DIALOGUE

I floated the idea of some sort of online discussion involving my repub buddies and Hajj here, inviting people to come up with some preliminary questions for him. I have a lot of faith in Hajj and have frequently told him that I wished he had taken a more prominent role in events connected to Finsbury park mosque.

We both agreed that we missed Jamal (ALLAH AND JAHILIAH, Jamals writing here (pdf)) and couldn't believe how he had gone down for 10 years for some sort of robbery...he had a well paid job as a printer. Hopefully I will be able to follow this up.

I found Hajj none too enthusiastic, but I was able to explain how I felt I was in the middle of some great people who perhaps believe the wrong thing about each other. What else can i do?

Once I started asking questions, the Islamic debater in him came out and he was happy to sit with me in his garden writing things down. He didn't want any recording to be made until after the coming trial of his friends.

And while you are at it, if you are a peaceful Muslim...WHY DON'T YOU PROTEST THE HI JACKING OF YOUR RELIGION BY MANIACS??

Rightwingsparkle | 09.18.06 - 4:12 pm | #

he sort of said
When he looks at history he sees a different maniac and a lot more needless deaths from bigger weapons. He believes your side did 9/11. Hiroshima. Nagasaki. Maniacs. He has no idea who Bin laden is or how they come across these tapes? Is Bin laden CIA? He doesn't know.

That's one of the problems. There is no authority in Islam. Only factions.
Rightwingsparkle | 09.18.06 - 4:13 pm | #

No. He disagreed strongly. I didn't really get this properly but he sort of reckons you can deal with Islam one time using the Koran and television. He says it is all in the book. Muslims believe that.

“The can call me what they like!” he shouted “Terrorist, Poofta whatever. We talk to each other. Normal people. Christians, jews, Muslims we should all come together and make his world a paradise. Television could be a beautiful tool if it was used properly.”

Well, that would be fine dave (to allow Islam to unite as a nation) if they would leave the rest of us alone!

But they DON'T.

Geeze.

Bin Laden offered peace. Hajj doesn't remember the terms but he watches all sides on the satellite TV.in the cafe...

They have the freedom to respond with whatever they want. What comes out of it may not necessarily be positive,

Yeah, that's the part that bothers me.
Rightwingsparkle | 09.18.06 - 6:03 pm | #

He said worry about Street Muggers before worrying about him. (He wasn't overly into the idea of me doing this either and was happier showing me all the plant he's spent years growing in his garden.)

And as far as the message is concerned. The message I was referring to is: Abortion is murder. This is a widely held belief among Christians.

Hajj agrees with this very strongly though he agreed with me that it wasn't his place to judge a woman to her face. He thinks we are all responsible to God for our actions.

JD | 09.19.06 - 5:59 pm | #

1) What will it take for mainstream moderate Muslims to take back their religion from the radicals Muslims?

He thinks its the other way round. He thinks real Muslims have to take their religion back from moderate Muslims. He was angry about the home secretaries words today. Translated it as

“Fast, Pray and shut up! Don't tell your kids about Chechenya Kashmir Iraq etc.”


2) What will it take to truly allow Israel to live in peace ?

Peace with the palestinians and after a treaty is signed no more killing or “targeted assassinations.”

3) Why are women held in such low esteem in their culture ?

He lives in the UK. Ask a Muslim girl on the street in the UK if she was forced. Ask all the British girls who are becoming Muslims if they are forced into anything. Phone Yvonee Ridley (who does nightly call in shows) on the islamic channel. See what she says.


4) Does he think that stoning homosexuals, or rape victims, is appropriate punishment ?

It is written in your book and the book of the Jews. Did God destroy Sodom and Gomorah? He did. He destroyed them.

5) If the West gave into every one of Osama's demands, would he then simply leave us and Israel alone ?

Hes a bit old and he cant remember what Osama's demands are...

* If the terrorists claim to be fighting the Great Satan, why do they keep blowing up fellow Muslims instead ?

He's not in Iraq. “I suppose they see them as collaborators with the US?”

* Do they think that sending out videos of their beheadings is an effective PR tool ?

“I don't know how to answer that. Personally I am against beheading.”

* If America walked away from Iraq today, would Muslims quite killing other Muslims ?

He rekons there will always be trouble until there is an Islamic state. He doesn't have faith in the Arabic people at the moment. He thinks a lot of them are too long a Muslim. He thinks Africans and Caribbeans are going to be the new force in the real Islam.

