A small group of Muslim extremists are patrolling the streets of East London, publicly targeting gays, drinkers and women who aren’t dressed modestly, in an attempt to enforce Sharia law.
The self-styled “Muslim Patrol” group has posted videos of at least three verbal attacks on YouTube. Out of the handful who participate in the attacks, at least five have been arrested on suspicion of harassment, according to CNN. The group’s alleged purpose is to defend Islamic morals, but numerous local and national Muslim leaders have denounced their dubious methods.
The vigilantes start their patrolling late at night and make sure that their faces don’t appear on camera. The attacks were based in the Tower Hamlets area in London, some happening right outside the East London Mosque.
In a video, the Muslim Patrol tells a woman wearing a short skirt that she “cannot dress like that in a Muslim area.” In another incident, they harass a young man, saying that he looks like a homosexual.
“What’s wrong with your face, mate? Why you dressed like that for? You need to get out of here. You’re dirty, mate,” an anonymous attacker said on a video obtained by CNN.
The patrol also accosted a man who holds a beer can while walking through the streets. An anonymous voice stops him and says, “This is a Muslim area, okay? Alcohol bad.”
Members of the group claim that these vices are contributing to the moral degradation of their neighborhoods.
“Alcohol is causing so much problems in the area, in fact it’s blighting the area. It causes crime, it causes people misbehaving and drunken disorderly behavior,” said Abdul Muhid, whom CNN identified as being a part of the Muslim Patrol.
But leaders at the East London Mosque have said that their imams have condemned the verbal attacks.
In a statement, the mosque’s leaders said that “These actions are utterly unacceptable and clearly designed to stoke tensions and sow discord … The actions of this tiny minority have no place in our faith nor on our streets.”
The Muslim Council of Britain has rejected the notion that there is any scriptural basis for this type of harassment.
“All of it was very very un-Islamic,” said Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra of the Muslim Council of Britain told The Telegraph.
