Sheikh Yasser al-Habib left Kuwait for Britain. It was no ordinary country change. He was facing a 10-year prison sentence in absentia for spreading extremism in his country. Now, two decades later, the London-based cleric is buying a small island in Scotland for his community of Sharia followers.
Al-Habib, 45, is already in “advanced talks” to buy the island of Torsa off the west coast of Scotland, the UK’s Daily Mail reports. He runs military-style training camps and aims to build schools, hospitals and mosques linked to his organisation on the island.
Here everyone will follow Islamic law or Sharia.
“They will have their own army, their own justice system, they will run their own schools and hospitals,” said Sarah Zaimi, deputy director of communications at the US think tank Atlantic Council, who has worked on al-Habib. “It challenges the notion of sovereignty.”
Muslims ‘from all over the world’ can come here
In a recent video Sheikh Yasser al-Habib asked his supporters to donate £3.5 million to buy the island. He has promised to “allow Muslims from around the world to get visas to live in his new country”.
“If you want to live freely under the banner of the Imam [Shia leader]Al-Habib said, “In a special homeland, where you feel that everything reminds you of the awaited Mahdi, everything is a Shia homeland – support this project.”
“Here, my brothers, if Allah wishes, we want to build a big mosque, a school and a hawza [Shia seminary]He said, “We want this place to become the homeland of Shias and Muslims.”
He told the Daily Mail that Al-Habib’s plan concerns people living on the neighbouring island of Luing.
“I have spent most of my life working in Muslim countries so I have no problems with that community but from what I have seen now, this group seems worrying,” he told the Daily Mail.
Concerns about extremist cleric al-Habib
Al-Habib is accused of promoting sectarian feelings between Shia and Sunni Muslims in Britain and the Arab world. Its headquarters is in Fulmer, South Buckinghamshire.
He has been raising funds through his controversial channel, Fadak TV. According to UK media reports, popularly known as Fulmer’s Mullah, he spreads communal views and even hatred on his channel.
The cleric is highly respected among Britain’s 400,000 Shia Muslims and millions more around the world.
Now, the next task on his list is to buy an island for his group, the Mahdi (Messiah) Servants Union (MSU).
Al-Habib organization blamed for embassy attacks
The MSU has attacked several foreign embassies over religious issues, such as the Azerbaijani embassy in August 2022 and the Saudi Arabian embassy in the same year.
Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry said the attack was carried out by “members of a radical religious group”.
The British Embassy in Azerbaijan condemned the attacks.
“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,” said Sarah Zaimi of the US think tank Atlantic Council.
“This challenges the very notion of sovereignty. I don’t understand how the UK authorities are allowing such discussions to take place. You are raising funds to build a sovereign country on the margins of another country,” he said.
He also said he was delighted by the attack by Palestinian group Hamas on Israel on October 7. He said, “Who among us does not enjoy the retaliation of the Zionist enemy? We are all excited by this news.”
The island’s neighbors joked that maybe Taylor Swift would buy it, but no one thought it would be Al-Habib.