* How pissed off will the jihadi's be when they go to visit Allah, and find that the 72 virgins are not really virgins, and look like Rosie O'Donnell when she is feeling bloated ?

Didn't ask him that one.

* Since the terrorists positions are the minority position amongst Muslims, why do they no accept that theirs is a perverted view of a rich religion ?
JD | 09.19.06 - 6:35 pm | #

A minority of Muslims are aware of the truth at the moment and the majority just think they are Muslims.

Jandrewmorrison | 09.19.06 - 7:42 pm | #
Why Hajj likely does not advocate Shia law, is there any punishment for those that commit acts of terrorism under sharriah law as he understands it?

he thinks targeting of innocents is against Sharriah law. I can't remember what the punishment was..

What can the non-muslim community do to better encourage muslims to assist in identifying those that hold extremist views who may pose a threat of engaging in acts of terrorism?

He doesn't even see it as terrorism over here. He disputes 7/7, asks why no more CCTV pictures are available showing these kids journeys to where they detonated their bombs. Even if they did it he doesn't see it as terrorism. He sees it as four angry boys. Many Muslims are angry and they don't blow up. He thinks most of the Muslims he knows behave OK at the moment and really hopes to see the young guys arrested with Abdullah released soon. He seems to realise that Abdullah migh have said the wrong things on TV but doesn't consider any of the guys to be a threat to the UK.


In his opinion, which angers young Muslim men more, the percieved mistreatment of Muslims on a global scale, or the percieved mistreatment of Muslims in Britain?
jandrewmorrison | 09.19.06 - 7:48 pm | #

Both.

Sorry didn't ask anymore but he says hes up for meeting up but without cameras. Hajj recomended a nice Chinese restaurant, but maybe not this one...

HAJJ IS BACK

A friend of a friend is Guy Smallman, one of the more successful professional photographers who is also on the protest "scene". In passing he looked at my Malung Movies and took a liking to Hajj (I used to smoke dope etc from Preachers of Hate) and asked if he could maybe take a photograph of him.

Although his views are as controversial as the rest of them, its hard not to like Hajj. Anyway this gave me a good excuse to ring him and catch up, as the last I heard he was on his way to Cyprus with no intention of coming back.

I eventually got through to find that he was not only back in the country, but he had also patched up his differences with Abu Abdullah. I knew that Hajj was the first to speak to Abdullah on his road to Islam and how much their falling out had hurt both of them. I passed on Guy's request. He said he would check with Abdullah and Jamal first.

Although it should make no difference to me if they get on or not, I am pleased that they are friends again. They stood either side of Hamza throughout the protest and I always thought of them as the "Asterix and Obelix" of British Fundamental Islam when this story still had a funny side, before 7/7.

Cycling through the rain this morning I actually bumped into Hajj in the street.

Apparently he had lasted 3 weeks in Cyprus. Although he loved it he thought that the property boom had turned his country into "holiday homes" and some of the younger members of his family weren't too impressed with Cyprus in general.

"I walk down the street and no one hassles me. I could die there." he said.

We spoke a little about last nights Channel4 documentary about the "extraordinary rendition" process. I missed it, Hajj said I could come round his place and watch it.

I asked after the state of Mr. Hamza.

"They put sugar in his food. He is diabetic. We wont see him out. This Tony Blair will have his way."

I told him that I was having a "last ditch attempt" at getting this story to British TV. I called Juniper, who Christine Phillip's from BBC London had recommended I try yesterday. (She made this about us a couple of years back when I was still living in squatsville)

Hajj didn't think much of my chances. We'll see.

I tried to be a bit upbeat about Mr. Hamza's chances. I have no idea what he has or hasn't done but to hear Hajj talk about him...

"You never know. Sometimes it seems to me that judges are the only effective opposition to government in this country..."

"Abdullah Faisal got 9 years. They said he was saying "Kill all the Jews." but he was talking about the Zionist enemy. He's not a bad man. Someone punched him once and he just looked at him. He's never been in a fight in his life."

Hajj told me before that Mr. Faisal used to teach at his house. He's a whole movie on his own. How did a Cypriot hippie end up in the company of the most extreme Islamic teachers in my country?

"That's still a sentence. 9 years and he's out." I was beginning to sound a bit lame.

Before I cycled off he told me that Faisal was applying for parole next year. I don't think he ever expects to see Mr. Hamza as a free man again. I can't really imagine it myself either.

