Italy’s radical Islam problem highlighted in undercover documentary

From the Catholic Herald

A recent undercover investigation by an Italian news program has cast a troubling light on problems being caused by radical Islam in Italy, and which are gradually changing the fabric of society in a country that used to be a bastion of Catholicism in Europe.

A recent undercover investigation by an Italian news program has cast a troubling light on problems being caused by radical Islam in Italy, and which are gradually changing the fabric of society in a country that used to be a bastion of Catholicism in Europe.

Aired by the Italian news programme Fuori dal Coro (Outside the Chorus) during the month-long Muslim festival of Ramadan, “Immigrants and Violence, The Muslims Who Hate Italy” reveals the dark underbelly of toxic Islamic antipathy toward Italian Catholics and Jews.

In the documentary, the lead reporter takes viewers to an illegal mosque in the Via Padova area of Milan. “It is written in the Quran that we are going to kick the Jews out,” a Muslim man brazenly tells the news team

In addition to encountering antisemitic views, the documentary highlights the rising tensions with local indigenous Italians who say they are often threatened by Muslim men attending the mosque, gangs of Muslim teenagers and the rise of no-go zones—a phenomenon already present in Britain.  “I live upstairs. Look, they have already threatened me with death twice,” a local tells the news team, on the condition of anonymity.

As a Brit living in Rome for the last four years, I can confirm many of the concerns expressed in the television programme.

Just a hundred meters away from the Via Padova make-shift mosque lies another mosque — Milan’s first official mosque. The building is under construction and Italian law prohibits worship until the completion of the building. But Muslims defiantly use the mosque for prayer. They’ve even built a working a kitchen on the premises.

The documentary crew goes to inner-city Milan—the train station of Porta Garibaldi. This is where notorious Muslim youth gangs operate with impunity…In one month alone, armed with knives and bottles the gang carried out seven robberies, mainly targeting Italian youth for their smartphones…  the reporter observes, noting that most are Muslim. Suddenly, the news crew is surrounded by a gang of more than 30 boys. Many are speaking Arabic. “Things get bad, so we decided to leave,” the reporter informs her audience.

Meanwhile, working class radicalised Muslims who are calling for the conquest of Italy are receiving ideological input from leading Islamic scholars.

In December 2022, world-renowned Islamic scholar Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, media celebrity and chairman of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, recalled that when the prophet Mohammed was asked which city would be conquered first, Rome or Constantinople, the prophet is said to have replied that “the city of Hirquid (Constantinople) will be conquered first”.

Al-Qaradawi goes on to say: “The city of Hirquid was conquered in 1453 by the young Ottoman emperor of 23 years of age, Mohammed bin Murad, known to history as Mohammed the Conqueror. The other city, Rome, remains and we believe and hope…This means that Islam will return to Rome conquering and victorious after having been expelled twice, once from the South, from Andalusia, and a second time from the East when it knocked several times at the gates of Athens.”

He concludes: “One of the signs of the victory will be that Rome will be conquered, Europe will be occupied, the Christians will be defeated, and the Muslims will grow in number and become a force which will control the whole of the European continent.”

I have been speaking to small groups of Italian evangelical and Pentecostal pastors who, unlike Catholic priests, bishops and the Vatican hierarchy, appear to better recognise the looming threat of the Islamisation of Italy.

They are working in small ways to try and counter this threat: their strategy is to preach the Gospel to immigrant Muslims. The pastor of my local Assemblies of God Church organises a weekly outreach to immigrants and homeless folk, offering blankets, food and Christian fellowship, while boldly sharing the saving message of Jesus to the Muslims.

I was delighted to meet one of their Muslim converts—a young man from Bangladesh—who is now working as a full-time evangelist among Muslims. “Jesus has completely transformed my life. I am prepared to live and die for him,” Abdul (a pseudonym) tells me.   In a café near Vittorio Emanuele in central Rome — an area dominated by Bangladeshi Muslims. In a tri-lingual conversation mixing Italian, English and Urdu, we manage to talk about the Great Commission, a concept that has been used to support the missionary activities of many Christian denominations, and which refers to several passages in the Gospel of Matthew where Jesus Christ urges his apostles to make “disciples of all the nations” and “baptise” them.

I ask him if he has had any success seeing Muslims come to faith in Christ. “It’s difficult. It’s slow. But it’s rewarding. And that’s what Jesus commanded us to do, right,” he says.  He sounds genuine, and genuine converts from Islam do exist, I have known one such family for 25 years. But, as we know, others exercise taqiya in order to gain points when seeking leave to remain. 

“If only the Catholic Church would wake up and send evangelists to work among Muslims,” he tells me. “They are not making the slightest effort to evangelise my people,” he laments. “They don’t believe in evangelism. They only talk about interfaith dialogue.”

“If they don’t wake up, Italy is finished. L’Italia è finita!” he exclaims.