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Al-Muhajiroun

Al-Muhajiroun (المهاجرون, "The Emigrants") is a proscribed terrorist network based in Saudi Arabia and active for many years in the United Kingdom. The founder of the group was Omar Bakri Muhammad, a Syrian who previously belonged to Hizb ut-Tahrir; he was not permitted to re-enter Britain after 2005. According to The Times, the organisation has been linked to international terrorism, homophobia, and antisemitism. The group became notorious for its September 2002 conference "The Magnificent 19", praising the September 11, 2001 attacks. The network mutates periodically so as to evade the law; it operates under many different aliases.

The group in its original incarnation operated openly in the United Kingdom from 14 January 1986 until the British Government announced an intention ban in August 2005. The group preemptively "disbanded" itself in 2005 to avoid this; two aliases used by the group were proscribed by the British Home Secretary under the Terrorism Act 2006: Al Ghurabaa and The Saviour Sect. Further proscriptions followed with the Terrorism Act 2000 where Islam4UK was proscribed as an Al-Muhajiroun alias and Muslims Against Crusades followed in 2011. More recent aliases have included Need4Khilafah and the Shariah Project, proscribed in 2014, just before prominent members, including Anjem Choudary were sent to prison (they have subsequently been released).

The organisation and its activities have been condemned by larger British Muslim groups such as the Muslim Council of Britain and similar groups which represent the majority of Islam in the United Kingdom. In the United Kingdom, Al-Muhajiroun is the most notorious of the domestic Salafi-jihadist groups and its public spokesman Anjem Choudary has significant name recognition; it is considered more radical than its initial parent organisation the Hizb ut-Tahrir, whose British-based branch does not advocate violence against the United Kingdom and were not proscribed until January 2024. They have also subsequently been proscribed

Individual members of Al-Muhajiroun have been implicated in a number of terrorist attacks, including the murder of Lee Rigby (Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale), the 2017 London Bridge attack (Khuram Butt), and the 2019 London Bridge stabbing (Usman Khan). Some members, such as Zacarias Moussaoui, have been implicated in controversies surrounding Al-Qaeda.

It has also operated a Lahore safe house for visiting radicals. Another member, Siddhartha Dhar, became an executioner for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Names
Since they were forced to disband in 2004–2005, Al-Muhajiroun network has adopted a variety of different names to try and work around British law; each time their aliases have been subsequently proscribed under the various Terrorism Acts. Typically, the sitting Home Secretary at the time names the specific organisation as proscribed; for example in 2010, Labour Home Secretary Alan Johnston named Islam4UK in relation to the Wootton Bassett affair. The organisation has used the following names; Al Ghurabaa (2004–2006), The Saved Sect (2005–2006), Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah (2005–2009), Islam4UK (2009–2010), Muslims Against Crusades (2010–2011) and since then Need4Khilafah, the Shariah Project and the Islamic Dawah Association.

Origins in Hizb ut-Tahrir: 1983–1996
The network originated in the Middle East, as a result of the life and works of Omar Bakri Muhammad. Born in Aleppo, Syria to a wealthy Sunni family, during his youth the state was taken over by the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region; an organisation which promoted Arab socialism and Arab nationalism, rather than an Islamic outlook for the country. Although nominally secular, many of the ruling Ba'athists were drawn from the Alawite (Shia) minority; including Hafez al-Assad, who became President of Syria in 1971; despite Syria being a majority Sunni country. Some of the religiously inclined Syrian Sunnis, including Omar Bakri, joined the Muslim Brotherhood of Syria (up to 40,000 Muslim Brothers died in the 1982 Hama massacre, though Omar Bakri himself did not take part in the rising).

Omar Bakri lived for sometime in Beirut, Lebanon and then Cairo, Egypt. He continued to join a number of Islamist organisations while studying, including joining the Hizb ut-Tahrir while in Beirut (the founder of the organisation, Taqiuddin al-Nabhani, had died in Lebanon in 1977). Omar Bakri moved to Saudi Arabia to study at the Umm al-Qura University in Mecca and the Islamic University of Madinah. In the Kingdom, Hizb ut-Tahrir was a banned organisation. According to Omar Bakri's account of events, the nearest branch based in Kuwait would not allow him to create a branch in Saudi Arabia and suspended him from the organisation, despite the fact that, by 1983, he had gathered some 38 followers who endorsed creating a Saudi Arabia-based branch. Subsequently, at Jeddah, he created his own group called Al-Muhajiroun on 3 March 1983, "the 59th anniversary of the destruction of the Ottoman Caliphate." Sadek Hamid, a scholar of Islamic politics, has claimed that this was just a front for Hizb ut-Tahrir. While living in Saudi Arabia he worked for Eastern Electric owned by Shamsan and Abdul-Aziz as-Suhaybi in Riyadh, and then Bakri moved to its Jeddah branch. Al-Mahajiroun was banned in Saudi Arabia in January 1986 and Omar Bakhri was subsequently arrested in Jeddah, but fled to the United Kingdom while released on bail. After spending some time in the United States to study, he returned to Britain where he became head of Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain.

Al-Muhajiroun in Britain: 1996–2004
Bakri's involvement in Hizb ut-Tahrir ended on 16 January 1996 when he was dismissed by the group's global leadership; following this he reinstated Al-Muhajiroun in early 1996. In the eyes of the Middle Eastern leadership of Hizb ut-Tahrir, Omar Bakri had become a liability to their organisation due to various extravagant statements he had made; justifying the assassination of Prime Minister John Major, stating that Queen Elizabeth II would convert to Islam and telling Bosniaks to reject American food aid during the Yugoslav Wars and to "eat Serbs" instead. Omar Bakri Muhammad and his group was the subject of a Channel 4 documentary entitled the Tottenham Ayatollah in 1997, in which Jon Ronson, an investigative journalist of Jewish-background followed Omar Bakri and Al-Muhajiroun around for a year. A young Anjem Choudary also featured as the group's Deputy. The documentary mentions mainstream Muslim groups (who felt that their activities were leading to a demonisation of all Muslims), Conservative MP Rupert Allason, the Board of Deputies of British Jews and even Hosni Mubarak, President of Egypt criticising the group. The sitting Foreign Secretary in the Conservative Party government; Malcolm Rifkind; responded to international concerns by saying as Al-Muhajiroun had not broken any specific laws they could not be prosecuted. Omar Bakri openly discussed living on Jobseeker's Allowance and the group publicly protested in favour of the Sharia, against homosexuality and other aspects in contemporary British society that it considered to be immoral. The group claimed that they were collecting donations for groups in conflict with the State of Israel, such as Hamas, Hezbollah and Egyptian Islamic Jihad, but none of these groups have ever confirmed connections or if any money came to them. Yotam Feldner of the Middle East Media Research Institute, a pro-Israeli group, cites reports from Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram Weekly in November 1998, whereby Omar Bakri is alleged to have presented himself as a spokesman for Osama bin Laden's "International Islamic Front for Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders."

During the 1990s, a number of radical Islamists who were wanted by the authorities in a number of Middle Eastern countries sought refuge in the United Kingdom, particularly London, leading some such as the French intelligence services to ridicule the situation as "Londonistan". Particularly close to Al-Muhajiroun was the Egyptian Abu Hamza al-Masri, who was the imam of Finsbury Park Mosque from 1997 until 2003 (since that time the mosque has been reopened under new authorities who are not affiliated to these tendencies). Abu Hamza had previously been an adviser to the Algerian Armed Islamic Group and had his own group called "Supporters of Shariah" which held joint protests with Al-Muhajiroun. Abu Qatada; who was associated with the Jordanian group Jaysh Mohammad and would later write sympathetically about the activities of Osama bin Laden; spoke at a Al-Muhajiroun meeting in November 1999 to raise funds for mujahideen fighters in Chechnya (as part of the Second Chechen War). Contacts were also maintained between Omar Bakri's group and other London exiles who spoke at Al-Muhajiroun gatherings; Yassir al-Sirri of Vanguards of Conquest and Mohammad al-Massari of Hizb ut-Tahrir. In the first two years of its new existence, the group did not advocate violence against the United Kingdom; Omar Bakri claimed in London-newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, this was because he had a "covenant of peace" with the British government when they granted him asylum (though while still part of Hizb ut-Tahrir, Omar Bakri had earlier made comments in 1991 about a potential assassination of Prime Minister John Major, during the Gulf War). In the early days of New Labour, Home Secretary Jack Straw even appointed Al-Muhajiroun activist Makbool Javaid (brother-in-law of future Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan) to a newly formed Race Relations Forum.

This situation changed in September 1998, as seven members of Egyptian Islamic Jihad, including Hani al-Sibai, Sayyed Ajami and Sayyed Ahmed Abdel-Maqssuod, were arrested by the Metropolitan Police's Special Branch as part of Operation Challenge for alleged violations of the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 1989. This was in the aftermath of the 1998 United States embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, a joint operation by Egyptian Islamic Jihad and Al-Qaeda (the two would merge in 2001), killing 224 people. The "Londonistan" situation, as it was known, had long being criticised by some of the leading Arab world governments such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Algeria and others, who regarded the groups as a threat to their national security also. After the arrests, Omar Bakri described Britain in Al-Ahram Weekly as "the spearhead of blasphemy that seeks to overthrow Muslims and the Islamic caliphate" and claimed that the seven men had been "lulled and betrayed into believing they could seek sanctuary in Britain from their corrupt regimes", claiming that Britain was motivated by a desire for "future economic favours" from the likes of Saudi Arabia. Six months after the arrests, Al-Muhajiroun and others staged a demonstration in front of 10 Downing Street to protest the continued incarceration of the seven men and they, including al-Sibai were eventually released. Tony Blair, who was the Labour Party's Prime Minister at the time of the arrests, two decades later in 2017 accused al-Sibai of having radicalised members of the so-called "Beatles" group of ISIS militants, including "Jihadi John" (Mohammed Emwazi) and El Shafee Elsheikh.