HEAT IN LADBROKE GROVE

OK. Met Jamal and Samir today. Baking hot in Ladbroke Groove. A Policeman actually offered me a bottle of water as I waited for them outside the tube station. Fucking nice country eh? The brothers whisked me off to Ladbroke Grove mosque, hidden away below the flyover, but still quite a majestic building in a simple London sort of way, standing more or less on its own.

After they prayed I found that the unknown driver of the vehicle was Shahid Butt, a character who had come across "bostin' like" (as they say in Birmingham where he is from) in the recent BBC Documentary Dont panic I'm Islamic. I am always surprised by "fundamentalist" reaction to the name "Socialist Wanker." Shahid laughed a lot- but said he didn't want to appear in it! We went to a fantastic little cafe, hidden away below a main road slipway for buses. It was like something from roadside Pakistan.

He told me that he had met Phil Rees who had made the documentary and built up some trust with him. He was aware of the editing process, Phil had taken about 15 minutes out of a five hour conversation. He was pleased with the results. I found out that the other young stranger who was with us was Mohssin Ghailan, a son of Abu Hamza and Mustapha Kamel's older brother. I had no idea as, unlike Mustapha, he looks nothing like Abu Hamza as he is adopted. He looks about 21 -and nothing like he has done time in a Yemeni jail either. He asked me what sort of questions I would like to ask him.

I told him I wanted to know what it was like growing up, being himself in Britain. He said he wanted to talk about his dad. The "preacher of hate." What he was like as a father. He did not want to be recognisable from the film but was up for doing it.

They had just gone to visit Mr. Hamza and they had much news to report on his condition. Apparently Shahid Butt is a very close friend of the family for many years and used to be involved in the running of Finsbury Park mosque 9 years ago and knows Mr. Hamza better than anyone.

Here is an account of his and Mohssin's trip to Yemen. He told me Hamza has never recruited terrorists and never told people to kill those of other races. He says he knows of no Muslim preacher in Britain who advocates terrorist acts in this country.

As for Mr. Hamza's condition they told me he has lots of infections on his stumps and because he has no access to his hands he is at the mercy of his doctors and the screws. They gave the impression he was in a bad way and believe it is only his Islamic faith which is keeping him going.

They told me of an incident where a completely unrelated white man had punched one of Hamza's medics because they were messing him around. The guy was not a Muslim and apparently spent time in solitary confinement for his trouble. They have a letter that another prisoner inside wrote to the Sun, accusing them of lying about Hamzas situation inside. They told me Hamza is kept away from other prisoners. They are scared of him talking to anyone. Five people have become muslims in Belmarsh as a result of meeting Mr. Hamza.

Apparently Mr. Hamza remembers me well, when they talk to him.

ABU HAMZA'S SON

Now they no longer have the mosque, I don't see the evil Finsbury Park terrorist posee so much, but I still want as many people as possible who appear in the 40 hours or so of footage I have of their protest to contribute to my documentary.

This will possibly be easier now. For most of the protest the Muslims often instructed each other not to talk to me. Abdullah and Hamza once issued an edict that no one was supposed to speak to "the media" but Hamza. I could understand why. The situation was literally hysterical and they thought that if anyone said anything out of line, Hamza would get it in the neck.

I didn't consider myself to be "the media" and as far as I was concerned, every individual was taking the risk of being there, worshiping under the media spotlight so I took the view that every individual was welcome to say why to my camera if they wanted to. The young guys were the best. Really mellow London boyas.

With this is mind I got in touch with Jamal (see ALLAH AND JALLIAH) asking if he had heard from the one of Abu Hamza's sons that I had met. To me he introduced himself as Abu Haffs, in the papers he is known as Mustapha Kamel. Mustapha perhaps not suprisingly looks like a slightly smaller version of Abu Hamza though I would imagine most people wouldn't make the connection unless they knew.

I didn't speak to him so much in the two years that I covered the protest. The last time I had seen him was outside the mosque when he had told me that I should become a Muslim. We had discussed this for a while, but it wasn't easy. I felt like a fish out of water on their turf.

I'm not sure how serendipity would square with Islam, but coming out of a well known West London shopping centre yesterday, who did I bump into but Mustapha himself. Looking good, hair slicked back with one of his friends. Apparently they are both musicians now. I hope I remembered to ask if his dad was OK but I am not sure.

He confirmed that the trial was set for the 4th July. They told me they were bringing out a cd of Islamic music and showed me the cd, which from the cover looked fairly professional. I asked them both if they would like to contribute further to the film.

"As long as it is positive, we'll talk about it." they told me. "We want to get our message across to the kids with our music."

