  The murderers were trained in the Dar-ul-Uloom Haqania madrassa of Sammy-ul-Haq.

Malik Ajmal, extremist and criminal of Pakistani origin, is a regular visitor of the Khatim-Al-Anbia mosque.  He is a member of Minhaj Ul-Quran and Khatme Nubuwwat.  In the past he sat on the board of the 'Antwerp Islamic Association', a Pakistani organization which runs the Noor-ul-Haram mosque on Van
Kerckhovenstraat (Antwerp).  This man collects large amounts of money from the Pakistani community in Antwerp (particularly money from dubious Internet and phone shops and night shops) which he pumps into the 'Pakistan Welfare Association'. Pakistan Welfare Association (Ertbornstraat 11, Antwerp) serves as financial cover for Pakistani terrorist associations.  Malik Ajmal has a criminal past.

Pervaiz Akhtar, also an extremist and criminal of Pakistani origin, is a regular visitor of the Khatim-Al-Anbia mosque.  He is also a member of Minhaj Ul-Quran and Khatme Nubuwwat. In the past he held the post of secretary at the 'Antwerp Islamic Association'. This man graduated in Pakstian as a 'software engineer' and now developed a network in Antwerp which deals with foreign electronic ID cards. Pervaiz Akhtar has a criminal past.

Muhammad Amjad Cheema, Mohammed Afzal and Zahid Afzal are Pakistani extremists and members of Minhaj Ul-Quran and Khatme Nubuwwat. They regularly visit the Khatim-Al-Anbia mosque on Oranjestraat and the Noor-ul-Haram (Antwerp Islamic Association) mosque on Van Kerckhovenstraat. Muhammad Amjad Cheema and Mohammed Afzal run an import / export company that is mostly active between the ports of Antwerp and Southampton (UK).

They deal mainly with importing and exporting electronic, stolen luxury cars and illegal DVDs/CDs.  Zahid Afzal recruits youth in Antwerp for the Minhaj Ul-Quran terror movement for spiritual and physical training in the Dar-ul-Uloom Haqania madrasa (Peshawar, Pakistan) of Sammy-ul-Haq. Muhammad Amjad Cheema and Mohammed Afzal have a criminal past.

Imran Tayyab, member of Khatme Nubuwwat and Minhaj Ul-Quran, visited the Khatim-Al-Anbia in Antwerp several times.  This young man studies chemistry at the 'Khwarizmi Science Society' institute in Lahore (Pakistan).  In the past he convinced various youth in Antwerp to go to Lahore for several months to get spiritual and physical training at Muridke madrassa.  This extremist koran school is run by Dawa Waal-Irshad, the ideological wing of the Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorist organization.  Aggressive propaganda material of Dawa Waal-Irshad is spread in Pakistani and even Moroccan mosques in Antwerp.

The Khatim-Al-Anbia mosque has contact with the following dubious organizations: Mahktab al Kiddimah (Afghanistan), Islamic Relief (Saudi Arabia), Dar al-Hijra Islamic Center (US), World Assembly of Muslim Youth (Saudi Arabia), Muslim World League (Saudi Arabia), Islamic Center of Manchester (UK),
Jamiatul-Ilm Wal-Huda (Blackburn, UK) and the Centre Islamique Belge (Belgium, Molenbeek). The British anti-terrorism services raided the very radical Jamiatul-Ilm Wal-Huda madrassa in November 2003 and arrested various students who had plans for terror attacks in the UK.  The Pakistani mosque Khatim-Al-Anbia contributed to the further development of this madrassa.  Radical students very often commuted between Jamiatul-Ilm Wal-Huda and the mosque.  One of these students is Ali Tayyab. He was a friend of Shehzad Tanweer, one of the Pakistani terrorists responsible for the attacks in London in July 2005.  Ali Tayyab is an active member of Khatme Nubuwwat and Minhaj Ul-Quran. He regularly travels to and from Pakistan.

There is therefore a Pakistani terror network in Antwerp that is continuously branching out more and more, where the situation in uncontrollable by the security services.

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