Sharia4Belgium was a Belgian Islamist organisation which called for Belgium to convert itself into an Islamic state. In February 2015 the group was designated a

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

organisation by a Belgian judge. By 7 October 2012 the organization was disbanded.Sharia4belgium stopt ermee

De Standaard (, ) is a Flemish daily newspaper published in Belgium by Mediahuis (formerly Corelio and VUM). It was traditionally a Christian-Democratic paper, associated with the Christian-Democratic and Flemish Party, and in opposition to the Sociali ...

, 8 oktober 2012. In 2010 Sharia4Belgium disrupted a lecture by Benno Barnard at the

University of Antwerp The University of Antwerp () is a major Belgian university located in the city of Antwerp. The official abbreviation is ''UAntwerp''. The University of Antwerp has about 20,000 students, which makes it the third-largest university in Flanders. ...

. In early April 2010, Belgium's interior minister

Annemie Turtelboom Annemie Turtelboom (born 22 November 1967) is a former Belgian minister, who served in the Federal Government of Belgium as a member of the Open VLD party, initially as minister for Asylum and Migration, and later Home Affairs and Justice. She h ...

ordered the monitoring of the organisation's website. In 2011 the organisation called the death of

Vlaams Belang Vlaams Belang (; ; VB) is a Flemish nationalist, Eurosceptic and right-wing populist political party in the Flemish Region and Brussels Capital Region of Belgium. It is widely considered by the media and political analysts to be on the polit ...

politician

Marie-Rose Morel Marie Rose Louise Constant Morel (26 August 1972 – 8 February 2011) was a Flemish-Belgian politician. She became a member of the Flemish Parliament for the far-right party Vlaams Belang in 2004, after leaving the New-Flemish Alliance. She made ...

a "punishment of Allah". Then-defence minister

Pieter De Crem Pieter Frans Norbert Jozef Raymond De Crem (; born 22 July 1962) is a Belgian politician and member of Christian Democratic and Flemish (CD&V). He has been a Member of the Belgian Chamber of Representatives since 1995. He headed the CD&V fr ...

was threatened with his life on the internet because of the Belgian participation in

Operation Odyssey Dawn Operation Odyssey Dawn was the U.S. code name for the American role in the international military operation in Libya to enforce United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 during the initial period of 19–31 March 2011, which continued aft ...

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

. Sharia4Belgium was summoned to the

correctional tribunal In France, the correctional court () is the court of first instance that has jurisdiction in criminal matters regarding offenses classified as (middling-level crimes) committed by an adult. In 2013, French correctional courts rendered 576,859 ...

for incitement to hatred in 2011. In 2016 the organization was classed as terrorist organization as Fouad Belkacem had recruited several young men to fight for the Islamic State in Syria. Belkacem and 45 other members were found guilty of membership in a terrorist group.

Fouad Belkacem

Fouad Belkacem, with dual Belgian and Moroccan citizenship, was the spokesman of the organisation and was inspired by UK-based Islamist

Anjem Choudary Anjem Choudary (, aka Abu Luqman; born 18 January 1967) is a British Islamist who has been described as "the face" of militant Islamism or the "best known" Islamic extremist in Britain. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2024 after being ...

. Also known by the alias "Abu Imran", he repeatedly made controversial comments, and stated he had been praying for

Osama bin Laden Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...

. When Belkacem was invited to the 2012 ''Global Shariah Conference'', organised by the radical Islamic movement Sharia4Holland, the

Party for Freedom The Party for Freedom ( , PVV) is a right-wing populist, far-right political party in the Netherlands. Geert Wilders is the founder, party leader, and sole registered member of the party. Founded in 2006 as the successor to Wilders' one-ma ...

asked ministers

Ivo Opstelten Ivo Willem Opstelten (born 31 January 1944) is a retired Dutch politician and jurist. He is a member of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). Opstelten applied at Leiden University in May 1963 majoring in Law and obtaining a Bache ...

and

Gerd Leers Gerardus Bernardus Maria "Gerd" Leers (born 12 July 1951) is a Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party. He is the acting Mayor of Brunssum since 1 January 2018. Biography Politics On 4 September 1990 Leers became a Mem ...

to treat Belkacem as

persona non grata In diplomacy, a ' (PNG) is a foreign diplomat that is asked by the host country to be recalled to their home country. If the person is not recalled as requested, the host state may refuse to recognize the person concerned as a member of the diplo ...

. Belkacem has a criminal record for burglary and resisting arrest and was sentenced in 2002, 2004 and 2007. In 2012, he was re-sentenced in Antwerp to two years' imprisonment for incitement of hatred towards non-Muslims.

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

was seeking his extradition in connection with the drug trade. Belkacem was arrested on the morning of 7 June 2012. He was sentenced in Morocco for possession of illegal drugs. On 11 February 2015, Belkacem was sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment in Belgium. In October 2018, he was stripped of his Belgian citizenship.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharia4Belgium Defunct organizations designated as terrorist in Europe Islam-related controversies in Europe Islamism in Belgium People who lost Belgian citizenship Political controversies in Belgium Religious controversies in Belgium Religious organisations based in Belgium Salafi Jihadist groups Sharia in Europe

Fouad Belkacem

See also

References