We exchanged emails and phone numbers. I said that it felt easier for me talking to them away from the Mosque which they understood.

"You know, on Friday we get our best clothes on and we go to pray. We don't have nothing against no one."

They asked me if the bones in my ears were tribal. I can't remember what I answered. The difference between what I read in the news about these guys and what I have experienced for myself always blows me away. Its like they are talking about different people. I find it hard to believe that the 20th hijacker, Bourgass, Asif Hanif, Every Muslim accused or convicted of anything are supposed to have passed through Finsbury Park mosque circa 1999-2002.

I don't have a clue. I always thought that if none of the people I met were getting arrested, there was no harm in me talking to them. I left it to all the other news gatherers to come with their accusations and then leave. I had a lot of fun filming them doing so. If you want their news, the links are down the side of this blog. This is MALUNG TV NEWS.

ASTERIX AND OBELIX

I'm over the moon that I can at least have a stab at this documentary after two years of nail biting but there are a couple of things that bother me. I've looked at a few websites Jamal has pointed out to me and its basically clear that they believe every conspiracy theory on the internet.

Thats fine.

In television-land conspiracy theorists are rarely terrorists. Jamal and co claim that the whole media is controlled by a high level conspiracy between some Jewish buisnesmen. They believe in a lot of holocaust revisionism. None of this should be a suprise. As long as they make clear that they do not have anything against Jewish people on the whole, to me it is just like someone believing that Jesus died for their sins. People believe bizzare things all of which may or may not be true.

None of this bothers me.

What really bothers me is being Hajj-less. In all my footage with Hajj he just jumps out of the screen. He's onscreen British Fundamental Islam how no one would ever imagine seeing it on T.V. Now Hajj and Abdullah have parted company I've got Obelix without an Asterix and it doesn't look right.

One of the funniest things I have on film is that the guys closest to this evil "hook" character the tabloids have built ( Abdullah and Hajj) came across more like Asterix and Obelix than scheming, evil, murderous terrorists.

I've often wondered what would be the best, and the most interesting and universally useful thing I could get on T.V. about these guys. I feel as if I want to step back with my own beliefs. To take as much neutral ground as possible is the responsible and most interesting journey to take.

In my wildest documentary dreams I would introduce misses Rightwingsparkle to Hajj.

Hajj often used to say to me,

"I will debate with anyone. Even racists. We must have understanding about these things."

I'm sure they'd find more empathy than either of them would imagine. There are so many things that misses Rightwingsparkle and Hajj would agree strongly about. God, Religion, abortion.

I'm also certain they'd have an electric discussion about what they disagree with about each others cultures and interpretations of world events.

I think what would transpire in this scenario would be useful to the people's of Britain and America, whether Right or left wing, Bible believers or heathen. What could be better television?

What would a rightwing Texan who reads this sort of thing make of an old Islamic Fundamentalist like Hajj who reads this? Would they even meet? I want to find out.

ABDULLAH AND CHIPS

When I read the Mirror article it made me laugh but the Guardian took things to another level. People were making allegations that the brothers had intimidated people. These allegations were backed up in print by the Police. Would they be backed up in court? I and the Mets security camera have definately filmed a lot of hot-headedness but most of what I had seen was between journalists and masked Muslims. What had been happening whilst I was away?

I called Jamal who assured me that it was all lies. Feeling a bit better I called Mr. Abdullah. He denied it all.

“You’ve been up there with us for many months you know how it is. They’ve been trying to push me out the whole time.”

“But I’ve also seen your brothers in masks jostling with the media, how do you know some of them didn't act outside of your control?”

I repeated a few of the Guardian allegations to him. He was adamant that it was all lies.

"When you accept a leader in Islam you do what they tell you, no one would have followed anyone home to beat them up."

I wanted to meet up to film. But where? I suggested one of the cafes Muslim Cypriots frequent in South london.

"I wont set foot in them. They are full of drug dealers."

I asked if we could film at Hajj's place. He asked me to call him. Had they fallen out?

I called Hajj and he said that he had dropped out of the whole thing months ago. He had advised Abdullah to compromise with the trustees, he couldn’t stand the bad atmosphere up there. When I put the Guardian allegations about intimidation and violence to him he said

“I don’t know and I don’t want to know.”

Hajj wasn’t happy to film at his and wherever Abdullah was, they didn’t want me to know about either. This worried me slightly as Hajj and Jamal were the people who had made the most effort to reach an understanding with me over the last two years.

