Saviour Sect

The Saviour Sect [also known as the ‘Saved Sect’] is one of two UK-based Islamist militant groups banned by the British government on July 17, 2006.

Islamism is a totalitarian ideology adhered to by Muslim extremists (e.g. the Taliban, Hamas and Osama bin Laden‘s Al-Qaeda). It is considered to be a distortion of Islam. Many Islamists engage in terrorism in pursuit of their goals. [See Islam and Terrorism]

Al-Ghurabaa and the Saved Sect [Saviour Sect] are the first two organisations to be banned under new laws outlawing the glorification of terrorism.

John Reid, the Home Secretary, laid an order in Parliament making it a criminal offence for a person to belong to or encourage support for either group.

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It will also be illegal to arrange meetings in their support or to wear clothes or carry articles in public indicating support for either group.
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The banned groups are believed to be offshoots of Al-Mujahiroun, the militant organisation founded by Omar Bakri Mohammad. They were involved in protests this year against the publication of cartoons of the prophet Muhammad in a Danish newspaper.
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Al-Ghurabaa and the Saved Sect came to wide public notice when they were named as the organisers of the protests outside the Danish Embassy in London in February.

Protesters brandished placards with slogans such as “butcher those who mock Islam”, “massacre those who insult Islam” and “behead the one who insults the prophet”.
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The Saved Sect website also distributes “extremist material” covered by the glorification offence, said the Home Office.

Omar Bakri Mohammad, who founded al-Muhajiroun in 1996, was barred from re-entering Britain after travelling to Lebanon.
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Saved Sect: The group’s website disseminates extremist material. It is believed that the Saved Sect and al-Ghurabaa websites work in tandem to disseminate an Islamist message under the umbrella of Ahlus-Sunnah Wal-Jammaa’ah, described as a sect within Islam
– Source: Militant Islamist groups banned under terror law, Times Online, UK, July 18, 2006

The protests referred to above were part of the worldwide over-reaction of Muslims against the publication – in a Danish newspaper – of cartoons featuring Islam’s prophet Mohammed. Their behavior at this particular event was widely condemned, and goes a long way toward explaining why the groups are now banned:

The Conservatives last night called on the police to arrest militant Muslims who threatened Westerners with violence during protests in London over newspaper cartoons that mocked the Prophet Mohammed.

As fanatics – some dressed as suicide bombers – staged more protests yesterday, David Davis, the shadow home secretary, said the police should take action against what were clearly offences of incitement to murder.

At the height of the protests on Friday demonstrators chanted slogans threatening more London bombings, praising the “magnificent” 9/11 hijackers and waving placards saying “Massacre those who insult Islam”, “Europe you will pay” and “Europe you’ll come crawling when Mujahideen come roaring”.

Mr Davis said last night: “Clearly some of these placards are incitement to violence and, indeed, incitement to murder – an extremely serious offence which the police must deal with and deal with quickly.

“Whatever your views on these cartoons, we have a tradition of freedom of speech in this country which has to be protected. Certainly there can be no tolerance of incitement to murder.”
– Source: Muslim protests are incitement to murder, say Tories, Telegraph, UK, Feb. 5, 2006

Articles

Inside the sect that loves terror, Sunday Times, UK, Aug. 7, 2005

A Sunday Times reporter spent two months as a recruit inside the Saviour Sect to reveal for the first time how the extremist group promotes hatred of “non-believers” and encourages its followers to commit acts of violence including suicide bombings.

The reporter witnessed one of the sect’s leading figures, Sheikh Omar Brooks, telling a young audience, including children, that it was the duty of Muslims to be terrorists and boasting, just days before the July 7 attacks, that he wanted to die as a suicide bomber.

After the attacks that claimed 52 lives, another key figure, Zachariah, justified them by saying that the victims were not “innocent” people because they did not abide by strict Islamic laws. In the immediate aftermath the sect’s leader, Omar Bakri Mohammed, said: “For the past 48 hours I’m very happy.” Two weeks later he referred to the bombers as the “fantastic four”.

News & News Archive

Saviour Sect news tracker

See Also

Islam
Islam and Terrorism
Islamism
Q & A about the Terrorism Act 2006 (UK) Posted on the BBC News web site