In 1998, the so-called "Aden Ten" (including eight British citizens) were arrested, while plotting attacks in Yemen. Omar Bakri boasted of connections, but the men were more directly inspired by Abu Hamza and his idea of Yemen as a starting point for an "Islamic Revolution." Two years later in 2000, the first British-born suicide bomber Mohammed Bilal Ahmed of Birmingham, blew himself up at an Indian Army barracks in Jammu and Kashmir, killing nine people. Omar Bakri described Ahmed as a student of his. Domestically, on university campuses, Britain's National Union of Students banned Al-Muhajiroun in March 2001 after complaints were made about literature promoted by the group (particularly pertaining to Jews) and the advertisement of militant camps; Manchester University and the University of Birmingham were flashpoints for this. On an international level, closer attention was placed on Islamist groups following the September 11, 2001 attacks carried out by Al-Qaeda against the United States and the subsequent invasion of Afghanistan which followed to overthrow the Taliban-government which was hosting Al-Qaeda (the United Kingdom under Blair's leadership joined as part of the ISAF). In the immediate aftermath of the start of the War in Afghanistan, Al-Muhajiroun spokesman Abdul Rahman Saleem (born Rahman Yahyaei) made statements proclaiming that terrorist attacks against government targets in Britain and even killing the Prime Minister would be legitimate acts.

In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, Al-Muhajiroun mostly focused on what they claimed was the injustice of the subsequent invasion of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and often held meetings where the flag of the Taliban; a white flag with the shahada in black; was displayed. According to a report Hope not Hate, a self-described anti-fascist group closely linked to the British Labour Party, Omar Bakri bragged of connections between Al-Muhajiroun and the so-called "Tipton Three" (Ruhal Ahmed, Asif Iqbal and Shafiq Rasul), who were arrested in Afghanistan fighting for the Taliban and held by the United States at Guantanamo Bay detention camp. Richard Reid the so-called "Shoe Bomber" during the failed 2001 shoe bomb attempt was radicalised at the AM-linked Finsbury Park Mosque. Aftab Manzoor, Afzal Munir and Mohamed Omar who died in Afghanistan fighting for the Taliban and the Pakistan-based Harkat-ul-Mujahideen had AM-connections. Indeed, Al-Muhajiroun maintained a safehouse in Lahore for visiting radicals fighting for the Taliban. The most explicit connection between AM and the 9/11 attacks itself was Zacarias Moussaoui who was radicalised by the group in Brixton during the 1990s; Moussaoui pled guilty to conspiring to carry out the attacks, but was in prison in Minnesota at the time that they were carried out (he was subsequently incarcerated at ADX Florence). On 11 September 2002, Abu Hamza along with Al-Muhajiroun held a conference which came to be known as the "Magnificent 19" meeting (a term referring to the hijackers). Promoted as the launching of the "Islamic Council of Britain" (a name chosen deliberately to cause public confusion with the mainstream Muslim Council of Britain), supposedly to advocate for sharia law, the conference at Finsbury Park Mosque was entitled "September the 11th 2001: A Towering Day in History" and posters, showing an image of planes crashing into the World Trade Center were put up in Stepney, Blackburn and Birmingham. Omar Bakri said that attendees "look at September 11 like a battle, as a great achievement by the mujahideen against the evil superpower. I never praised September 11 after it happened but now I can see why they did it" and described Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda as "sincere [and] devoted people who stood firm against the invasion of a Muslim country." Anjem Choudary, Omar Bakri's deputy and a spokesman for Al-Muhajiroun also attended.

"Disbandment", early aliases: 2004–2009
In early 2002, the Metropolitan Police made a number of arrests in regards to the Wood Green ricin plot, an alleged Islamist bioterrorism plot using the poison ricin (derived from seeds of the castor oil plant) by immigrants of Algerian-origin against the London Underground. Later the same month, during a raid on a flat in Crumpsall, north Manchester, DC Stephen Oake was murdered with a kitchen knife by Kamel Bourgass, an illegal immigrant from Algeria. Bourgass also stabbed three other members of Greater Manchester Police. He was wanted in connection to the Wood Green ricin plot, but was not immediately recognised. Bourgass had attended meetings of Al-Muhajiroun leading up to the incident and in the aftermath, six days later Finsbury Park Mosque was raided. The nature of the plot itself was controversial, no purified ricin was found, though notes and castor oil seeds were and most of the people arrested were eventually released. The only person ultimately convicted in court in 2005 in relation to the ricin plot was Bourgass, this was largely due to having notes in his possession on how to make ricin, cyanide and botulinum. Nevertheless, Colin Powell in his February 2003 presentation to the United Nations, arguing for commissioning the Iraq War based on alleged connections between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda, made reference to a "UK Poison Cell" as part of an international network.

Two brothers from Manchester, Adeel Shahid and Sajeel Shahid opened a branch of Al-Muhajiroun in Pakistan and ran a "safehouse" in Lahore for Islamists from the West (including the United Kingdom) to back the Taliban and Al-Qaeda against ISAF forces in neighbouring Afghanistan. One of the more notable individuals whom Omar Bakri and Sajeel Shahid enabled to travel to Pakistan was Mohammed Junaid Babar, who intended to go to Peshawar, but ended up in Lahore. While in Pakistan, Mohammed Junaid Babar came into contact with Mohammad Sidique Khan who would later plan the 7 July 2005 London bombings. These activities of the organisation in Pakistan were controversial to the government there, due to Islamists hostility to sitting President of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf. A speaker at one of the same meetings as Sajeel Shahid was former Major-General Zahirul Islam Abbasi, who had previously been involved in a coup against the government of Pakistan. Back in Britain, things came to a head for Al-Muhajiroun in March 2004, with the launching of Operation Crevice by the Metropolitan Police. A number of the men arrested and later convicted (Omar Khyam, Salahuddin Amin, Jawad Akbar, Anthony Garcia and Waheed Mahmood) had associations with Al-Muhajiroun; 1300 pounds of ammonium nitrate fertiliser was also recovered and the men, mostly of Pakistani-origin, were accused of planning bombing attacks on shopping centres, night clubs and gas works in Britain. Mohammed Junaid Babar testified as a witness against his former associates.

Al Muhajiroun disbanded on 13 October 2004 to avoid proscription. However, it was believed that The Saviour Sect was to all intents and purposes Al Muhajiroun operating under a new name. Shortly after the 7 July 2005 London bombings Tony Blair announced the group would be banned as part of a series of measures against condoning or glorifying terrorism. Just days after the 7 July 2005 London bombings the Oxford-based Malaysian jurist, Shaykh Muhammad Afifi al-Akiti, issued his landmark fatwa against suicide bombing and targeting innocent civilians, titled Defending the Transgressed, by Censuring the Reckless against the Killing of Civilians, which was written in response to this controversial "Magnificent 19" statement made by Al-Muhajiroun.

Home Secretary Charles Clarke banned Omar Bakri Muhammad from the United Kingdom on 12 August 2005 on the grounds that his presence was "not conducive to the public good." Two other offshoot organisations, The Saviour Sect and Al Ghurabaa had previously been banned for the 'glorification' of terrorism under the Terrorism Act 2006.

The organisation was then re-founded as the Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jammah on 18 November 2005, in north London by Sulayman Keeler. He called Queen Elizabeth II an enemy of Islam and Muslims. In February 2006, ASWJ helped organize the Islamist demonstration outside Danish Embassy in London in 2006.

In December 2006, ASWJ issued a call on one of its websites for Muslims to fight the Ethiopian attack against the Islamic Courts Union in Somalia "financially, physically and verbally". On 10 March 2009, ASWJ demonstrated in the town to protest against the Royal Anglian Regiment's homecoming parade following the latter's posting in Afghanistan. The demonstration was a deliberately provocative publicity stunt, and had been disowned by representatives from Luton's Islamic communities. The protest, although small, attracted media attention, generating anger that the authorities had given the demonstration permission and police protection.

Islam4UK and Wootton Bassett: 2009–2010
The group was then relaunched in 2009 under the alias "Islam4UK", described itself as having "been established by sincere Muslims as a platform to propagate the supreme Islamic ideology within the United Kingdom as a divine alternative to man-made law" to "convince the British public about the superiority of Islam, thereby changing public opinion in favour of Islam in order to transfer the authority and power to the Muslims in order to implement the Sharia (in Britain)". It was led by Anjem Choudary.

A demonstration it made against returning British soldiers in Luton gained media attention and led to the formation of the English Defence League (EDL). On 16 October 2009, members of the organisation protested against the visit to Britain by Dutch MP Geert Wilders. They carried banners with slogans such as "Shariah is the solution, freedom go to hell" and "Geert Wilders deserves Islamic punishment".