Could the guys have been beating people up? I wanted to believe Abdullah. It seemed to me over the last two years that one of his biggest failings was his uncompromising honesty, but in the background I saw pictures of unruly masked Muslims who didn’t trust me and were advising against working with me even after the colossal effort I have made over two years to understand their side.

I finally met Abu Abdullah about 10 pm on Thursday in the same fish and chip shop they had taken me to over a year ago wearing exactly the same sunglasses he had been pictured in on the front cover of the Mirror. He refused to take them off throughout the interview.

“Wicked sunglasses.” I told him. I came straight to the point.

“You had better be telling me the truth about all this. I don’t want to waste my time if you are just a bunch of bully boys.”

He assured me he was telling the truth.

“Look you’re going to have to take your sunglasses off. If you want anyone to believe you they want to see your eyes man.”

“If they want to vilify me and accuse me looking like this then this is how I will defend myself. I’m not here to make anyones life easier.”

“Oh, I know that.” I told him.

This was the first time I had seen him since last November when we had arranged a meeting to talk about filming a serious documentary, which he had pulled out of at the last minute because I hadn’t phoned to confirm.

“You know I’m going to have to go quite hard on you if you want to defend these allegations.”

“You do what you have to do. I am telling the truth.”

I put my headphones on and switched on the camera, hopeful that the sound of sizzling chips wouldn’t encroach to much.

I asked him to repeat the events of the last week. He told me how their caretaker had called him when a group of people had turned up to take over the Mosque. The Police were inside and barred him from entering the Mosque. There had been no trouble and after an argument he left.

I asked him if they had enforced their will by violence and intimidation, which he denied. I repeated Kamal Helbawy's allegations that people were afraid to go and pray there because of him and his friends. He said that all were welcome to pray there. I was struggling over the questions because I couldn’t read the hastily written notes I had made from the internet only half an hour earlier.

Abdullah hadn’t read the Guardian article, but particularly wanted to address what was written about him in the Mirror.

“You know that I don’t believe that the British people are filthy. I never said that. I was talking about the Politicians. They know that.”

"Do you remember the guy from the Mirror?" I asked.

"Yes and I suspected him." he answered.

“When I arrived at the mosque you preached against people with facial piercings on three separate occasions. I've got facial piercings.Were you threatening me?” I asked.

“No. no. In Islam it is my duty to teach. If someone comes who is doing something wrong I have to tell them.” He faltered slightly looking really apologetic. I was aware that away from his mosque, in a South London chippy we were just two British people sitting across a table talking.

“But your tone is quite angry Mr. Abdullah...” I tried to look at his eyes behind the glasses.

"Just because of the way I say things doesn't mean that I am threatening normal people. My threats are to the people in power..." he sort of tailed off. I'm going to have to ask this one again as it seems to me that its the way Abdullah preaches which is so unacceptable to "Normal BBC society."

"Listen, even my friends on the so called "left-wing" of the media ask me why I am doing this story. They think you are a bunch of nutters. Are you a bunch of nutters?"

"No. We believe in the Koran as it was revealed to the prophet..."

"You preached that a small group of Jewish paedophiles run the planet. Do you understand how crazy that sounds to most people?" I asked.

"In is writtern in their scriptures in Sanhedrinn..."

"That was all written along time ago. Jamal told me that Mohamed maried someone of nine years old, Mr. Abdullah"

" Im not prepared to talk about that until you understand more about Islam."

We didn't get into an arguement but came a bit close.

“You preached from Leviticus 20 that homosexuals should be killed, Mr. Abdullah. Do you advocate Gay bashing?” He looked genuinely hurt that I had asked the question.

“No. Not at all.”

"If I didn't like that and wanted the government to pass a law banning people from preaching from that part of the bible, do you think I'd have any luck?" I asked.

"You may well do."

"And you'd go to prison defending your right to preach from that particular part of the Bible?"

"I may well have to."

"How do you feel about being British?"

“I like Britian, I am British. I am a Muslim first and British second but I am not a threat to the British People. You know that.”

How about what it said in the Mirror about you “Hailing the honourable brothers in Guantanamo Bay?”

“That is true. In Guantanamo Bay Muslims are being held without trial. They are my brothers. I believe that they are innocent.It is the duty of all Muslims to stand up for their brothers who are oppressed all over the world. It is not a choice for Muslims.”

I read more from the Guardian to him:

A senior member of the mosque told the Guardian that he had been surrounded and punched unconscious inside the mosque about a month ago. "I went inside, they just ran at me, I was circled and punched. I woke up after a few seconds, I just walked out. This is not Islam, you can't tell them anything, you will be bullied and attacked."

