Anjem Choudary profile: Radical preacher's path to voice of Islamic extremism in Britain

Hate preacher: Anjem Choudary has been the voice of Islamic extremism in Britain for a generation
PA
Justin Davenport16 August 2016
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Hate preacher Anjem Choudary has been the untouchable voice of Islamic extremism in Britain for a generation.

For the past ten years he has been the leading figure in radical Islam after his mentor Omar Bakri Mohammad fled to Lebanon following the 7/7 London bombings.

Born to market trader of Pakistani origin in Welling in 1967, he attended school in Woolwich and later went on to Southampton University to study medicine.

As a student there was little sign of his later fanaticism. Known to his friends as Andy, he was renowned for smoking cannabis, casual sex, experimenting with LSD and his ability to down a pint of cider within seconds.

But Choudary failed his first year exams and he changed direction to complete a degree studying law at Guildford before moving back to London to work as a solicitor.

Radical: Omar Bakri Mohammad

His path to radicalisation began when he met the firebrand preacher Omar Bakri Mohammed - known as the ‘Tottenham Ayatollah’ - at a mosque in Woolwich.

He joined the preacher’s radical Al-Muhajiroun organisation and quickly became Bakri Mohammed’s right hand man.

Around this time Choudary met his wife Rubana Akhtar and the couple married in 1996 when he was 29. They have since separated but have a daughter and two sons.

Meanwhile, Choudary was gaining a reputation as a leading light in Al-Muhajiroun, a group whose ultimate aim was to “fly the flag of Allah above 10 Downing Street” and enforce Sharia law in Britain.

Bakri Mohammed disbanded al-Muhajiroun in 2004 amid mounting attention from police. The hate preacher fled to Lebanon in 2005 but al-Muhajiroun re-surfaced under a new name with Choudary as leader.

Since then it has resurfaced under 10 pseudonyms including al-Ghurabaa, Islam4UK and Muslims Against Crusades, all of which have been outlawed by the Home Office.

Last year a study found that out of 51 British terror plots, attacks and incidents, people involved with al-Muhajiroun or its offshoots were responsible for 23.

Choudary has only been prosecuted once in the UK despite links to some of the most serious terrorists to carry out attacks here and abroad. Always aware he is being monitored by the security agencies he chooses his words with care.

In 2006 he was fined just £500 for failing to give police the required six days notice of the protests against the Danish publications of cartoons of Mohammed.

Since his first few years as a solicitor there is no evidence that he has worked. Once he was estimated to be receiving around £25,740 annually from the state

He has long revelled in his reputation as Britain’s most reviled individual.

In an interview with the Standard six years ago he said: “That’s a badge I would wear with pride. It’s inevitable that when you offer an alternative morality and way of life, many people will hate you for it."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in