In January 2010 the group gained widespread media attention by announcing plans to hold a protest march through Wootton Bassett; an English town where unofficial public mourning takes place for corteges of armed forces personnel killed on active service, as they make their way from RAF Lyneham to Oxford. Reports that the group planned to carry empty coffins to "represent the thousands of Muslims who have died" were denied by the group, although the empty coffins had been proposed by Choudary himself. Choudary said that the event would be peaceful, and that it was not timed to coincide with any mourning processions. The announcement was condemned by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who said that plans for the march were "disgusting" and that "to offend the families of dead or wounded troops would be completely inappropriate". The Home Secretary, Alan Johnson, indicated he would agree to any request from the Wiltshire Police or local government to ban the march under Section 13 of the Public Order Act 1986. Choudary said he chose Wootton Bassett to attract maximum attention and, he asserted, 500 members of Islam4UK would carry 'symbolic coffins' in memory of the Muslim civilians 'murdered by merciless' coalition forces.

The Muslim Council of Britain stated that it "condemns the call by...Islam4UK for their proposed march in Wootton Bassett", and continues, "Like other Britons, Muslims are not opposed to Britain’s Armed Forces." The Wiltshire Islamic Cultural Centre stated "We, along with all other Muslim community groups in Wiltshire and the surrounding area, including Bath Islamic Society and Swindon Thamesdown Islamic Association, unreservedly condemn this march," adding, "Therefore we are putting the record straight and letting the media and general public know that the vast majority of Muslims have nothing to do with this group", and asking that Wiltshire Police ban the march. They stated that they, along with Call to Islam Centre and Masjid Al-Ghurabah, would counter-demonstrate against "Islam4UK/Al-Muhajiroon". On 10 January 2010 Islam4UK said it was cancelling its planned march in Wootton Bassett; however, the police had not actually received a request for permission for the march.

Islam4UK was listed as an alias of Al Ghurabaa and The Saved Sect, already proscribed under the Terrorism Act 2004, by an order on 14 January 2010. In announcing the proscription, the then British Home Secretary Alan Johnson said: "It is already proscribed under two other names – Al Ghurabaa and The Saved Sect".

In the January 2010 order and a November 2011 order, the names Al Muhajiroun, Call to Submission, Islamic Path, London School of Sharia and Muslims Against Crusades were also listed as aliases. In June 2014, Need4Khilafah, the Shariah Project and the Islamic Dawah Association were added to the list. Note that the order is not needed to establish an alias as identical to another name of a proscribed organization, it is enough that the two are to all intents and purposes the same, and that the individual prosecuted has performed a proscribed act.

Islam4UK issued a statement saying, "Today's ban is another nail in the coffin of capitalism and another sign of the revival of Islam and Muslims." They restated their goal: "Therefore, we will one day liberate our land from occupation and implement the Shariah not just in Muslim countries but also right here in Great Britain. This is something that we believe in, live by and hope that in our lifetime we will witness". In a further statement, issued on the same day via their website, they stated that "Islam4UK has been contacted by authorities to (force) shut down its operations, we stress this domain name will no longer be used by us, but the struggle for Khilafah (aka "the Caliphate") will continue regardless of what the disbelievers plot against the Muslims. It is the duty of all Muslims to rise up and call for the Khilafah wherever they may be". The ban has led some ("the left", according to Sunny Hundal writing in The Guardian) to criticise it as a "blow to free expression", which will "serve to undermine the government’s effort to prevent violent extremism". Deborah Orr has commented in The Guardian that the ban "erodes democratic rights with the intention of defending them".

Muslims Against Crusades: 2010–2011
The network re-emerged as Muslims Against Crusades (abbreviated MAC), notionally under Abu Assadullah in 2010, featuring members of Islam4UK after their banning such as boxer Anthony Small and Anjem Choudary. Muslims Against Crusades maintained that Muslims are not "obliged to obey the law of the land in whatever country they reside". In 2011 the group proposed that Muslims should set up independent emirates in select cities in the UK, operating under sharia (Islamic law) entirely outside British law. The group suggested the towns of Bradford, Dewsbury, and Tower Hamlets in the East End of London as the possible first test beds for these entities. The group has often clashed with the English Defence League. Home Secretary Theresa May banned the group from midnight on 11 November 2011, making membership or support of the group a criminal offence. The group was denounced by the Muslim Council of Britain, who described MAC as "a tiny, and utterly deplorable, extremist group". Many former MAC activists are currently active in Islamist groups known as 'Millatu Ibrahim' and the 'Tawheed Movement.'

MAC engaged in a number of incidents including protests outside the Royal Albert Hall and in Kensington on 11 November 2010, when two large plastic poppies were burned during the Remembrance Day silence. A 2010 Remembrance Day ceremony in London was disrupted by members of the organization, who were protesting against British Army actions in Afghanistan and Iraq. They burnt large poppies and chanted "British soldiers burn in hell" during the two-minute silence. Two of the men were arrested and charged for threatening behavior. One was convicted and fined £50. The same group planned to hold another protest in 2011 named Hell for Heroes, declaring that soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan deserve to go to hell. The group was banned by the Home Secretary the day before the planned protest. Throughout 2010 and 2011 there were various protests against the imprisonment of Muslims, with calls for their release; and calls for a withdrawal of non-Muslim forces from Muslim countries. There was a protest against pastor Terry Jones when he burnt a Quran (the holy book of Islam) in Florida, US on 20 March 2011.

They applied to the police to stage a demonstration in London to disrupt the royal wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton on 29 April 2011, but this was not allowed. They later cancelled their protest due to a "possible danger to life"

On 2 May 2011 Osama bin Laden, who had led the Islamist al-Qaeda organization responsible for violent attacks on the United States on 11 September 2001, was killed in Pakistan by US forces. On 7 May hundreds of UK Muslims and MAC members held a rally and Salat al-Janazah (funeral prayer) for him outside the US embassy in London. When protesters tried to storm the embassy there were clashes with police. Anjem Choudary, who organised the protest, warned of an attack similar to the 7 July 2005 London bombings in response to Bin Laden's death.

On 30 July around 50 members of MAC and Waltham Forest Muslims marched for two hours from Leyton tube station to Walthamstow town square calling for democracy to be replaced by sharia law and chanted slogans such as 'democracy—hypocrisy', 'Sharia for UK' and 'Secularism go to hell'. In August, members of Muslims Against Crusades held a demonstration denouncing the Shia denomination and "anti-Islamic" Shia regimes of Syria and Iran. To mark the tenth anniversary of 11 September attacks, around 100 men linked to the group protested outside the US embassy in London, burning US flags and chanting through megaphones. The protest could be heard by mourners in 11 September Memorial Garden nearby, where a minute's silence was being observed to mark the first aeroplane hitting the World Trade Centre in New York City.

On 10 November 2011 British Home Secretary Theresa May banned the group after it planned to repeat the poppy-burning demonstration; membership of Muslims Against Crusades became illegal at midnight. On 2 December 2011 twenty people were arrested on suspicion of being members of a banned group, and two for obstruction and violent disorder at a demonstration outside the US embassy in London; the police did not confirm a report that the protesters were members of MAC. The group was ridiculed on the television program Have I Got News For You, with Ian Hislop saying "aren't they a couple hundred years late, these Muslims Against Crusades?"

Need4Khilafah and recent: 2011–present
In June 2014, the UK government banned three more groups it suspected of being aliases for the extremist organisation al-Muhajiroun:

 * Need4Khilafah
 * the Shariah Project
 * the Islamic Dawah Association

Ideology
Al-Muhajiroun's proclaimed aims are to establish public awareness about Islam, to influence public opinion in favour of the sharia, to convince members of society that Islam is inherently political and a viable ideological alternative, to unite Muslims on a global scale in the threats facing the Ummah and to resume the Islamic way of life by re-establishing the Islamic Caliphate. Members have carried out numerous murders and terrorist attacks. Their general worldview; with a heavy focus on a pan-Islamist-orientated worldwide caliphate is derived directly from its parent organisation Hizb al-Tahrir (founded by Taqiuddin al-Nabhani) as espoused by Omar Bakri Muhammad. The organisation is commonly described as Islamist and is sometimes classified as Salafist, however, some Salafists (who follow the line of Rabee al-Madkhali and other Salafists mainstream in the Arab Gulf states), consider Al-Muhajiroun and other modern "jihadist" groups which focus on politically motivated terrorism (particularly indiscriminate attacks against civilians) as modern day Kharajites, whose ideological line derives ultimately from the Muslim Brotherhood and Sayyid Qutb (supposedly influenced by non-Islamic "Leninist" ideas, these individuals, in their view "appropriated" the Salafi name for means of credibility within Islamic circles), rather than Ibn Taymiyyah.

Statements
Aside from declaring the 9/11 hijackers "the Magnificent 19", controversial statements made by al-Muhajiroun include one warning the British government that it was "sitting on a box of dynamite and have only themselves to blame if after attacking the Islamic movements and the Islamic scholars, it all blows up in their face".

In 2004 BBC Newsnight quoted one Al-Muhajiroun leader, Abu Ibrahim, as saying, When they speak about 11 September, when the two planes magnificently run through those buildings, OK and people turn around and say, 'hang on a second, that is barbaric. Why did you have to do that?' You know why? Because of ignorance. ... For us it's retaliation. Islam is not the starter of wars. If you start the war we won't turn the other cheek. ... According to you it can't be right. According to Islam it's right. When you talk about innocent civilians, do you not kill innocent civilians in Iraq?

Attacks
On 29 April 2003, Asif Hanif and Omar Sharif, who attended some of Al-Muhajiroun's circles, carried out a bombing of a café in Tel Aviv, Israel, that killed three people and injured 60 others.