“Lies. Garbage. It would be totally Haram for me or any Muslim to do any of that.”

“Listen Mr. Abdullah, you preached on many many occasions that the truth would stand clear of all falsehood. Is this the truth?” I asked.

“Yes. Everything I told you is the truth.”

We spoke a bit more about the possibility of a proper documentary with complete access. He said he would be unhappy to do it if Hajj was involved. I told him that I wasn’t really happy to continue without Hajj as he had always been the most friendly person to me of anyone I had met in Finsbury park.

" You asked me them questions like you were a copper." said Mr. Abdullah.

“Look, I am just a film maker. These are serious allegations. I am interested in what people believe and I have no reason to twist people’s words. If this works out for me I want to go to the states to make a film about Republicans.”

“ Do you think they would entertain you? “ he asked.

“ Why not? You did.” I replied.

Abu Abdullah smiled and left still wearing his huge multi coloured mirror shades. It never occurred to me that maybe someone had hit him.

I took my camera home. The next morning I looked through what I had. The tape had jammed every few seconds and the sound was unintelligible. As my thoughts of rushing my tape to channel 4 news faded I imagined how Abdullah complete with shades would be received anyway. I also wondered if this was now my opportunity to try and convince him to turn to my "religion" as he had made so much effort to convert me.

“Coming to a trance party Mr. Abdullah?" In his shades he looked like he was on his way back from one.

Full of nerves I headed up to the Mosque to film.

ALLEGATIONS IN A REAL NEWSPAPER

No idea if this is true or not. This is the guardian article.

Muslim hardliners who took control of the Finsbury Park mosque in north London were deposed at the weekend after allegations that opponents had been beaten and intimidated,

But the Guardian has learned that in December hardliners retook control. They are alleged to have enforced their will by violence and intimidation and to have preached sermons which some at the mosque regarded as extreme.

On Saturday trustees appointed last week changed the locks and took physical control of the building.

Police officers went to the mosque in case of trouble, but did not enter it.

Kamal Helbawy, a spokesman for the new trustees, said: "People were afraid to go in and pray or to do activities. People were afraid of those who had seized the power."

Dr Helbawy said those who had seized control would be allowed to pray at the mosque but would be banned from giving sermons.

"They are not allowed to preach and teach their own ideas. We consider them extremists, they are advocating violence, they are not preaching the middle way of Islam."

A senior member of the mosque told the Guardian that he had been surrounded and punched unconscious inside the mosque about a month ago. "I went inside, they just ran at me, I was circled and punched. I woke up after a few seconds, I just walked out. This is not Islam, you can't tell them anything, you will be bullied and attacked."

He said another mosque elder had been followed home and attacked. At least two assaults on people opposed to the alleged hardliners have been reported to the police.

A senior police source said: "We had become aware that local people felt intimidated and have not been able to go in. It was all unsavoury and unsatisfactory."

I have no idea if this is true, I am on the case. Last I heard Jamal was alleging that the Saudi governments money was somehow linked to this...

ABU ABDULLAH

Mirror, mirror on the wall...Who is the exposed: New preacher of hate today?

Jamal called on his way to an emergency meeting. He believes that the mosque was taken over at the weekend by some Muslims from the other mosque In Finsbury Park along with a member of the Respect coalition party. He alleges that they might have the financial backing of the Saudi government.

Apparently the Police were involved and would not let Mr. Abdullah back into the mosque. Reading the Mirror article just makes me laugh really,

MUSLIM cleric Abu Abdullah is exposed today as a ranting preacher of hate.

An undercover Mirror reporter spent six weeks attending notorious Finsbury Park mosque where Abdullah has taken over from hook-handed Abu Hamza who is awaiting trial in Belmarsh jail.
He heard the cleric brand disbelievers "filthy", hail the "honourable brothers" of Guantanamo Bay and rail against the "infidel" West. Abdullah urged: "Stand up and be counted."
The Muslim Council of Britain said his views bore an "uncanny similarity" to the outlook of the BNP.

Now I don't doubt that Abdullah probably said all of this, Its just the way it is put. Mr. Abdullah believes that my malung lifestyle is filthy- and he bought me fish and chips once.

He definately "Hails the honourable brothers in Guantanamo" probably because he believes that they are innocent Muslims held without trial for 3 years.

