A group calling itself ‘Muslims Against Anjem Choudary’ has published an embarrassing picture of the hate preacher with alcohol and a pornographic magazine. The picture, which has been circulated before, is said to have been taken when the 47-year-old attended Southampton University.
He is said to have been a fan of cider, the super-strong alcoholic drink made in Western England from apples. Friends from the period claim Choudary styled himself “Andy” in order to fit in with his University friends and showed no signs of the radicalisation that would later make him famous.
Muslims Against Anjem Choudary say they want “To condemn extremism and extremist groups such as Anjem Choudary and his group. We condemn ISIS. We condemn Al Qaeda.
“Social media is the biggest tool to spread our message. We don’t care for likes we want the public to know we are not with these people. The reality is these people are tarnishing the name of Islam and the western media does not help as well.”
They have also attacked ISIS saying: “We condemn the barbaric acts carried out by ISIS in the name of Islam. Rest in Peace to Steven Sotloff, who has brutally been killed by ISIS. Our prayers are with you and your family. Our thoughts and prayers are also with the people of Iraq irrespective of their faith.”
The group is small with less than three thousand members but they encourage their members to share Facebook messages of support to victims of Muslim terrorists, including on the anniversary of September 11th.
In one post they quoted Nelson Mandela: “No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”
The group is now expected to grow amongst British Muslims of which there are around two million. Choudary himself has never commented on the alcohol and pornography picture. His image today is very different as can be seen on this video: