The Quilliam Foundation has issued a new report on how a mainstream academic institution in the UK can become incubators for extremist, intolerant forms of political thought – in this case, radical Islam.
Among their findings:
- At City University, in London, extremist members of the campus Islamic Society created an environment in which there was the potential for radicalization towards Islamist-inspired terrorism.
- Based on material from the Islamic Society’s (ISoc) Friday sermons, the ISoc’s website and 15 interviews conducted on campus, this case study particularly illustrates how easily a small group of extremist students can take over a university Islamic Society and use it as a vehicle for the propagation of extremist, intolerant and pro-violent ideologies.
- The activities of the ISoc leadership at City also impacted the campus environment. Although only a relatively small number of Muslim students were involved in the ISoc’s disruptive activities, this group had a clear, negative and disproportionate impact on both student life, academic freedom and on various minority student groups.
