The head of the radical Dawat-e-Islami goes to Athens: what are the Greek intelligence services checking?

At the end of September visit announced in Athens Pakistani preacher Imran Attari – Head of the central governing body of Dawat-e-Islami, international religious movement, which also operates in Greece.

Posters and announcements about the upcoming event have been circulating on social networks in recent days. They feature as the central guest Moulana Imran Attari – Head of the Central Executive Body of Dawat-e-Islami, known as Nigran-e-Shura.

Attari’s very status is confirmed by the resources of the organization itself: Dawat-e-Islami names him as the head of its Central Executive Structure and one of the key preachers of the movement.

In this case, the question is not only about the identity of the guest, but also about what kind of structure does it represent and how closely do the Greek authorities monitor its activities within the country?.

Dawat-e-Islami has a long presence in Greece

Dawat-e-Islami is an international Sunni Barelvi movement of Pakistani origin founded in 1981 by Ilyas Qadri.

The organization officially presents itself as a religious, missionary and educational movement dedicated to the teaching of the Koran, religious education and charity.

But its presence in Europe has long extended beyond a small religious group.

According to open data from the network itself and specialized research, Dawat-e-Islami has created dozens of centers in European countriesincluding in the UK, Italy, Spain and Greece.

Open sources indicate that in Greece it is valid until 12 centers movements, several of them in Athens.

The organization itself in its materials has repeatedly described the trips of preachers to Athens and Crete, as well as the expansion of its activities in the country.

Why Dawat-e-Islami is called radical

Here it is important to immediately separate the two concepts.

Dawat-e-Islami is not an officially banned terrorist organization in Greece or Great Britain.

But its ideological environment and particularly tough position on issues of so-called blasphemy have repeatedly become the subject of research by security services and anti-extremist structures.

The most detailed example is contained in an official British study “Understanding and Responding to Blasphemy Extremism”.

It mentions Dawat-e-Islami among the movements associated with the spread of radical ideology around punishment for “insulting Islam” and the Prophet Muhammad.

The report’s authors emphasize that most such groups in Europe do not officially call for violence and some of them publicly condemn terrorist attacks.

However, at the same time, the very ideology of harsh punishment for blasphemy, according to a British study, contributes to the growth of tension, the formation of a radical environment and the spread of the idea of ​​the West as a space hostile to Islam.

Charlie Hebdo trail

The name Dawat-e-Islami received special attention from European authorities after attacks outside the former Charlie Hebdo editorial office in Paris September 25, 2020.

Pakistani Zahir Hasan Mehmood attacked people with a bladed weapon who he mistakenly believed to be employees of the magazine.

According to a British government report, he later told investigators that he was inspired by the sermons of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan leader Khadim Rizvi and founder of Dawat-e-Islami Ilyas Qadri.

The study directly records that Mehmood named Qadri as one of the spiritual authorities who influenced him.

This does not mean that Dawat-e-Islami planned or directed the attack.

But the very fact that the perpetrator of the terrorist attack referred to the founder of the organization as a source of spiritual influence was one of the reasons why the movement came to the attention of European radicalization researchers.

An even more significant case is the murder of Salman Taseer

The same British study separately examines the murder of the governor of Pakistan’s Punjab province, Salman Taseer, in 2011.

Taseer protested against Pakistan’s harsh blasphemy laws and was shot dead by his own bodyguard, Mumtaz Qadri.

A British report indicates that Qadri was a follower of the Barelvi movement Dawat-e-Islami and committed the murder while claiming to defend the honor of Prophet Muhammad.

After his execution in Pakistan, a real cult formed around Qadri, and his funeral attracted tens of thousands of supporters.

It was this story that became one of the key episodes in the development of modern anti-blasphemous extremism in Pakistan.

What exactly should Athens check out?

Therefore, the main question for the Greek authorities is not whether Dawat-e-Islami is formally prohibited.

The question is much broader.

If a country is home to an international religious network whose ideological narratives have already appeared in European radicalization investigations, it would be logical to expect that the Greek security services would know:

• who finances the activities of the Greek branch;
• what centers the organization uses in Athens and other cities;
• who are the local leaders;
• what sermons are being distributed among young people;
• what foreign preachers visit the country;
• what contacts exist with the central leadership in Pakistan;
• how funds flow between countries;
• Are there any connections with other radical religious structures?

This question becomes especially relevant in connection with the arrival of the head of the central structure of the movement.

Pakistani-Turkish factor

A separate layer of issues is related to the broader geopolitical context.

Türkiye and Pakistan have significantly deepened their defense, security and intelligence cooperation in recent years.

In February 2025, within the framework of the Supreme Council for Strategic Cooperation of the two countries, the joint standing committee on security, defense and intelligence.

Thus, the interaction between Ankara and Islamabad in this area is not an assumption, but an officially institutionalized direction of bilateral relations.

At the same time, analytical publications have been discussing closer interaction between the Turkish MIT and the Pakistani ISI for many years, including the exchange of information, regional security issues and work with Muslim communities outside their countries.

This, however, does not prove that Dawat-e-Islami is controlled by Turkish or Pakistani intelligence agencies.

There is no open source evidence of direct operational control by MIT or ISI over the Greek arm of Dawat-e-Islami.

But for the Greek security services, the combination of factors clearly deserves attention:

• Pakistan International Religious Network;
• the ideological milieu involved in radicalization cases;
• extensive infrastructure in Europe;
• formal Turkish-Pakistani intelligence and security cooperation;
• presence of the organization directly in Athens.

Athens is not new territory for Dawat-e-Islami

The arrival of Imran Attari is not the first contact of the movement’s leadership with Greece.

Dawat-e-Islami itself, in its publications, reported on the trips of its high-ranking representatives to Athens and Crete many years ago.

The organization described holding sermons, meeting with followers and expanding its structures in the country.

Therefore, the current visit should not be perceived as a one-time religious event, but as part of an already existing international network.

Why does this raise questions now?

In recent years, European states have significantly tightened control not only over organizations that are directly involved in terrorism, but also over structures that create an ideological environment for radicalization.

Particular attention is paid to:

• foreign funding of religious structures;
• the arrival of foreign preachers;
• rhetoric towards non-Muslims;
• promoting punishment for blasphemy;
• anti-Semitic and anti-Western rhetoric;
• working with young people;
• contacts with foreign government or intelligence agencies.

In this context, the visit of the head of Dawat-e-Islami to Athens naturally raises questions.

It’s not about whether a religious event should be automatically banned.

And about that Do the Greek authorities know who is coming, what exactly will be preached and who is behind the organization of the event?.

What is still unknown

At the time of publication, there are no official statements from the Greek government, ΕΥΠ or the police in open sources that the visit of Imran Attari is prohibited or, on the contrary, specifically agreed upon.

Also not publicly disclosed:

• exact location of the event;
• expected number of participants;
• the type of visa on which the preacher will enter Greece;
• travel financing;
• organizers of the event in the country;
• the presence of official control by security services.

Therefore, it would also be premature to claim that the Greek authorities are “doing nothing” for now.

The work of intelligence agencies, by definition, rarely becomes public before the event.

But the lack of public information does not eliminate the need to ask these questions.

Sources: official British report Understanding and Responding to Blasphemy Extremism; materials itself Dawat-e-Islami; information about the head of the organization and its international activities.

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