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ISIS Recruiter Lives Right In London, Advocating Global Caliphate

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Jonah Bennett Contributor
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An alleged recruiter for the Islamic State in London’s backyard is calling for the overthrow of the western order and the triumph of the Caliphate.

Mizanur Rahman, a 32-year-old radical preacher, insists that he’s not a recruiter for ISIS, but police and intelligence officials believe otherwise, The Washington Post reports.

In addition to a blanket ban in Internet access, Rahman has to wear an electronic bracelet and is barred from meeting more than two people at a single time.

He’s currently out on the streets on bail after being convicted in August of trying to shore up support for ISIS. He could face up to 10 years in prison. He also spent two years in the clink under the charge of “inciting racial hatred” after giving a speech in which he said he wanted to see British soldiers “coming home in body bags” from their deployment in Iraq.

Rahman has a certain infamy, having gained a global following after posting charismatic speeches on YouTube and Twitter and urging his followers to join the caliphate. While he did not specifically pressure his followers to join the Islamic State, police think that the implications of his preaching are clear enough to warrant a serious crackdown.

Intelligence officials are entirely unconvinced that Rahman’s activities have occurred in a vacuum isolated from ISIS networks.

Rahman is convinced that Sharia law is a superior method of social organization across all domains: political, economic, legal and cultural. For Rahman, Sharia law is superior enough that it will eventually become the dominant framework in Britain, and eventually, an Islamic flag will fly above the White House after being conquered by militants.

This method of conquering, according to Rahman, is little different than the West’s practices of violently spreading democracy to countries without any sort of democratic roots.

Radical Islam is making major inroads into Britain. A total of 20 percent of Muslims in the country sympathize with those leaving the UK to join fighters in Syria, marking a clear divergence between the official stance of the government and a large segment of the population, which continues to grow in size.

According to 2011 census data, there are 2.7 million Muslims living in Britain, meaning that about 500,000 sympathize with Jihadist movements, whether ISIS or other rebel groups, in Syria. The poll, conducted by Sun, also found that 17 percent of respondents believe that religious identity is more important than British identity.

A poll conducted by the BBC earlier this year found 30 percent support among British Muslims for the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attacks in France. And 11 percent said that because the Paris magazine published pictures of the Prophet Mohammed, it deserved to be attacked.

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