As for the BNP similarities, I've been agonising over how to get this dealt with on film for ages. I wish the UBA guys had a chance to talk to the Muslim brothers in greater detail when they came to protest at Finsbury park. I am sure they would find a lot more in common than they would have imagined. There is a style of "street" Londoner that a middle class twat like myself cannot properly comprehend.

I was discussing this with Jamal just the other day (see ALLAH AND JALIAH)It's good that the mirror journalist gives a nod to them as well:

STRANGELY, some young worshippers are dressed in designer gear, Nike trainers and Levi jeans, and sport neatly trimmed goatee beards.

Read the whole mirror article here

ALLAH AND JAHILIAH

On my journey to Finsbury Park Mosque I wondered whether there could ever be any link between British Fundamental Islam and the peace “movement.” The idea wasn’t too serious. I don’t believe that there is a “movement” anyway but it intrigued me as to what they would make of me and I of them.

I realised straight away that I was blatantly the only person in Finsbury Park and possibly the whole country on this mission. With all my interviews, arguments, missed meetings and unanswered emails over two years the only people left standing who are still exploring this link are myself and Jamal.

For a Malung I surprised myself how dedicated I was in my filming over the last two years. The brothers possibly want to use some of my footage in Hamza’s defence. I don’t mind. The main evidence they are using against him is video evidence filmed in the Mosque anyway and he spent a lot of time refuting it outside. Looking through it all with Jamal we laughed about how much grief his masked friends were giving me sometimes when I was filming.

This led to an enlightening discussion about the difference between London’s “street” Muslim’s (the guys in the masks and Nike trainers) who didn’t trust a kaffir with a camera whoever they were and himself and Hajj who understood protest culture, knew where I was coming from and what a surprise it was that anyone of my ilk would be taking an interest in Finsbury park.

Jamal assured me that he had explained this all to Abdullah.

“ I told him, these guys usually hate Islam more than Bush does. They wouldn’t come anywhere near us...” which is true.

It was my previous background in born again Christianity- also the bane of anarcho/hippies which hooked me to this thing. I understand the mentality of monotheistic converting religions because I used to be part of one myself. I am not offended by people who want to convert me, as long as their motivation comes from a concern for my soul rather than a desire to be right. I can tell the difference in seconds and am really respectful of one and totally offended by the other.

If I was looking for a Fundamental Islamist to form any sort of alliance with idealogically I really couldn’t find anyone closer than Jamal. Hajj told me before how he believed that Jamal had a great future ahead of him as an Islamic teacher. I hope so. He has spoken a few times about how he met Mark Thomas on the tube once and wanted to send him some stuff.

It really is uncanny. When we were talking about how difficult it was to stop smoking weed he quoted me my favourite line from Jackie Brown where the Samuel L Jackson character says that dope

“Robs you of your ambition.” too true.

He also said that before he became a Muslim he had an idea for a screenplay referring to people of our age and political persuasion as

“Thatcher’s Babies”

I once was toying with an idea for a film about underground squatter culture called

“Thatcher’s bastard children”

Throughout our conversation he casually dropped in names of bands he used to like, festivals he used to go to. When I said I was from Dorset he answered

“P.J.Harvey’s from there.”

I really want to film what Jamal and his wife think about giving up music for Islam as it was obviously such an important part of their pre Islamic life. This is all totally original stuff about British culture I believe people would love to see on TV.

Jamal refers to his previous life as

“When I was in Jahiliah”

He doesn’t glorify it, but it was strange to hear from such a devout Muslim who was leaving my house to pray outside every few hours how he used to be doing Calvin Klein’s (Lines of Coke and Ketamine) with his friends at work. I’m not going to plaster it all over Socialistwanker, I think Hajj is a bit upset with my “Hajj on Dope” piece anyway. I meant no offence, I just want part of my film to talk directly to my “malung” audience and Jamal is the only Muslim from Finsbury park who understands why.

If this film is about the people of Finsbury park Mosque refuting allegations of terrorism in the mainstream media its a numbers game as to who they can convince and which person can relate best to which social group. I think Abdullah would appeal to Christians and Muslims watching but he would definately offend British "Malungs" who would not care about his or Hamza's plight. This is where Hajj and Jamal come in.

The newspapers are full of stories at the moment about Bez winning Big brother and what it says about how the British people see themselves. I see a nation full of "malungs." Drug and drink fucked diamonds who wish the world was a better place. Jamal and Hajj can communicate who they are and what they believe directly to these people. I don't personaly believe in Islam but I owe it to them to give them their chance because they have taken a chance and trusted me. This is what I love most about documentary making. Fuck the dispassionate even handed bullshit, I care about these people.

