SPEECH (2009) above). When the Claimant refers to religious jihad, the Claimant
means exclusively armed jihad (qital), i.e. “fighting physically the enemies of Islam”,
save where the context clearly indicates some different religious meaning. There is no
contrary indication here. Indeed, the context here, in particular use of the phrase
“Jihad in the path of Allah”, the reference to Guantanamo Bay and the “legacy”
alluded to by the Claimant, re-enforces the meaning of armed jihad (qital).
281.
In my view, the use and juxtaposition of the concepts of hijra and jihad in the passage
under consideration ("brothers who made Hijira in the path of Allah, who made jihad
in the path of Allah and who suffered in the path of Allah”) is significant. The
Claimant is here clearly referring to fellow Muslims (brothers) who have migrated
(made hijra) to other lands in order physically to fight the enemies of Islam (qital) but
who have suffered trials and tribulations in the course thereof. The Claimant goes on
expressly to praise the virtues and “good deeds” of these jihadis who have travelled to
conflict zones and engaged in armed struggle in the name of Islam.
Violent extremist jihadi literature
282.
The phrase or motif, “to make Hijra in order to fight jihad”, is a recurring mantra or
recruiting device for violent Islamist extremism which Dr Wilkinson explains crops
up repeatedly in violent Islamist extremist online publications and magazines (such as
in Al-Qaeda’s magazine, “Inspire”, and so-called Islamic State’s magazine,
“Dabiq”). Many violent Islamist extremists also believe that hijra is a necessary
precursor to armed jihad and that this was the Prophetic model (the Sunna). The use
by the Claimant of the same extremist mantra in his CAGE speech is, in my view,
significant.
Second issue: nature of the ‘legacy’
283.
The second issue is the nature of the “legacy” alluded to by the Claimant.
BBC submissions
284.
Mr Caldecott QC submitted for the BBC that, in addition to CAGE Prisoners in
positive terms, the Claimant chose to praise and highlight the leadership and “legacy
of good deeds” of figures such as Sayedd Qutb and Abdullah Azzam, both infamous
for espousing extremist views and as founding fathers of modern-day jihadism.
Sayedd Qutb was an author and leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood in the
1950’s prior to his execution by the Egyptian government in 1966. He is widely
considered to be a key originator of Islamist ideology and his book “Milestones” is
often described as the “constitution” of Jihadi groups such as Al-Gama’s al-Islamiyaa
(GI), Egyptian Islamic Jihad and Al-Qaeda globally. Abdullah Azzam is widely
described as the “Father of Global Jihad” because, prior to his death in 1989, he
established and operated a framework for foreign jihadists in Afghanistan to wage
jihad and opened training facilities for jihadists globally to train in Afghanistan.
Infamously, Azzam was a teacher and mentor of Osama Bin-Laden and together they
established Al-Qaeda.
285.
The BBC submitted that the Claimant’s choice of language and leaders to praise was
specifically designed to present convicted terrorists and those suspected of terrorist
action in the name of Islam as praiseworthy and to encourage CAGE and any others
present to adopt that position. As such, the Claimant was clearly espousing an
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