A former radical Islamic Salafist preacher says that radicalism is present in every Swedish mosque and that Salafism is becoming more and more popular with younger people.
Anas Khalifa, who had been a radical Salafist preacher for around 20 years, was once one of the most prominent radical Muslims in the country but is said to have turned his back on fundamentalist ideology.
According to Khalifa, radicalism has become more and more prevalent in Sweden’s Muslim community. He told broadcaster SVT that there is a Salafist in every mosque in the country.
“They are everywhere online, they have hundreds of thousands of followers. I’m probably the only one who’s not a Salafist who has 60-70,000 followers,” Khalifa said, claiming that he has seen young people born and raised in Sweden who have still become followers of Islamic radicals.
“I have travelled from Boden to Ystad, lectured in associations and mosques for several years, and I have always found someone who is Salafist there,” he said, added that Salafists often also behave as morality police in their communities, telling others what to do.
Problems with so-called morality police have been an issue in some areas of Europe for years, and in 2018 Sweden’s centre-right Moderate Party proposed criminalising anyone caught acting in such a manner.
“They spread hatred against non-Muslims – Christians, Jews. They spread strong prejudices about other groups and minorities, and they sometimes cover that up nicely. They try to explain it and justify it in different ways, but the basic message is this hatred,” Khalifa said.
Khalifa also added that, in the past, he had personally known many of the Swedish nationals who had travelled to the Middle East to join the Islamic State terrorist organisation, saying: “I’ve never sent anyone down, but I haven’t stopped anyone from leaving when I find out… I have blood on my hands.”
Earlier this year in May, Swedish terrorism expert Magnus Ranstorp claimed that Muslim radicals were continuing to recruit and spread their ideology in Sweden.
“It’s basically been a disaster. Especially in the area of prevention, but also in terms of legislation,” Ranstorp said.
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