Neither of them want to glorify drug use on British TV. They only tell me these things to say

“I was once like you, looking for something in drugs and physical pleasure and I gave it up to follow Allah.”

In conversation Jamal also explained the difference between the view’s of Omar Bakri’s Al-Mujaarharoun movement and Abu Hamza regarding September 11th. Apparently it was Al-Muj who organized the controversial “Towering day in history” event in Finsbury park.

If I understand it correctly the Al-Muj view is sort of

“Yeah, Muslims did it, it was a fight back against U.S. Imperialism in the middle east”

Whereas Jamal, Hamza and co took a step back and analysed the data Muslim’s and non Muslims collected and came to believe that the whole thing was a CIA/Mossad plot and the towers came down in a controlled explosion. They do not believe that Bin laden either did it or admitted to it. Far out. These are the views they want to expand on if the TV want a show which demonstrates their point of view.

Looking over my footage of Hamza’s preaching with Jamal made me see him in a different light. He was quick to point out how Hamza said

“Sometimes the truth comes from someone who is not a believer. We should accept it from where it comes.”

I found it hard to make any judgement about Hamza with all the buzz around him at the time. I wish now that I had spoke to Hajj and Jamal a lot more when he was around. I can see that the Sun really want him to be guilty. They want a terrorist “Bin Laden of Britain” really badly.

Although I want to present this as objectively as possible I can see that I want the old guy to be innocent. I don’t know why. I don’t think he’d do the same for me if I got in trouble. It’s the little things...Samir telling me how Abu Hamza was like a father to him and his brother, even calling him about things like parking tickets. No one has got this on film. Not even me -yet. I don’t know why it has fascinated me to the point of obsession for two years.

Although I can see that my success or failure in this project is very much tied up in a sort of post punk middle class angst to me, to them it will be created if Allah wills it to be so.

Before he left Jamal told me that he believed it was good that a non Muslim was after the truth behind their story. I've been saying this to Abdullah for over a year now. Jamal wants to make a connection to “counter-culture” groups. We both know that this would be difficult, nigh on impossible as such people are often radical feminists and gay rights activists, but if anyone from the Islamic world could do it it would be Jamal. I’d like to film him trying.

The main difference between us is that I believe in British TV’s forte- presenting the other side of controversial issues and he doesn’t. I believe that the guys at Finsbury Park Mosque are not terrorists, but as such this doc would be pretty pointless if people who believed that they were didn’t get to see it.

If they are not terrorists the only people who benefit from their continued silence are those who claim that they are. Their opponents have created a picture of mad-dog Islamists who cannot articulate their views except by bombing innocents. Its up to these guys to articulate a different story, if they want to. Abu Hamza’s celebrity is such that they, more than any other Muslim group have the opportunity to do so. I love being part of this story. I hope they’ll give it a go.

BICYCLE THIEVES

Jamal from Finsbury Park mosque has been round my new home twice now and I feel that things will hopefully get back on track in documentaryville, thanks to him only. Hajj and Abdullah are the two pillars of this documentary and Jamal is probably the only person at Finsbury Park mosque who can "translate" between them and myself. He understands the world that I live in and would definitely be able to communicate his views to the "generation X" malung audience. I still hope to persuade go on camera himself.

He went outside my house to pray twice because he wasn't allowed to pray in a room with pictures on the walls. One of the girls I live with was just arriving as he bent down in front of her bicycle. She thought he was trying to steal it and was about to accuse him until she saw him prostrate himself on the floor in front of it.

He told me of his conversion (or reversion as they call it) to Islam, how he used to put on raves in South london, and how he used to be a fan of Rage against the Machine. His wife used to be a rapper. If I could put him in the dark, or find some way of not showing his face it would be great to get his words into this doc somehow.

Jamal has also lent me a couple of CD's and a DVD relating to what the brothers believe. The CD's were made by a company called Halaqah Media.The DVD was made by the power hour radio show and details some 9/11 conspiracy theories. The first time I met Mr. Abdullah he was preaching Alex Jones theory that George Bush, Donald Rumsfeld and co sacrificed children to an Owl God in Bohemian grove.

I've worried about how to deal with this, as to me my documentary has always been about what I can find out for myself. My impressions of Abu Hamza and friends from the street and as such these theories are beyond my scope. I couldn't prove or disprove them. It all depends on budget I suppose. It'd be nice to interview the people who put them forward. I wonder what Alex Jones would make of Abu Hamza's friends quoting him.