In 2006, another individual connected with Al-Muhajiroun allegedly detonated a bomb in India, killing himself and destroying an army barracks.

In 2007, five young Muslims with Al-Muhajiroun connections – Omar Khyam, Waheed Mahmood, Anthony Garcia, Jawad Akbar and Saladhuddin Amin – were convicted of a multiple bombing plot to use fertiliser bombs "which police say could have killed hundreds of British people. The men were caught after police and MI5 launched a massive surveillance operation." The surveillance culminated in a raid called Operation Crevice. The targets included "the Bluewater shopping centre in Kent, the Ministry of Sound nightclub in London and Britain's domestic gas network." According to Professor Anthony Glees, director of the Brunel Centre for Intelligence and Security Studies: The fertiliser bomb trial has given us the smoking-gun evidence that groups like al-Muhajiroun have had an important part in radicalising young British Muslims, and that this can create terrorists.

On 22 May 2013, the murder of Lee Rigby was carried out by two members of Al-Muhajiroun, Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale. From about 2003, Adebolajo was corrupted by Bakri and then by Choudary, after Bakri left the country in August 2005. One former associate said Adebolajo that "locked himself in this room with this bloke for a few hours and when he came out he was a Muslim convert. He was spouting all kinds of stuff and said he had changed his name." Adebolajo insisted to be called during the Rigby trial "Mujahid".

At least one of the perpetrators of the 2017 London Bridge attack, Khuram Butt, was a member.

The 2019 London Bridge stabbing, carried out on 29 November by Usman Khan, a convicted terrorist, resulted in the death of two civilians and the wounding of three others. Khan was shot dead by police; he was a supporter of Al-Muhajiroun.

2019 weapons depot
In 2019, a storage of weapons linked to al-Muhajiroun was found in Coventry. It included a sniper rifle and tracer rounds.

title: Al-Muhajiroun


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History of Toulouse

The history of Toulouse, in Occitania, southern France, traces back to ancient times. After Roman rule, the city was ruled by the Visigoths and Merovingian and Carolingian Franks. Capital of the County of Toulouse during the Middle Ages, today it is the capital of the Midi-Pyrénées region.

Before 118 BC: pre-Roman times
Archaeological evidence dates human settlement in Toulouse to the 8th century BC. Its location was advantageous; the Garonne River bends westward toward the Atlantic Ocean, and can be crossed easily. People settled on the hills overlooking the river, in the modern locality of Vieille-Toulouse (literally "Old-Toulouse"), 9 km south of present downtown Toulouse. Just north of the hills is a large plain suitable for agriculture, and the site was a center for trade between the Pyrenees, the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. The historical name of the city, Tolosa (Τολῶσσα in Greek, and of its inhabitants, the Tolosates, first recorded in the 2nd century BC), researchers agree that it was probably Aquitanian (an ancestor of the Basque language), its meaning is unknown. Toulouse's name has remained almost unchanged through the centuries (rare for a French city), despite Celtic, Roman and Germanic invasions.

The first inhabitants were apparently the Aquitani, of whom little is known. Later came Iberians from the south, who (like the Aquitani) were non-Indo-Europeans. During the third century BC the Volcae Tectosages (a Gallic tribe from Belgium or southern Germany) arrived, the first Indo-Europeans in the region. They settled in Tolosa, intermarrying with the local people, and their Gaulish language became predominant. By 200 BC, Tolosa is attested on coins as the capital of the Volcae Tectosages (which Julius Caesar called Tolosates—singular Tolosas—in his Commentarii de Bello Gallico). According to archaeologists, Tolosa was one of the wealthiest and most important cities in Gaul during the pre-Roman era. Gold and silver mines were nearby, and offerings to its shrines and temples accumulated wealth in the city.

118 BC–AD 418: Roman period
The Romans began their conquest of southern Gaul (later known as the Provincia) in 125 BC. In 118 BC they founded the colony of Narbo Martius (Narbonne, the Mediterranean city nearest to inland Toulouse) and made contact with the Tolosates, noted for their wealth and the position of their capital for trade with the Atlantic. Tolosa allied with the Romans, who established a fort on the plain north of the city (a key position near the border of independent Aquitania) but otherwise left Tolosa semi-independent.

In 109 BC the Germanic Cimbri tribe descended the Rhône Valley, invaded the Provincia and defeated the Romans, whose power was shaken along the recently conquered Mediterranean coast. The Tolosates rebelled against Rome, killing the Roman garrison, before Rome recovered and defeated the invaders. In 106 BC, Quintus Servilius Caepio was sent to reconquer and punish Tolosa. With the aid of Tolosates who remained loyal to Rome, he captured the city and the wealth of its temples and shrines.

Tolosa was then incorporated into the Roman Provincia (Provincia Romana, the common name for the province of Transalpine Gaul with its capital at Narbo Martius). Although Tolosa was an important military garrison at the western border of the Roman empire, the city remained a backwater in the Provincia and people still lived in the old Celtic city in the hills. No Roman colony was established, and few soldiers settled in the area.

After the conquest of Gaul by Julius Caesar, Tolosa did not participate in the uprisings against Rome during the Gallic wars and southern France would be the most Romanized part of France after the decline of the Roman Empire. Caesar established his camp on the Tolosa plain in 52 BC, conquering western Aquitania. With the conquest of Aquitania and Gaul, Tolosa was no longer a military outpost. Capitalizing on its position for trade between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic (both now under Roman control), the city grew rapidly.

The most important event in the city's history was the decision to relocate north of the hills. A typical Roman city, with straight streets, was founded on the plain on the beginning bank of the river between the end of Augustus' reign and the beginning of Tiberius' (about 10–30 AD). The population was forced to relocate to the new city (also named Tolosa), and the old settlement was abandoned. Walls were built around the new city, probably at the initiative of Emperor Augustus (who wanted to create a major city at the junction of the newly built Via Aquitania and the Garonne); such walls, unnecessary during the Pax Romana, were built as an imperial favor to indicate a city's status. Until the fall of Rome, the new Tolosa was a civitas of the province of Gallia Narbonensis (with its capital Narbo Martius—Narbonne—the new name of the old provincia).

With imperial favor and thriving trade, Tolosa became a major city in the Roman Empire. During the civil war following Nero's death, Tolosa native M. Antonius Primus led the armies of Vespasian into Italy, entered Rome in 69 AD and established the Flavian dynasty. Emperor Domitian, son of Vespasian and Primus' friend, granted Tolosa the honorific status of Roman colony. Another sign of imperial favor was Domitian's bestowal of the title of Palladia on the city in reference to Pallas Athena, goddess of arts and knowledge.

Palladia Tolosa was a major Roman city, with aqueducts, circus and theaters, thermae, a forum and an extensive sewage system. Protected by its walls and its distance from the Rhine, it escaped unscathed from the third-century invasions. With much of Gaul destroyed, Toulouse was the fourth-largest city in the western half of the Roman Empire after Rome, Treves and Arles. Around that time, Christianity entered the city; the Christian community expanded under Saint Saturnin (locally known as Saint Sernin), the first bishop of Toulouse, who was martyred in Toulouse about 250. In 313 the Edict of Milan established religious freedom in the empire, ending persecution of the Christians, and in 403 the Saint-Sernin basilica opened as a shrine for relics of Saint Saturnin.

On 31 December 406 the Rhine frontier was breached by tribes seeking to escape starvation during a harsh winter. In 407, Toulouse was besieged by the Vandals. Under its bishop, Saint Exuperius, the city resisted; the Vandals lifted the siege, moving into Spain and settling in North Africa. "The provinces of Aquitaine and of the Novempopulana (Gascony), of Lyon and of Narbonne are, with the exception of a few cities, one universal scene of desolation. And those which the sword spares without, famine ravages within. I cannot speak without tears of Toulouse which has been kept from failing hitherto by the merits of its reverend bishop Exuperius", wrote Jerome to a Roman widow in 409 (Letters cxxiii.16). In 413 (three years after they sacked Rome), the Visigoths under King Ataulf captured Toulouse; under pressure from Roman forces, they soon withdrew south of the Pyrenees. After the murder of Ataulf, his successor Wallia resolved to make peace with Rome. In exchange for peace, in 418 Emperor Honorius gave the Visigoths Aquitania and Toulouse (in Gallia Narbonensis, at the border of Aquitania). The Visigoths chose Palladia Tolosa as their capital, ending Roman rule of the city.

418–508: Visigothic kingdom of Toulouse
The Visigothic kings of Toulouse, one of the foederati (allies) of the Roman Empire in the West and limited to Aquitania and Toulouse, soon began encroaching on neighboring territories. As Roman allies the Visigoths helped defeat Germanic invaders in Spain (notably the Suebi), taking advantage of their position to expand their territory south of the Pyrenees. They tried to conquer the Mediterranean coast of the province of Gallia Narbonensis, but were opposed by Rome. In 439 the Roman general Litorius defeated the Visigoths at Narbonne, driving them back to Toulouse. Although he besieged the city, he was defeated and taken prisoner. Avitus, the praetorian prefect of Gaul with influence on King Theodoric I of the Visigoths, was then sent to Toulouse and concluded a peace. In 451, threatened by an invasion of the Huns in Gaul, he negotiated a treaty between Rome and the Visigoths and they defeated the Huns. In 455 Avitus, magister militum (senior military officer of the Empire) on a diplomatic mission to King Theodoric II of the Visigoths, was proclaimed the new Roman emperor in Toulouse by his Visigothic friends amid news that the Vandals had sacked Rome and Emperor Petronius Maximus had been murdered. Avitus' reign in Rome was brief, and he was defeated by his enemies in 456. This antagonized the Visigoths, who warred with the new Roman leaders, and a weaker Rome gave way. The Narbonne region was conquered by the Visigoths in 462.

King Euric (466–484), an enemy of Rome, extended the Visigothic territory in Gaul and Spain. In 475 he dissolved the treaty with Rome, proclaiming independence a year before the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Toulouse was now the capital of an expanding Gothic kingdom; by the end of the fifth century, the kingdom of Toulouse extended from the Loire Valley in the north to the Strait of Gibraltar in the south and from the Rhône in the east to the Atlantic Ocean in the west (the largest territory controlled from Toulouse).

Unlike most cities in western Europe, Toulouse remained prosperous during the Migration Period. Although the Visigoths professed Arianism (a non-Trinitarian form of Christianity) and lived apart from their Gallo-Roman subjects, they were generally well accepted for bringing protection and prosperity. Behind its first-century walls, the city encompassed the same area; most western European cities were hastily enclosing small portions of their imperial area. The treasure which the Visigoths seized in Rome in 410 (including that from the Temple in Jerusalem) was reportedly stored in Toulouse at the time. The Visigoths blended Roman and Gothic cultures, preserving Roman law in the 506 Breviary of Alaric (applying to the Visigoths and the local Roman population). The Visigothic kingdom of Toulouse was reportedly more Romanized and its state structure more elaborate than the Frankish kingdom north of the Loire Valley.

Under Clovis the Franks converted to Catholicism, receiving support from bishops opposing the Visigoths' Arianism and marching south to the northern borders of the Visigothic kingdom. War followed, and the Visigothic king Alaric II was defeated by Clovis at the Battle of Vouillé in 507. The Franks moved south, conquered Aquitania and captured Toulouse in 508. The Visigoths withdrew to Iberia, moving their capital to Toledo. Toulouse became part of Aquitaine, a smaller city in the Frankish kingdom.

508–768: Merovingian Franks and the duchy of Aquitaine
After the Frankish conquest, Toulouse began a period of decline and anarchy. Poor weather, plagues, demographic collapse and the decline of education and culture were common in the Frankish lands during the sixth and seventh centuries. Following Clovis' death in 511, Aquitaine and the rest of the kingdom were divided between his sons (the Merovingian dynasty). The Merovingian kings fought each other for control of the Frankish realm. Aquitaine was loosely controlled by Frankish kings, who delegated dukes to control the region in their name. In 680, the Duchy of Vasconia (founded 602) and Aquitaine merged under the first independent duke of Aquitaine: Felix, a Roman patrician from Toulouse. The Merovingian monarchy was weakened, and an independent local dynasty of dukes emerged in Aquitaine. Unrecognized by the Merovingians, they ruled as kings in Aquitaine (including the Basque-speaking area of Gascony south of the Garonne) with their capital Toulouse.

During the early eighth century the Arabs appeared in the region from the Mediterranean coast of Spain, capturing Narbonne from the last Visigoths in 719. Al-Samh ibn Malik al-Khawlani, wali (governor) of al-Andalus (Muslim Spain), mustered a strong army from North Africa, Syria and Yemen to conquer Aquitaine. Moving west from Narbonne, he besieged Toulouse. After three months, as the city was about to surrender, Duke Odo of Aquitaine (also known as Eudes)—who had left the city to find help—returned with an army and defeated the Arabs in the Battle of Toulouse on 9 June 721. Charles Martel refused to help, wishing to take advantage of the situation to recover Aquitaine, and Odo led an army of Aquitanians and Franks to fight the Arabs. The Battle of Toulouse was a crushing defeat for the Arabs; the army scattered, most of the soldiers were killed, al-Samh died of his wounds and the remainder of the Arab troops (under Abd al-Rahman al-Ghafiqi) fled back to Narbonne. It is noted by Arab historians as the major check of Arab westward expansion.

Before 730 Odo allied with the Muslim ruler of Catalonia, Uthman ibn Naissa (also known as Munuza). The greatest threat to Duke Odo was his Frankish neighbor in the north. Odo married his daughter to Munuza and Arab raids in Aquitaine temporarily ended, enabling him to focus on the northern threat. In 731 Munuza rebelled against the new wali of al-Andalus, Abd al-Rahman al-Ghafiqi. Abd al-Rahman defeated him, and to punish Odo for his alliance he launched a raid on Aquitaine. Remembering the Battle of Toulouse, he crossed the Pyrenees west the city and defeated Odo's army in Bordeaux. With Bordeaux captured, the Arabs moved north towards the sacred Frankish abbey of Tours. Odo requested Frankish help; Charles Martel, leader of the Franks, mustered an army and met the Arabs near Poitiers. On 25 October 732, at the Battle of Poitiers, the Arabs were defeated and Abd al-Rahman died on the field. The scholars of Charlemagne, grandson of Charles Martel, extensively chronicled the battle.

After the Battle of Poitiers, Odo was obligated to pay homage to Charles Martel and recognize Frankish authority. The Franks were busy in Burgundy and did not move further south, leaving Odo independent until his death in 735. He was succeeded by his son, Duke Hunald I of Aquitaine (also known as Hunold and Hunaud). Hunald refused to recognize Charles Martel, who sent his troops south and captured Bordeaux in 736. Hunald was forced to accept Frankish authority, and Martel withdrew his troops from Aquitaine to attack Arab holdings on the Mediterranean coast near Narbonne. In 741 Charles Martel died and was succeeded by his son, Pippin the Short (Pépin le Bref). Hunald again rebelled against Frankish authority the following year; after his 745 defeat, he retired to a monastery. He was succeeded by his son, Waifer of Aquitaine (also known as Waifre and Gaifier). Pippin, busy at home and sharing power with his brother, left Waifer in possession of Aquitaine and became sole ruler of the Frankish realm in 747. In 751 he deposed the last Merovingian king and was elected king of the Franks with the support of the pope, founding the Carolingian dynasty.

In 752, Pippin resumed the conquest of Arab territories on the Mediterranean coast where his father had failed. Facing local resistance, including intervention by Duke Waifer, in 759 he captured Narbonne and ended Arab rule north of the Pyrenees. Aquitaine was now surrounded by the Frankish kingdom, and in 760 Pippin began its conquest. It took the Franks eight years to subdue Aquitaine, Toulouse and Gascony; in 768, the last pockets of resistance crumbled as Duke Waifer was betrayed and murdered under mysterious circumstances. Although Aquitaine was destroyed after eight years of scorched-earth tactics by Pippin and Waifer, the region would recover under Charlemagne.

768–877: Carolingian Franks and the Kingdom of Aquitaine
Toulouse, Aquitaine and Gascony were again part of the Frankish kingdom. After his victory, Pippin the Short died in 768 and was succeeded by his sons Charlemagne and Carloman. At Pippin's death, Hunald (son of Duke Waifer) staged an insurrection against Frankish power in Aquitaine. Charlemagne intervened, defeating him. In 771 Carloman died, leaving Charlemagne sole ruler of the Frankish realm. In 778, Charlemagne led his army into Spain against the Arabs. On his way back, in Roncesvalles, Charlemagne's rear guard was attacked in the pass by Basque warriors. Realizing that the local populations were not entirely loyal to the Franks, he reorganized the region's administration; direct Frankish government was instituted, and Frankish counts (deputies of the Frankish king) were appointed in cities such as Toulouse.

In 781 Charlemagne established the Kingdom of Aquitaine, comprising Aquitaine, Gascony and the Mediterranean coast from Narbonne to Nîmes (known as Gothia), and gave the crown of Aquitaine to his three-year-old son Louis. Similar kingdoms were established in Bavaria and Lombardy to ensure the loyalty of local populations. Crowns were also given to Charlemagne's other sons, and Aquitaine was known for its independence and wealth.

Charlemagne saw that he could not trust the local nobility of Vasconia, appointing Frankish counts and creating counties (such as Fezensac) which could fight regional dukes such as Lupus. Oversight of this Basque frontier seems to have been given to Chorson, count (or duke) of Toulouse. In 787 (or 789) Chorson was captured by Odalric the Basque (probably Lupus' son), who forced him into an agreement. Charlemagne replaced him with Count William in 790.

Charlemagne's reign saw the recovery of western Europe from the preceding dark age. Toulouse was a major Carolingian military stronghold against Muslim Spain, with military campaigns launched from the city nearly every year of Charlemagne's reign. In 801, Barcelona and a large part of Catalonia were conquered. With the northern areas of Aragon and Navarre in the Pyrenees, the region became the southern (Spanish March) of the Frankish empire.

In 814, Charlemagne died. His only surviving son was Louis, king of Aquitaine, who became Emperor Louis the Pious. The kingdom of Aquitaine was transferred to Pippin, Louis' second son. Gothia was detached from Aquitaine and administered directly by the emperor, recreating the former duchy of Aquitaine. Louis had three sons, and in 817 he arranged an allocation of shares in their future inheritance. Pippin was confirmed king of Aquitaine, Louis the German was made king in Bavaria and eldest son Lothar became co-emperor (with future authority over his brothers).

In 823 Charles the Bald, Louis the Pious' son with his second wife, was born and she wished to place her son in the line of succession. Strife between his three older sons and Louis and his new wife led to the gradual collapse of the Frankish empire. In 838 Pippin I of Aquitaine died, and Louis the Pious and his wife installed Charles the Bald as king of Aquitaine. At the 839 Assembly of Worms, the empire was re-divided. Charles the Bald received the western part of the empire, Lothar the central and eastern part and Louis the German Bavaria. Pippin II of Aquitaine, son of Pippin I who was recognized as king by the Aquitanians (but not the Basques, whose Vasconia had seceded from Aquitaine), and Louis the German opposed the partitions.

Louis the Pious died in 840, Lothar claimed the empire and war broke out. Originally allied with his nephew Pippin II, Louis the German allied with his half-brother Charles the Bald and they defeated Lothar. In August 843, they signed the Treaty of Verdun. The empire was divided into three parts. Charles the Bald received the western part, Francia Occidentalis (Western Frankland, soon called France); Louis the German the eastern part, Francia Orientalis (Eastern Frankland, soon the German Holy Roman Empire), and Lothar received the central part (soon to be conquered and divided between his brothers).

Family strife left the empire weak and undefended, and the Vikings took advantage of the situation. After the Treaty of Verdun, Charles the Bald moved south to defeat Pippin II and add Aquitaine to his territory. He conquered Gothia, and in 844 besieged Toulouse before withdrawing from the city. That year the Vikings entered the Garonne River, took Bordeaux and sailed as far as Toulouse, plundering and killing throughout the valley. They withdrew from Toulouse, without attacking the city.

In 845 Charles the Bald signed a treaty with Pippin II of Aquitaine, recognizing Pippin as king of Aquitaine in exchange for Pippin's relinquishing of northern Aquitaine (the County of Poitiers) to Charles. The Aquitanians, now dissatisfied with Pippin, asked Charles to topple him in 848. The following year Charles received Toulouse from Frédelon, the count of Toulouse recently appointed by Pippin, and Charles confirmed Frédelon as count of Toulouse. Aquitaine soon submitted to Charles; in 852 Pippin was imprisoned by the Basques and handed over to Charles (who placed him in a monastery).

In 852 Frédelon of Toulouse died, and Charles appointed Frédelon's brother Raymond the new count. This began the dynasty of the counts of Toulouse, who were descendants of Count Raymond I of Toulouse. In 855, following the example of his grandfather Charlemagne, Charles the Bald recreated the kingdom of Aquitaine (without Gothia) and gave the crown to his son Charles the Child. Pippin II of Aquitaine escaped from the monastery in 854, and unsuccessfully attempted to foment an insurrection in Aquitaine. He appealed to the Vikings for help and in 864, at the head of a Viking army, unsuccessfully besieged Toulouse. The Vikings left to plunder other areas of Aquitaine and Pippin II was captured and again placed in a monastery by his uncle, where he soon died.

In 866, Charles the Child died; Charles the Bald made his other son, Louis the Stammerer, the new king of Aquitaine. By then, the central state in the kingdom of France was losing its authority. Charles was unsuccessful at containing the Vikings and local populations relied on their counts, who became the chief authorities. As their power increased, they established local dynasties. Wars began between the central authorities and the counts and between counts, which weakened defenses against the Vikings. Western Europe, France in particular, entered a new dark age which would be more disastrous than that of the sixth and seventh centuries.

Charles the Bald signed the 877 Capitulary of Quierzy, allowing counts to be succeeded by their sons, before his death four months later; this formed the basis of feudalism in western Europe. He was succeeded as king of France by his son, Louis the Stammerer, king of Aquitaine. Louis did not choose any of his sons as the new king of Aquitaine, putting an end to the kingdom. He died in 879 and was succeeded by his two sons, Louis III and Carloman. Louis III inherited northwest France, and Carloman inherited Burgundy and Aquitaine. However, from 870 to 890 central power was so weak that the counts in southern France were autonomous and Paris would not reassert its authority over the south of France for four centuries.

877–10th century
By the end of the ninth century Toulouse was the capital of the county of Toulouse, and was ruled by the independent dynasty founded by Frédelon. The counts of Toulouse were challenged by those of Auvergne, who ruled the northeastern part of former Aquitaine and claimed Toulouse. The counts of Toulouse survived; although the county was a small part of the former Aquitaine, at the death of Count William the Pious of Auvergne in 918 it acquired Gothia. This doubled its territory, reuniting Toulouse with the Mediterranean coast from Narbonne to Nîmes. The county of Toulouse took shape from the city in the west to the Rhône in the east, an entity which would survive until the French Revolution as the province of Languedoc. Toulouse would never again be part of Aquitaine, whose capital would become Poitiers and then Bordeaux. William the Pious was the first to recreate the title of Duke of Aquitaine for himself during the 890s, and the count of Poitiers inherited the title in 927. In 932 King Rudolph of France, fighting the count of Poitiers, conferred the title of Duke of Aquitaine to new ally Count Raymond Pons of Toulouse.

The French throne had become a nearly empty title. After Rudolph's death, a faction crowned the English-bred Carolingian prince Louis IV from Overseas. Raymond III Pons belonged to the opposing faction, and when he died in 950 Louis IV bestowed the title of Duke of Aquitaine on Louis IV ally Count William III Towhead of Poitiers. The title of Duke of Aquitaine would be held by the family of the counts of Poitiers, whose power base at Poitou was in northwestern Aquitaine. At the death of Carolingian king of France Louis V in 987 the Robertian faction had its chief, Hugh Capet, elected to the French throne; This ended the Carolingian dynasty. Hugh Capet founded the Capetian dynasty, which would rule France for the next eight centuries.

The counts of Toulouse extended their domain to the Mediterranean coast, but their rule was short-lived. During the 10th century civilization, the arts and education had declined; a rebirth of culture and order during the reign of Charlemagne was smothered by Viking invasions, augmented by poor weather and plagues which contributed to population loss. Large areas of western Europe returned to wilderness, and cities were depopulated. Churches were abandoned or plundered; Christianity lost much of its moral authority, although Roman culture survived in scattered monasteries. This contrasted with the flourishing emirate of Córdoba in Spain and the Byzantine Empire. Authority decentralized, falling from counts to viscounts to thousands of local feudal lords. By the end of the century, France was governed by thousands of local rulers who controlled one town or one castle and a few surrounding villages. Between 900 and 980 the counts of Toulouse gradually lost control to local dynastic rulers, and by 1000 ruled only a few scattered estates; the city was ruled by a viscount, independent of the counts.

Invasions had also resumed. Emir of Córdoba Abd al-Rahman III reunited Muslim Spain and brought the emirate to its zenith, transforming it into the caliphate of Córdoba in 929. During the 920s, he launched an offensive against the Christian kingdoms in northern Spain. In 920 one of Abd al-Rahman's armies crossed the Pyrenees, reaching Toulouse without capturing the city. Four years later, the Magyars launched a westward expedition and reached Toulouse before their defeat by Count Raymond III Pons. By the end of the 10th century, the Carolingian wars and subsequent invasions had left the county in disarray. Land was left uncultivated, and many farms were abandoned. Toulouse's proximity to Muslim Spain gave it a flow of knowledge and culture from the schools and printing houses of Córdoba, and it had retained more of the Roman legacy than northern France.

11th century
At the beginning of the millennium, the church was co-opted by the Toulouse administration; the Saint-Sernin church, the Daurade basilica and the Saint-Étienne cathedral were not maintained properly, and the Cluniac Reforms began. Bishop Isarn, aided by Pope Gregory VII, gave the Daurade Basilica to the Cluniac abbots in 1077. In Saint-Sernin he was opposed by Raimond Gayrard, a provost who had built a hospital for the poor and wanted to build a basilica. Supported by Count Guilhem IV, Gayrard received permission from Pope Urban II to dedicate the basilica in 1096.

During this period Toulouse developed more efficient agricultural methods; the suburbs of Saint-Michel and Saint-Cyprien were built and Saint-Sernin and Saint-Pierre des Cuisines developed. The Daurade bridge, connecting Saint-Cyprien to the city, was built in 1181.

12th century

The end of the 11th century marked the departure of count Raymond IV for the Crusades. Wars of succession followed, and Toulouse was besieged several times. In 1119 the city's population proclaimed Alphonse Jourdain count, and Jourdain reduced their taxes in gratitude.

At his death, an administration of eight capitulaires was created. Under the direction of the count, they regulated commerce and enforced the law. The first acts of the city's consuls (named capitouls from the 13th century onwards) date to 1152.

In 1176 the chapitre had 12 members, each representing a district of Toulouse. The consuls opposed Count Raimond V; the city's population was divided, and in 1189 (after 10 years of fighting) the count submitted to the town council.

Construction of the Capitole de Toulouse began in 1190. With 24 members, the capitouls gave themselves the rights of law enforcement, commerce and taxation. The capitouls gave Toulouse relative independence for nearly 600 years, until the French Revolution.

13th century
Catharism was a Christian movement espousing the separation of the material and the spiritual, partially inspired by the Bogomils of Bulgaria. Accused of heresy, the Cathars had a large following in the south of France; during the 12th century. Mandated by the Pope, Simon de Montfort tried to exterminate them.

The bishop Foulques, who fought against the cathar heresy, encouraged the Albigensian Crusade and rebuilt the Toulouse Cathedral, making it the very first example of a militant architecture designed for preaching and to restore the image of the Catholic Church: the Southern French Gothic. The consuls, unwilling to encourage the city's division, defied the Pope and refused to identify the heretics. Raymond VI, Count of Toulouse, an excommunicated Catholic, sympathised with the heretics because of the massacre at Béziers.

