Manchester UK: two ISIS supporters murdered an Imam for use use of rare black magik amulets.
Two Islamic State supporters were involved in the murder of a respected imam because of their “hatred and intolerance” for his form of Islam, a court has been told.
Jalal Uddin was stalked and bludgeoned to death because the accused men believed that his practice of ruqya healing, involving the use of amulets, was black magic and deserved “severe punishment”, Manchester crown court heard.
Mr Uddin, 71, a Bangladeshi national, was hit multiple times in the head and face, probably with a hammer, as he walked home from a friend’s house on February 18 in Rochdale, Greater Manchester.
His alleged attackers, Mohammed Hussain Syeedy, 22, and Mohammed Abdul Kadir, 24, were supporters of Isis and subscribed to the view that those who practised ruqya deserved such punishment, the court was told.
Paul Greaney, QC, for the prosecution, said: “Who hated a decent man like Jalal Uddin with such virulence? The answer to that important question is to be found in the twisted ideology of Isis, sometimes known as Islamic State.
“Jalal Uddin was a practitioner of a form of Islamic healing called ruqya. Isis regards this practice as black magic and adheres to the view that those who engage in it deserve severe punishment, even death.”
Mr Syeedy denies murdering Mr Uddin with Mr Kadir, who fled abroad in the days that followed the attack, the jury was told.
Mr Kadir, from Oldham, boarded a flight from Manchester to Copenhagen three days after the killing, followed by a connecting flight to Istanbul.
Mr Greaney said: “Attempts by investigators to trace Kadir have proved unsuccessful, something that is hardly surprising given that Istanbul has often been used as a staging post to Syria, although where Kadir in fact ended up is not known.”
He said that Mr Syeedy’s iPhone contained a large volume of Isis-related material including many photographs of him and his friends, including Mr Kadir, raising Isis one-finger salutes.
Photographs of flags associated with jihad draped over road signs were also found, and an image of someone holding up a flag for “Rochdale 2 Syria” — an aid convoy in which the defendant was involved.
