A leading Muslim figure in the UK has slammed Muslim community organizations for refusing to help the government in its counterterror strategy. His comments came just before a terrorist attack hit the UK capital of London, killing six.

Nazir Afzal is Britain’s most prominent Muslim lawyer and a deradicalization expert. As chief crown prosecutor for North West England from 2011 to 2015, he was responsible for prosecuting cases on behalf of the state, including those against Islamists. His cases included the child grooming scandal in Rochdale.

Afzal stated that the government’s “Prevent” strategy “stopped at least 150 people from going to Syria.”

Prevent is the British government’s countering violent extremism strategy which seeks to engage with potential terrorists before they commit attacks and dissuade them from the ideology which might lead them to commit acts of terror. The methodology includes a deradicalization program called “Channel,” under which radicals voluntarily undergo counseling with accredited Muslim interlocutors. It also includes awareness training for staff, such as nurses or teachers so they are equipped to spot early warning signs and inform the appropriate authorities.

“Sadly, there’s an industry which is trying to undermine Prevent. Some of them don’t like anything that’s state-sponsored and some of them are Islamists,” Afzal told The Times.

“Prevent is simply safeguarding. When we’re asking people to identify victims of child sexual abuse by looking for signs, it’s the same thing for radicalization. Look for the signs. If you’re concerned, share those concerns with somebody and then if they come to fruition we can provide some support. It’s not about criminalizing.”

He accused CAGE, a self-described advocacy organization headed by former Guantanamo Bay detainee Moazzam Begg and Prevent Watch, which sells itself as “community-based initiative” which supports “communities impacted by Prevent” of lying about the program.

He also accused groups like the Muslim Council of Britain of seeking only to portray Muslims “as victims and not as those who are potentially becoming radicals” rather than addressing the issue.

Afzal is not alone among the British Muslim community in slamming those who purport to lead it.

Anti-extremism and women’s rights activist Sara Khan has previously argued that “British Islamist organisations have led on delivering a highly effective campaign in deliberately misinforming not only British Muslims but wider society about what Prevent is and is not.”

She argues that many British Muslims do support Prevent and that the program has done a lot of important work in engaging with local figures and working to counteract toxic ideologies that fuel extremist violence.

She also argued that mainstream Muslim organizations are not conducting this counter-extremism work, instead spending their time accusing those who are of being “sellouts” or “traitors.”

Islamist organizations have also joined forces with non-Muslim organizations who attack government counter-extremism policies under the guise of racism. These organizations view any attempt to speak out about the ideological roots of terrorism as bigotry, attacked the Prevent program for allegedly violating human rights by focusing on the ideology behind terrorism rather than simply engaging in a law enforcement approach.

In an October report, the Open Society Justice Initiative argued “the claim that non-violent extremism – including ‘radical’ or religious ideology – is the precursor to terrorism has been widely discredited by the British government itself, as well as numerous reputable scholars.”

however, contrary to the claims of the Open Society Justice Initiative, numerous scholars have traced a link between Islamist ideology and terrorism.

In the aftermath of the Manchester terrorist attack, Haras Rafiq, the CEO of another British counter-extremism organization, the Quilliam Foundation, blasted Muslim community leaders for not doing enough to counter radical ideologies.

“Enough is enough, and it is time for British Muslims to rise to the occasion and self-diagnose the malaise that is seeping through our community,” he said.

“It is not enough to simply distance our faith from these monsters, we must categorically refute the Islamist ideology that fuels their twisted world-view. We must take back control of our own narrative by holding our community, our religious leaders, and our mosques accountable when they say something that just doesn’t sound right.

“We need to stop playing childish games and treating the government as if it is our enemy, and must instead work together and collaborate on counter-extremism programs such as Prevent.”

As terror attacks like the one which just hit London continue, it will be increasingly difficult to argue that terrorists shouting “this is for Allah” as they kill are not motivated by a political ideology.

Voices like Nazir Afzal, Sara Khan and Haraq Rafiq are essential to recognizing the true nature of the problem and mobilizing to help solve it.