Perhaps the press has forgotten just how influential al-Muhajiroun is in shaping homegrown hard-liners. It was deemed influential enough that it disbanded itself (before the government could outlaw it) in 2004, only to re-form this summer. On whether his group inspired the 7/7 bombings, Mr. Choudary offers but faint denial: "I challenge you to name one member of al-Muhajiroun who was ever—while a member of al-Muhajiroun—ever convicted of any kind of military or criminal offense." The group broadcasts lectures by founder Omar Bakri Mohammed, giving him a platform in Britain despite his being banned from entering the U.K.
It's tempting to laugh off the abandoned march through the heart of London, and to note that among Britain's Muslims, al-Muhajiroun is a fringe group. But does that prove Mr. Choudary's dog-and-pony show a failure? The police were out in force in Westminster to keep order, but paid no attention, for all this observer could tell, to the re-formed demonstration on the periphery. Sharia seemed a distant prospect in Trafalgar Square last Saturday. But out in Waltham Forest, with the authorities nowhere to be seen and Britons hurrying past and keeping their heads down, Mr. Choudary's agenda seemed less fanciful. There is reassurance in that, but also danger.
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