London: News of a radical Islamist preacher raising funds to buy the remote Scottish island of Torsa has left locals deeply disturbed.
Simply because Sheikh Yasser al-Habib’s aim is to create a global Islamic ‘homeland’ in Torsa, for his community of Sharia followers.
The London-based preacher is in “advanced talks” to buy the island, located off the west coast of Scotland, reported The Daily Mail.
Originally from Kuwait, Al-Habib claimed asylum in the UK 20 years ago after being jailed in his home country for inciting sectarianism.
He now conducts ‘military-style’ training camps, and broadcasts Arabic-language Islamist extremism on ‘Fadak TV’ from a private compound in Fulmer in Buckinghamshire.
The 45-year-old Al-Habib now runs military-style training camps and broadcasts Arabic-language Islamist extremism on ‘Fadak TV’ from a private compound in Fulmer in Buckinghamshire.
He aims to build schools, hospitals and mosques associated with his organisation on the island where everyone will practise Islamic law or Sharia.
“They will have their own army, their own justice system, they will manage their own schools and hospitals. It does challenge the notion of sovereignty,” said Sarah Zaaimi, a deputy director for communications at the American thinktank Atlantic Council, who has worked with Al-Habib.
In a recent video, Al-Habib asked his supporters to donate £3.5 million to buy the island.
He has promised Muslims from all over the world to get visa to live in their ‘new homeland’.
“If you want to live free under the banner of the imam (Shia leader), in a special homeland where you feel everything in it reminds you of the awaited mahdi, everything is the Shia homeland, support this project,” said Al-Habib.
“Here, my brothers, God willing, we want to build a large mosque, a school and a hawza (Shia seminary). We want this place to be a homeland to the Shias and the believers,” he added.
Nicknamed the ‘Mullah of Fulmer’, Al-Habib spreads sectarian views and even hate through his controversial channel, Fadak TV.
He has a high following among Britain’s 400,000 Shia Muslims and millions across the world.
His group Mahdi (Messiah) Servants Union (MSU) has attacked several foreign embassies on religious issues, such as Azerbaijani Embassy in August 2022 and Saudi Arabian Embassy the same year.