Although Simon de Montfort's first siege of Toulouse in 1211 was unsuccessful, two years later he defeated the city's army. With many hostages, he entered the city in 1216 and appointed himself as count. De Montfort was killed by a stone at the Siege of Toulouse in 1218. Until the final siege, the "whites" were opposed by the city's populace and Louis VII relented in 1219. Raymond VI, recognizing his support from the population (which helped him preserve his interests), gave his last prerogatives to the Capitouls.

13th to 14th century
The fight of the Catholic Church against Catharism had several consequences for Toulouse: in 1215 Saint Dominic founded the Order of Preachers there. The 1229 Treaty of Paris introduced the University of Toulouse, which aimed to teach theology and Aristotelian philosophy. Copied from the Parisian model, its curriculum was intended to combat heresy. Then, a nearly four-century inquisition (with suspected persons driven into exile or to conversion) began, centred in the city.

Convicted of heresy, Count Raimond VII died in 1249 without an heir; the county passed to the King of France, and the Capitouls' power weakened. In 1321, the Jews of Toulouse were victims of a massacre during the Shepherds' Crusade, during which homes in the Jewish Quarter were ransacked and those who refused to be baptized were killed. In 1323, the Consistori del Gay Saber was established in Toulouse to preserve the lyric art of the troubadours. Toulouse was the centre of Occitan literary culture for the next hundred years, and the Consistori existed until 1484. The city grew richer, active in the trade of Bordeaux wine, cereals and textiles with England. In addition to the inquisition, plague, fire, flood and the Hundred Years' War decimated Toulouse. Despite immigration the city's population declined by 10,000 in 70 years, and Toulouse had a population of 22,000 in 1405.

In 1368 Pope Urban V decreed that the remains of famous philosopher and theologian Thomas Aquinas be transferred to the Church of the Jacobins of Toulouse, considered to be the mother church of the Dominican Order.

15th to 16th century
The 15th century began with the creation of the Parlement of Toulouse by Charles VII, making Toulouse the judicial capital of much of southern France until the French Revolution. Promising exemption from taxes, the king reinforced his influence and defied the Capitouls.

Many food shortages occurred at this time. The roads were unreliable, and Toulouse experienced a major fire in 1463; buildings between the current rue Alsace-Lorraine and the Garonne were destroyed. The city's population increased, resulting in a housing shortage.

Beginning in 1463, trade in blue dye (woad) flourished. The dye, known at the time as "pastel", triggered a period of great prosperity. Toulouse used its new wealth to build the homes and public buildings that are today the core of the old city.

But in 1562 the French Wars of Religion began, disorganizing the trade, and moreover woad was eclipsed by indigo from India, which produced a darker, more-colorfast blue.

In the mid-16th century, the University of Toulouse had nearly 10,000 students. It was a centre of humanistic ferment, as the inquisition continued burning people at the stake. During the 1562 Riots of Toulouse, battles between Huguenots and Catholics resulted in over 3,000 deaths and the arson of 200 homes in the Saint-Georges quarter.

17th century
When Henry IV acceded to the throne, disorder ended in Toulouse. The parlement recognized the King of France, the edict of Nantes was accepted in 1600 and the Capitouls lost their remaining influence they had. A threat more serious than the Fronde reached Toulouse in 1629 and 1652: plague.

For the first time, the city and the local parlement cooperated to assist those affected by the epidemic. Most of the clergy and the wealthy left the city, but doctors were required to stay. Starvation led the remaining Capitouls to prevent the butchers and bakers from leaving.

La Grave Hospital accommodated those affected by the epidemic, quarantining them. The Pré des Sept Deniers also accepted many patients under hazardous conditions. Before closing its gates, the city attracted the poor with a medical infrastructure offering more hope than the countryside.

In 1654, when the second epidemic ended, the city was devastated. However, during plague-free periods two major projects were completed: the Pont-Neuf in 1632 and the Canal du Midi in 1682. Famine occurred in 1693.

18th century
Louis de Mondran, inspired by his stay in Paris, was the new city planner. Principal achievements of this period were the Grand Rond, the Cours Dillon, and the facade of the Capitole.

In 1770, the Cardinal of Brienne laid the first stone of the channel named for him. The channel, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean and the Canal du Midi to the Canal Lateral à la Garonne, was finished six years later. Their confluence is known as Ponts-Jumeaux.

Economic inequality increased, with work for local architects and sculptors. The Reynerie was the summer residence of the husband of the Comtesse du Barry.

At the end of the century, the Blue Penitents worshiped at the Saint-Jérome church. The local parlement condemned the Protestants, exercising its power in the trial and execution of Jean Calas. Toulouse's population supported the parlement when it felt threatened by the monarchy, and the eight Capitouls were now chosen by the parlement.

19th century
The French Revolution changed Toulouse's role and its political and social structure. The city marked the Parisian movement with looting. Five months later, when the Ancien Régime was abolished, parlement and the Capitouls received little popular support.

Toulouse's regional influence was reduced to the department of Haute-Garonne. Clergy were required to observe the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, imposed by the National Constituent Assembly. A new archbishop was named, over the objections of Loménie de Brienne. The Capitouls were abolished on 14 December 1789; Joseph de Rigaud was Toulouse's first mayor, elected on 28 February 1790.

In 1793, during the Paris Commune, Toulouse refused to join the Provence and Aquitaine federalists in Paris. The prospect of war against Austria and internal resistance initiated the Reign of Terror. In 1799 the fortified city resisted attack of British and Spanish royalist armies in the first battle of Toulouse, and Napoleon visited the city in 1808.

In 1814, during the battle of Toulouse, the British army entered the city (which had been abandoned by the imperial army). It was the last battle of the Empire, since Napoleon had abdicated eight days earlier; French commander Jean-de-Dieu Soult had not been informed. Wellington's army was welcomed by royalists, preparing Toulouse for the restoration of Louis XVIII.

21st century
The AZF chemical plant in Toulouse exploded on 21 September 2001. The explosion, which destroyed the plant—8 km from the city centre—also damaged houses (including more than 20,000 flats), schools, churches, monuments and shops. Twenty-nine people died, and several thousand were injured. The explosion originated in a building containing ammonium nitrate.

In March 2012 local Islamic extremist Mohammed Merah opened fire at a Jewish school in Toulouse, killing a teacher and three children. One of the children, an eight-year-old girl, was shot in the head at point-blank range and a 17-year-old boy was critically wounded. President Nicolas Sarkozy called it an "obvious" antisemitic attack: "I want to say to all the leaders of the Jewish community, how close we feel to them. All of France is by their side." The Israeli Prime Minister condemned the "despicable anti-Semitic" murders. After a 32-hour siege and standoff with the police outside his house followed by a raid, Merah jumped off a balcony and was shot in the head and killed. Merah had told police during the standoff that he intended to continue attacking, and loved death as the police loved life. He claimed a connection to al-Qaeda.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: History of Toulouse


text:
Fossil collecting

Fossil collecting (sometimes, in a non-scientific sense, fossil hunting) is the collection of the fossils for scientific study, hobby, or profit. Fossil collecting, as practiced by amateurs, is the predecessor of modern paleontology and many still collect fossils and study fossils as amateurs. Professionals and amateurs alike collect fossils for their scientific value. A commercial trade in fossils has also long existed, with some of this being practised illegally.

Rock type
Fossils are generally found in sedimentary rock with differentiated strata representing a succession of deposited material. The occurrence of fossil bearing material depends on environmental factors before and after the time of preservation. After death, the first preserving factor is a rapid burial in water bodies or terrestrial sediment which would help in preserving the specimen. These rocks types are usually termed clastic rock, and are further subdivided into fine, medium and coarse grained material. While fossils can be found in all grain types, more detailed specimens are found in the fine grained material. A second type of burial is the non-clastic rock, form where the rock is made up of the precipitation of compacted fossil material, types of rock include limestone and coal. The third fossil bearing material is the evaporates, which precipitate out of concentrated dissolved salts to form nodular deposits, examples include rock salt and phosphate concentrations. The evaporates are usually associated with gastropod, algae, vertebrate, and trace fossils. Fossils are not to be found in areas of igneous rock (except in some beds between lava flows). In rocks which have undergone metamorphism, fossils are generally so distorted that they are difficult to recognize or have been destroyed completely.

Preservation
After burial various factors are at work to endanger the current fossil's preserved state. Chemical alteration would change the mineral composition of the fossil, but generally not its appearance, lithification would distort its appearance, the fossil itself may be fully or partially dissolved leaving only a fossil mold.

Exposure
Areas where sedimentary rocks are being eroded include exposed mountainous areas, river banks and beds, wave washed sea cliffs, and engineering features like quarries and road cuts. Coal mining operations often yield excellent fossil plants, but the best ones are to be found not in the coal itself but in the associated sedimentary rock deposits called coal measures.

Wave-washed sea cliffs and foreshore exposures are often good places to search for fossils, but always be aware of the state of the tides in the area. Never take chances by climbing high cliffs of crumbling rock or clay (many have died attempting it). Dried up natural lake beds and caves in the form of pitfall traps frequently also have high concentrations of fossils (e.g., Cuddie Springs and Naracoorte Caves in Australia).

Generally in appearance, a fossil will be either a different colour to the surrounding rock, because of the different mineral content, will have a defining shape and texture or a combination of both. A fossil can also be extracted from its geological environment, having similar characteristics in colour naturally embed from the sedimentary formation (surrounding rock) it was found within.

