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MUMBAI: London has become a target by its' home-grown Islamic extremists
whose messages of violence and death have divided the Muslim communities
in the United Kingdom. CNN chief international correspondent Christiane
Amanpour investigates the cultural conflicts within the country's
Muslim communities and why the radical minority is creating such
division among Muslims in 'The War Within' airing Saturday, January
20.
This hour-long documentary explores how the London commuter attacks
of July 7, 2005 and the foiled airline terrorism plot in August
2006 have forced a spotlight on the growing tensions among the Islamic
community of all ages.
'Christiane examines the complex issues that are starting to tear
apart the large British Muslim community', said CNN International
senior vice president Rena Golden. 'The simmering tension, angst
and disillusionment in the faces and words of those she interviews
underlines the difficulties now faced by many countries around the
world.'
 Some
Muslims in the UK assert that home-grown extremists have "hijacked"
their religion, distorted its tenets and spread fear and misunderstanding
in the name of Islam. Hanif Kadar, a youth worker in the London
suburb of Walthamstow, says that foreign policy is the leading cause
that is bringing in young Muslims into the extremists' circles.
'It's the minority radical groups that use [foreign policy] to
get to our young people,' Kadar said. 'There's a minority in the
schools that believe…blowing people up is cool.' Amanpour also
talks to Anjem Choudary and Omar Brooks, both well-known Islamic
extremists in Britain whose ideologies drastically differ from those
of mainstream Muslims.
Choudary pushes for Shari'a, or Islamic law, to be enforced in
Britain: 'All of the world belongs to Allah and we will live according
to the Shari'a wherever we are.' Brooks, a self-appointed cleric',
says the Quran sanctions violence: 'We are the Muslims. We can drink
the blood of the enemy and we can face them anywhere - that is Islam
and that is jihad. 'But there are those in the community who hold
views that strongly oppose those of Choudary and Brooks.
Imam Usama Hasan, an Islamic scholar who memorized the Quran by
age 11, rejects their radical ideologies and says they skew the
teachings of Islam to support their 'wrong intentions.' 'The people
who do this kind of action and who support it are a very small minority,"
Hasan said. "But it only takes a handful, of course, to create
devastation."Amanpour also interviews Shahid Malik, one of
only four Muslim members of the British Parliament. Malik acknowledges
that even moderate Muslims feel more alienated by fear and suspicion
since the terrorist attacks in 2005.
'I think the Muslim community does feel under siege…there's
a degree of polarization that's taken place in our communities.'
Telecast:
Sat, January 20 at 1230hrs and 2030hrs
Sun, January 21 at 1230hr
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