A public inquiry, established in 2023 to uncover more details into the murder of an imam in the United Kingdom in 2016, heard that the two suspects who planned his murder reportedly called the imam "Voldemort" for allegedly practicing "black magic.”
Islamic State fanatics called Rochdale based imam ‘Voldemort’ https://t.co/yKLYgL1h2b
Two Islamic State extremists who planned the murder of an imam referred to him as “Voldemort” who was engaging in “black magic”, a public inquiry heard.
Father-of-seven Jalal Uddin, 71, died… pic.twitter.com/VHkzvimJ0H— Faith Matters (@FaithMattersUK) September 24, 2024
The inquiry was established to find out whether intelligence failures led to the death of 71-year-old Imam Jalal Uddin, a father of seven who was killed in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, after two Islamic State extremists reportedly bludgeoned the imam to death with a hammer.
Uddin, who came to the United Kingdom from Bangladesh in 2002, had been staying with different community members willing to support him because of his status as a Quran reader and scholar.
His attackers, Mohammed Hussain Syeedy, then 21 years old and an engineering student who worked as a steward at Manchester United games, and Mohammed Abdul Kadir, then 24 years old and a student, planned to kill Uddin after the two learned that the imam used charms and amulets to ward off evil and bring good fortune.
Syeedy and Kadir, who were believed to be members of the Islamic State (IS) at the time, developed intolerance and hatred towards Uddin for allegedly practicing what they believed was black magic. In their communications, they referred to the imam as “Voldemort,” a reference to the villain in the Harry Potter book and movie series.
Terror probe closed before imam's murder - inquiry https://t.co/0iRSWWaeJD
— BBC Manchester (@BBCRadioManc) September 24, 2024
The two initially planned to have the imam deported, and Syeedy was told to "keep an eye" on the imam, as Uddin was in the United Kingdom illegally and overstayed his visa. However, the suspects did not go through with the plan after they saw a photo of Uddin with Simon Danczuk, the then-MP for Rochdale, at the door of the Jalalia Mosque, where Uddin prayed.
Uddin was killed after he had dinner at a friend’s house following prayers at the Jalalia Mosque. Two young girls found the imam’s body in a children’s play area, and he died in hospital.
Days after the attack, Kadir, believed to have struck the fatal blow that killed Uddin, fled the UK for Turkey and was believed to have traveled to Syria. Syeedy was the getaway driver, but he was later arrested and sentenced to life in prison for murder.
A third man, Mohammed Syadul Hussain, was later convicted for helping Kadir flee the UK. Like Syeedy and Kadir, Hussain was believed to be an IS supporter.
Poor man, just no need for that.
— Jimmy Lane (@MrGibberite) September 23, 2024
During the public inquiry, Frank Morris, a former counterterrorism detective inspector who retired from Greater Manchester Police in 2021, agreed that an investigation into Hussain should not have ended in 2014 but was prematurely closed.
Hussain’s home was raided in 2014, and his phone and other devices were seized. Police found images of extremist propaganda, photos of terrorist leaders such as Osama Bin Laden and Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, weapons, and execution videos.
While officers concluded he posed a "significant risk" to himself and others of radicalization, police failed to look at the communications on his phone, which would have revealed that his second most regular contact was Kadir, and the investigation was subsequently closed.
Hussain was instead referred to Prevent, the British government’s anti-radicalization program. No arrests or charges were also made following the investigation, even though Morris said that “it was not unusual to find images of this kind on devices seized at this time."
The inquiry is set to publish its report next summer.