Collecting techniques
The techniques used to collect fossils vary depending on the sediment or rock in which the fossils are to be found. For collecting in rock a geological hammer, a variety of cold chisels and a mallet are used to split and break rocks to reveal fossils. Since the rock is deposited in layers, these layers may be split apart to reveal fossils. For soft sediments and unconsolidated deposits, such as sands, silts, and clays, a spade, flat-bladed trowel, and stiff brushes are used. Sieves in a variety of mesh sizes are used to separate fossils from sands and gravels. Sieving is a rougher technique for collecting fossils and can destroy fragile ones. Sometimes, water is run through a sieve to help remove silt and sand. This technique is called wet sieving

Fossils tend to be very fragile and are generally not extracted entirely from the surrounding rock (the matrix) in the field. Cloth, cotton, small boxes and aluminum foil are frequently used to protect fossils being transported. Occasionally, large fragile specimens may need to be protected and supported using a jacket of plaster before their removal from the rock. If a fossil is to be left in situ, a cast may be produced, using plaster of paris or latex. While not preserving every detail, such a cast is inexpensive, easier to transport, causes less damage to the environment, and leaves the fossil in place for others. Fossilized tracks are frequently documented with casts. Subtle fossils which are preserved solely as impressions in sandy layers, such as the Ediacaran fossils, are also usually documented by means of a cast, which shows detail more clearly than the rock itself.

Preparation and cleaning
Sometimes, for smaller fossils, a stiff brush may simply be used to dust off and clean the fossil. For larger fossils, a chisel can be used to remove large bits of dirt, however, you run the risk of damaging the fossil. Running water can cause some types of fossils to either dislodge from the rock, or even crumble and break apart, for they are very fragile. Dental tools are sometimes used to remove small amounts of rock from the fossil.

Documentation
A knowledge of the precise location a fossil is essential if the fossil is to have any scientific value. Details of the parent rock strata, the location of the find, and other fossil material associated with the find help scientists to place the fossil in context, in terms of the time, location and situation in which the organism lived. Data logs, photographs, and sketches may accompany detailed field notes to assist in the locating of a fossiliferous outcrop. Individual fossils are ideally cataloged with a locality number and a unique specimen number. This allows a collection to be easily searched and specimens located. Catologing of collections is almost universal in large institutions like museums.

Collecting ethics
To collect fossils, there are various legal realities that must be observed. Permission should be sought before collection begins on private land. Hammering the rocks in national parks and other areas of natural beauty is often discouraged and in most cases is illegal.

The first expressly worded fossil-collecting code was published from the museum-home of pioneering geologist Hugh Miller at Cromarty, on the Highland east coast of Scotland, 11 April 2008. It was introduced by Michael Russell, Minister for Environment, Scotland, as part of celebrations honouring the bicentennial of the founding of the Geological Society of London. The code supplements an existing draft drawn up by English Nature.

The code advises fossil collectors to seek permission from landowners, to collect responsibly, record details, seek advice on finding an unusual fossil and label the specimens and care for them. Its principles establish a framework of advice on best practices in the collection, identification, conservation and storage of fossil specimens.

The non-binding code of ethics for this field was drawn up by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) following many months of consultation with fossil collectors, landowners, palaeontological researchers, and staff of Scotland's museums.

Fossil trade
Fossil trading is the practice of buying and selling fossils. This is illegal when it comes to stolen fossils, and some important scientific specimens are sold to collectors, rather than given or obtained by museums and institutes of study. Much focus has been put on the illegal fossil dealing in China, where many specimens have been stolen. The fossil trade of Morocco has also been the focus of international attention. The trade is lucrative, and many celebrities collect fossils.

The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (SVP), an international association of professional and amateur vertebrate paleontologists, believes that scientifically important fossils—especially but not exclusively those found on public lands—should be held in perpetuity in the public trust, preferably in a museum or research institution, where they can benefit the scientific community as a whole as well as future generations. In the United States, Paleontological Resources Preservation Act. S. 546 and H. R. 2416 were introduced in the US Congress with SVP's full support.

Many commercial fossil collectors and dealers believe that such policies are a breach of their rights. The argument has also been put forth that there are too few professional paleontologists to collect and preserve fossils currently exposed to the elements, and that it is therefore essential that private citizens be allowed to collect them for the sake of their preservation. Eric Scott, the Curator of Paleontology for the San Bernardino County Museum, argues that 1) private citizens and amateur (not for profit) collectors can and do participate frequently in the permitted recovery and preservation of significant vertebrate fossils, and 2) preservation of significant fossils does not require or mandate sale of those fossils.

According to the ethics by-law of SVP, "The barter, sale, or purchase of scientifically significant vertebrate fossils is not condoned, unless it brings them into or keeps them within a public trust."

Some fossil trade is not for collecting but due to the use of certain fossils in traditional medicine mainly in East Asia but also in Europe and other places.

Societies and clubs
Many include fossil collectors. Lapidary clubs also include fossil collectors. In addition, paleontological societies and fossil clubs exist. There is some overlap between fossil collecting, mineral collecting, and amateur geology.

Notable fossil collectors

 * Mary Anning
 * Robert Bakker
 * Edward Drinker Cope
 * Phil Currie
 * Othniel Charles Marsh
 * Paul Sereno
 * Charles Hazelius Sternberg
 * Peter Larson
 * Stan Wood
 * Fisk Holbrook Day
 * Triebold Paleontology Incorporated

title: Fossil collecting


text:
Truggy

A truggy is a type of high performance off-road racing vehicle that combines features from two older existing categories of off-road racing vehicles, trucks and buggies. The first truggies were built for racing in the SCORE and BITD off-road desert racing series, held in Mexico, California, Nevada and Arizona.

History
Desert off-road racing began in the 1960s in Baja California and expanded over the next 30 years to include dozens of races and several sanctioning organizations. These organizations created a class structure so that while many types of vehicles could race, direct competition could be segmented into groups of similar vehicles. These classes evolved over time, and included classes for near-stock vehicles, as well as "open" classes that permitted unique custom-built vehicles.

One of the most popular and fastest classes in the 1990s was the 'Open Buggy' or 'Unlimited' class, which permitted maximum leeway in designing a vehicle. Most buggies of the era remained loosely based on the architecture of the original VW Beetle automobile, with a rear engine, an independent rear transaxle suspension, and relatively shorter wheelbase. The "open" or "unlimited" buggy classes became the home to extremely high performance vehicles. These "Class 1 unlimited" buggies soon did away with the entire production Volkswagen chassis and sheet metal, and instead used a full tube chassis. In almost all cases they continued to use the rear-engine / transaxle architecture of the VW, replacing the iconic Volkswagen's air cooled 4-cylinder boxer engine with larger and more powerful engines from a variety of manufacturers, especially the related Porsche motors. Transaxle strength was often a limiting factor of these designs, while their greatest attributes included their light weight, extreme wheel travel, strength and overall custom built suitability to the task of racing at high speeds on harsh desert roads.

Another groups of classes that had increasing popularity throughout the 1990s were the various truck based classes, for both mini and full-sized trucks. These truck classes were popular as they reflected more closely the vehicles bought by average American and Mexican consumers for use off-road, as they were based on modified production trucks of the era. The fastest truck classes evolved over time from one with limited modifications to a more open class rules, that permitted massive changes to many aspects of the vehicle, but still generally required using the stock frame and some of the body from a production vehicle. These high-end trucks were both very fast and very reliable. Their greatest attributes included extremely large and powerful front-mounted V8 engines, larger wheels and tires to absorb rough terrain, extremely rugged rear truck axles, and increasingly long travel suspension.

In 1994 SCORE decided to run the Parker 400 off-road race over two days. Day one would see the new class of Trophy Trucks run on the course, and day two would see all other classes race over the same course. Jim Smith, owner of Ultra Custom Wheels entered his Mike Smith built Trophy Truck and also entered a Class One car into the race. However the Class One car, was in fact his Trophy Truck without its body, but with its interior aluminium panels painted black. Jim and his crew called it a truggy and the name took hold.

In 1995 the team Terrible Herbst Motorsports decided to build an unlimited Class 1 buggy that used the basic front engine, rear solid axle architecture of a truck. This vehicle, which was designed and fabricated by Mike Smith Fabrication. it was built like an unlimited buggy, with a full custom triangulated tubular chrome-moly chassis, but with the truck-like layout of big American V-8 motor in front of the driver, and a very strong truck-style rear axle and large 37" Trophy truck sized wheels and tires on all corners.

The combination in many ways combined the best characteristics of each of the two donor types: the lower weight, higher strength chassis, and extremely large suspension travel of the buggies, with the massive horsepower and stronger rear end design of the top trucks.

The Terrible Herbst Truggy was given the name "El Tiburon" and "The Landshark", in part due to the paint scheme originally applied to the all-fiberglass custom body of the vehicle. It dominated class one for many years after its introduction, winning back-to-back SCORE Class 1 titles in 1997 and 1998, as well as the overall (all classes) points championship in 1998. It continued to be the most dominant vehicle in the sport for nearly a decade, winning first and second place repeatedly in both class and overall categories in both the SCORE and the BITD series.

As a result of this domination the truggy format became popular with other builders and the term became the generic term from a specially built off-road vehicle that uses truck architecture (front engine, solid rear axle) but unlimited buggy style construction (tube chassis, no production parts retained). The format also became popular with the newer disciplines of closed-course stadium off-road racing, and extreme rock-crawling, where 4-wheel drive versions were created.

title: Truggy