Anjem Choudary's 'Sharia Law Controlled Zone' Campaign in London
An Islamic poster campaign declaring areas as "Sharia Law Zones" is spreading across cities in the United Kingdom.
The bright yellow posters say: “You are entering a Sharia-controlled zone - Islamic rules enforced.”
The posters include pictures which are crossed out in bold red typing indicating that drinking, gambling, music and concerts, porn and prostitution, drugs and smoking, are not allowed in the “zone.”
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The campaign is being orchestrated by Anjem Choudary, a former lawyer that grew up in the UK and attended the University of Southampton, who is now the spokesperson for the banned militant group Islam4UK.
The posters are making their way onto bus stops and street lamps all over cities and are causing a stir within the U.K. as to whether the posters will intimidate and threaten local residents if they do not abide by Choudary's version of the Sharia code.
In his youth, Choudary has been referred to by those who knew him as “the life of the party. Former classmates have also said he was "ruthless with girls," according to a report published in 2006 by The Guardian.
Pictures have also surfaced showing Choudary drinking alcohol and posing with a pornographic magazine.
Despite the apparent authenticity of the pictures and claims by former student colleagues, Choudary has dismissed the stories as fabricated.
He has now become the leader of Islam4UK, and Choudary has told of his plans to inundate both Muslim and non-Muslim communities all over the U.K. with Sharia law zone posters in the hope of laying a foundation for an Islamic Emirate in the long run.
In the past week, posters have been spotted in several London boroughs including Waltham Forest, Tower Hamlets, and Newham.
The United Kingdom has its share of problems with violent extremism as the government has identified 25 areas across the country where violence and extremism are considered a pressing concern.
Local fears of the new poster campaign are not unfounded as Choudary has stated, "We are going to go to all these same areas and implement our own Sharia-controlled zones. We now have hundreds if not thousands of people up and down the country willing to go out and patrol the streets for us and print a run of between 10,000 and 50,000 stickers ready for distribution."
Since the posters have been up, local councils have been working diligently to take them down and to identify the culprits.
