“In the urban environment, being Muslim carries a bit of street cred. It’s the urban religion of choice,” Alyas Karmani, the director of Street UK said. “It’s about religion sticking two fingers up at the establishment. It’s an attractive mix. It validates criminality.”
Young urban gang members have been targeted by charismatic preachers for conversion to a radical form of Islam, in a development not being properly addressed by the Government’s security programme, community leaders claimed in the wake of the Woolwich trial.
The case of two black Muslim converts, both from criminal backgrounds and with a highly tuned sense of grievance, has highlighted concerns that efforts to prevent radicals are focused too much on universities and so-called middle-class converts.
Gang members inside and out of prison had been “groomed” – but MPs warned in a report last year that the main government anti-terrorism strategy makes no mention of the threat from this group of vulnerable and marginalised young men, many of whom have grown up in a culture of violence.
“There hasn’t been enough focus on people like gang members, people from deprived areas or [those with] an anti-establishment mindset… this is one of the ungoverned spaces,” said Ghaffar Hussain, head of research at Quilliam, the anti-extremist organisation.
Michael Adebowale was a member of a gang at the time of his conversion at the age of 17, police confirmed, but his path to radicalisation remained unclear.
MPs found that converts to Islam were at particular risk of radicalisation. In April, Richard Dart, a white security guard converted by Anjem Choudary – former leader of the now-banned al-Muhajiroun group – was jailed for six years for plotting to attack soldiers at Royal Wootton Bassett.
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