Editing Abu Hamza al-Masri (section)

==Religious life==
Hamza was the imam of [[Finsbury Park Mosque]] from 1997, and a leader of the [[Supporters of Sharia]], a group that believed in a strict interpretation of [[Sharia|Islamic law]]. On 14 September 1999, he sent an article to ''[[Al-Hayat]]'', one of the largest pan-Arab newspapers, supporting the [[Russian apartment bombings]], claiming that, while "in a war, no one targets women and children in a war", these attacks were necessary as "a Muslim revenge for the Russian criminal policies in [[Chechnya]]". In 2003, he addressed a rally in [[central London]] called by the Islamic [[al-Muhajiroun]], where members spoke of their support for [[Islamist]] goals such as the creation of a new Islamic [[caliphate]] and replacing the Western-backed Middle Eastern regimes.

On 4 February 2003 (after being suspended since April 2002), Hamza was dismissed from his position at the Finsbury Park Mosque by the [[Charity Commission for England and Wales|Charity Commission]],<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4689816.stm|work=BBC News|title=Mosque raid findings revealed|date=7 February 2006|access-date=18 May 2010|archive-date=22 December 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061222131842/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4689816.stm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4639074.stm|work=BBC News|title=The battle for the mosque|date=7 February 2006|first1=Dominic|last1=Casciani|first2=Sharif|last2=Sakr|access-date=18 May 2010|archive-date=2 May 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090502021553/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4639074.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> the government department that regulates charities in England and [[Wales]]. After his exclusion from the mosque, he preached outside the gates until May 2004, when he was arrested at the start of US extradition proceedings against him.<ref name="bbc270504">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3752517.stm|title=Profile: Abu Hamza al-Masri|last=Casciani|first=Dominic|date=27 May 2004|publisher=BBC|access-date=22 March 2009|archive-date=12 March 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090312075727/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3752517.stm|url-status=live}}</ref>

Hamza publicly expressed support for Islamist goals such as creating a caliphate,<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article787810.ece|location=London|work=[[The Times]]|title=Abu Hamzas video call to arms|first=Sean|last=Oneill|date=13 January 2006|access-date=12 May 2010|archive-date=11 October 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081011100543/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article787810.ece|url-status=dead}}</ref> and for [[Osama bin Laden]]. He wrote a paper entitled ''El Ansar'' (''The Victor'') in which he expressed support for the actions of the [[Armed Islamic Group]] (GIA) in [[Algeria]], but he later rejected them when they started killing civilians.<ref name=john>"The Algerian Question", ''Algeria: Anger of the Dispossessed'', [[Yale University Press]], John Phillips and Martin Evans, 2007, p. 222.</ref> In one sermon relating to the necessity of Jihad, he said: "Allah likes those who believe in Him who kill those who do not believe in Him. Allah likes that. So if you Muslims don't like that because you hate the blood, there is something wrong with you."<ref>Salafimedia.com "Join the Victorious Party (Part l)".</ref>

On the first anniversary of the [[11 September attacks]], he co-organised a conference at [[Finsbury Park Mosque]] where he praised the hijackers.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2010-11-05 |title=Abu Hamza profile |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-11701269 |access-date=2024-05-24 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref> He allegedly associated with [[Abdullah el-Faisal]], a [[Jamaica]]n Muslim convert cleric who preached in the UK until he was imprisoned for urging his followers to murder Jews, Hindus, Christians and Americans, subsequently being deported to Jamaica in 2007.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iVDDl6xfgfMC&q=Abdullah+el-Faisal&pg=PT163|title=Dictionary of terrorism|page=145|first=John Richard|last=Thackrah|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-29820-9|year=2004|access-date=10 April 2012}}{{Dead link|date=July 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>