David Myatt is certainly no stranger to ideologies, having been active in the
neo-Nazi camp and also founding the hardline British National Socialist
Movement (BNS). In 1998, all that changed when he walked into a British mosque and
announced his conversion to Islam.
David Myatt’s discovery of Islam is vividly portrayed in an
Internet article he wrote for the
Saved Sect website.
His association with the Saved Sect speaks volumes on the stream of Islam he is partial to.
The Saved Sect, more
formally known as the Savior Sect, receives its name from the famous hadith
(tradition):
My nation will be divided into 73 sects, all of them will be in the Fire except for one (the saved sect)…Like most other Salafist flavors that derive the idea of a saved sect (al-Firqat un-Naajiyah) from the hadith, the Saved Sect merely claims to represent the views of the saved sect without claiming that they themselves are saved.
Though it is disputed by some, the Saved Sect is widely alleged to be an offshoot of
al-Muhajiroun, which was
set up by
Omar Bakri Muhammad as a front outfit for
Hizb
ut-Tahrir in Saudi Arabia. Al-Muhajiroun broke away from Hizb ut-Tahrir in
1996 and was officially disbanded in 2004.
Tariq Ramadan (Western
Muslims and the Future of Islam) calls Hizb ut-Tahrir a
Salafist-Reformist
group, with clear political aims to re-establish an Islamic caliphate. The
Saved Sect- along with its now defunct affiliate, al-Muhajiroun- do not detract much from this aim.
Like most Salafist flavors,
the Saved Sect shoulders the burden of establishing dawah (evangelism) to remind Muslims- most
of whom they deem to be
on the brink of
apostasy- about their duties.
Their manifesto also includes:
1. Labeling popular scholars such as Sheikh Hamza Yusuf and Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi as apostates. Not even Saudi-Salafists like Sheikh ibn Baaz or Sheikh ibn Uthaymeen are spared.Such lists are hardly novel, since ideologies don’t ordinarily tolerate one another. The Saved Sect’s criticism of popular Saudi sheikhs, for example, ensures hostility from a tireless and well-endowed quarter; that of Saudi Salafism. However, to extend the point about general ideological intolerance, Saudi Salafism does share a common enemy with the Saved Sect. Both groups detest Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi and many conservative Salafists label him as the Wicked Mufti. A Mufti, of course, is an Islamic scholar who is qualified to issue religious edicts called fatwas. Combined with the appellation, wicked, it denotes a person who perhaps issues heretical fatwas.
2. Positively identifying the Saudi kingdom as the personification of the ancient cult of secessionists known as Khawaarij (seceders). [see khawaarij]
…[they] tend to have the same habit as did the Soviets, labeling a ‘deviation’ with the name of the thinker (Suroorism, Qaradawism, Qutbism).
Aside from having a whole movement named after him, Sheikh al-Qaradawi is also the target of any number of threats. They range from relatively harmless name-calling, like being dubbed a "barking dog" by no less a personage than Sheikh Muqbil ibn Haadee al-Waadi’ee, to out-and-out appeals for his execution. In this, Sheikh Abu Basser at-Tartousi, a man who explicitly styles himself a Wahhabi [1] and christens the Saudi regime as a kafir (Islam-rejecting) establishment, quotes a verdict by Saudi Sheikh ibn Uthaymeen [2],
…if he [al-Qaradawi] doesn’t repent, he is to be killed as an apostate.
The Saved Sect, however, carefully maintains that it does not,
…advocate any type of violence towards any particular nation.Yet, ironically enough, in an article entitled "How Islam will dominate the world", the group recommends several ways in which a state or country can become Daar ul-Islam (the domain of Islam). One of them states that Muslims should,
…rise, overthrow the government and implement the Sharee’ah by force…
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Salaam Alaikum:
As a thoughtful writer, may I commend to you my book, Master of the Jinn: A Sufi Novel, a mystical adventure tale on the Sufi path of Love. I think you’ll like it.
An excellent blog
You can view the book and read an excerpt at http://www.masterofthejinn.com
In the Name of the Most Merciful, 10% of all profits go to charity.
Ya Haqq,
Irving
ahahahahahahaha
*falls off chair*
These guys are incredibly scary people. The area I was at University in the UK had a few of the supporters of this group back when it was al-Muhajiroun.
The interesting thing for me, as a convert, is seeing which “type” of Islam different people convert to. I think a lot has to do with their underlying character, and this influences their reasons. For me, it was the universal ethics/moral teaching, as well as the well-refined legal process which appealed to my heart. I do know that others convert because of the wholesale rejection of “the West” and suchlike, however. Which is rather scary.
Interesting article nontheless!
These guys are incredibly scary people. The area I was at University in the UK had a few of the supporters of this group back when it was al-Muhajiroun.
The interesting thing for me, as a convert, is seeing which “type” of Islam different people convert to. I think a lot has to do with their underlying character, and this influences their reasons. For me, it was the universal ethics/moral teaching, as well as the well-refined legal process which appealed to my heart. I do know that others convert because of the wholesale rejection of “the West” and suchlike, however. Which is rather scary.
Interesting article nontheless!