The radical British Muslim preacher Anjem Choudary was secretly filmed poking fun at fellow Muslims who work in 9-to-5 jobs by pointing out that several revered Islamic figures hardly work one or two days a year.
According to The Sun, Choudary urged his followers to learn from the example of Muslim leaders like himself, saying: "Claim your Jihad Seeker's Allowance," a reference to the fact that he lives on generous state benefits.
He mocked people who work in 9-to-5 jobs, suggesting that Muslims would have more time to plot holy wars if they live on state benefits.
The former lawyer backed up his argument saying that some of the most revered Muslim figures hardly work one or two days in a year. He said: "The rest of the year they were busy with jihad (holy war) and things like that."
The radical Islamic teacher who had been banned under the British Terrorism Act from running an organization continued (see video above): "The rest of the year they were busy with jihad [holy war] and things like that. People will say, 'Ah, but you are not working.' But the normal situation is for you to take money from the kuffar [non-believers]. So we take Jihad Seeker’s Allowance. You need to get support."
According to The Sun, he chuckled as he told his audience: "You find people are busy working the whole of their life. They wake up at 7 o’clock. They go to work at 9 o’clock. They work for eight, nine hours a day. They come home at 7 o’clock, watch EastEnders, sleep, and they do that for 40 years of their life. That is called slavery. And at the end of their life they realize their pension isn't going to pay out anything, the mortgage isn't going to pay out anything. Basically they are going to lose everything, commit suicide. What kind of a life is that, honestly. That is the life of kuffar (non-believer)."
The Telegraph reports that Choudary, who has four children, claims more than £25,000 a year in benefits. The Sun claims the sum Choudary receives is £8,000 more than the take-home pay of some British soldiers fighting in Afghanistan. Figures The Sun claimed it obtained in 2010 showed Choudary received £15,600 a year in housing benefit to maintain his £320,000 house in Leytonstone, East London. "He also got £1,820 council tax allowance, £5,200 income support and £3,120 child benefits — equivalent to a taxed salary of £32,500."
According to The Telegrpah, Choudary told an audience at a three-hour meeting in a community center in Bethnal Green, East London, that David Cameron, Barack Obama and the leaders of Pakistan and Egypt were the devil (shaitan). He urged Muslims to kill them. He said it was wrong for true Muslims to deny any part of Islam, including jihad and the sharia law. He said: "What ultimately do we want to happen to them (i.e the unbelievers)? Maybe I’m the only one who wants the shaitan to be killed. The shaitan should be finished. There should be no shaitan. All should be obedience to Allah, or you have no right to call yourself Muslim."
He expressed satisfaction with the jihadist 9/11 terror attacks on the US, boasting that the attacks "shook the enemy." He said "white supremacists" wished they also had the courage to fly planes into skyscrapers like the 9/11 "martyrs" did. He urged his audience with a chilling finality: “You must hate in your heart — Cameron, Obama, all that they worship. Democracy, freedom, secularism, the parliament, all the MPs and the Presidents, all the kuffar’s ideas, everything the people worship, we have to believe that they are bad and we have got to reject them. Reject them with our tongue. Reject them with our heart. In our heart have hatred towards them."
The Muslim cleric regaled his listening audience with a list of outlandish sharia regulations: "We do not sleep on our stomach, but on our side. You are not allowed to keep lions or tigers. Snakes or scorpions cannot be kept. Even dogs, except if it is a hunting dog or guard dog, or shepherd dog.Did you know you are not allowed to ride a sheep or a cat? You cannot hunt domesticated animals. Fishing — not all maggots are allowed. A man cannot be on top of another man. Sometimes you squeeze into a car. Your thigh cannot be on top of another. It is prohibited. Be careful of that. You cannot sleep under the same blanket as another man, this sort of thing. We need to know our relationship with inanimate objects. You cannot cut a tree without going to the hellfire."
The Telegraph reports that at a meeting in Slough, he proclaimed that Islam would ultimately take over Europe through immigration. He said: “Now we are taking over Birmingham and populating it. Brussels is 30 per cent, 40 per cent Muslim and Amsterdam. Bradford is 17 per cent Muslim. These people are like a tsunami going across Europe. And over here we’re just relaxing, taking over Bradford brother. The reality is changing."
According to the Daily Mail, when he was later confronted with the recorded speeches, he said evasively: "Many people in the Muslim community are on Jobseeker’s Allowance and welfare benefits. As a joke I may say something about Jihad Seeker’s Allowance. Clearly it is not a Jihad Seeker’s Allowance.The word jihad means struggle. It does not necessarily mean fighting. I have never said to anyone to kill anyone in this country."
He added: "Cameron is doing satanic actions but I am not asking for anyone to be killed. We want everyone to worship Islam. I invite Cameron and the Queen to worship Islam. That would be an ideal situation. We may ridicule the Queen. She is engaged in war, her family are engaged in war in Afghanistan — also the Prime Minister. So they are the subject of being mocked and ridiculed. There is nothing wrong with that."
He spoke further on his call to Muslims to seek state benefits: “I was talking about the economic system in Islam. I was talking about how in Islam basic needs would be provided and how things would be different from what we see nowadays in Britain. As a joke in this talk to lighten the atmosphere I said 'Jihad Seeker’s Allowance.' What I say in a lecture in a joking manner when I’m talking about the economic system should be taken in the context. If I was doing something illegal I’m sure the police and authorities would have done something about it by now."
The Sun reports that in a radio interview with Ian Dale on LBC, Choudary proclaimed Osama Bin Laden a hero, saying: "He was someone who stood up for Muslims. He sacrificed his life and wealth for what he believes.He stood up against the superpowers of his time. I believe he was a hero. He was my Muslim brother. Around the world he’s a hero."
He also denied calling for the PM to be assassinated.