A radical Islamist cleric in Britain has reportedly called upon his followers to raise money to purchase an island in Scotland to establish a de facto Islamic State within the borders of the United Kingdom.
According to a report from the Mail on Sunday, Sheikh Yasser al-Habib, a Kuwaiti Shia cleric, is seeking to raise £3.5 million to purchase the private island of Torsa (Thor’s Island) in the Inner Herbides area of Scotland as a destination for Shias from all over the globe to migrate.
Al-Habib has allegedly said that the purpose of the purchase would be to establish a “homeland” for his Mahdi Servants Union, a Shia sect of Islam that believes that ‘Mahdi’ will appear as a messiah at the end of time to redeem Islam and establish peace and justice on Earth.
The report claimed that the cleric told his followers on his Buckinghamshire-based satellite channel Fadak TV : “If you want to live free under the banner of the imam, in a special homeland where you feel everything in it reminds you of the awaited Mahdi, everything is the Shia homeland, support this project.”
The so-called “Mullah of Fulmer” already runs “boot camps” for his adherents, who parade around the English countryside in military-style uniforms, it is claimed.
A spokeswoman for the Atlantic Council, Sarah Zaaimi said that if the group is able to purchase the island “they will have their own army, their own justice system, they will manage their own schools and hospitals and people from around the world will be able to migrate to this homeland.”
“It does challenge the notion of sovereignty. It’s puzzling to me how the UK authorities are allowing such a discourse. You are fundraising for the creation of a sovereign country on the margins of another country,” she added.
One resident told the MoS: “I’m not sure the Women’s Institute are going to stand for this. We’d welcome just about anyone, but this doesn’t seem appropriate.”
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