Imam “killed by IS supporters” over “black magic” healing

A 71-year-old imam, who was bludgeoned to death in February, was killed by two ISIS supporters because they viewed his practice of Islamic healing as “black magic”, prosecutors have told a court.

Bangladeshi Jalal Uddin was attacked in a children’s play area in Rochdale, near Manchester, on the evening of February 18 this year.

The holy leader was targeted after he left the mosque where he usually prayed, before eating a meal at a friend’s house and then walking home, Manchester Crown Court heard on Tuesday (23).

“Mohammed Hussain Syeedy, the defendant, and an associate of his named Mohammed Abdul Kadir were supporters of ISIS and so they subscribed to the view that those who practised Ruqya (Islamic healing) deserved such punishment,” Prosecutor Paul Greaney said.

“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,” he said.

Syeedy, 22, and Kadir, 24, are believed to have murdered Uddin with a hammer after stalking him for months, the court was told at an ongoing trial.

“These injuries were plainly not the result of a robbery gone wrong. On the contrary, they were obviously the result of an attack that was planned—why else did the killer have a hammer with him in a children’s park?—motivated by hatred and by a desire to humiliate Jalal Uddin and undoubtedly intended to kill or, at the very least, cause really serious harm,” Greaney said.

Uddin was found severely injured by two young girls, one of whom recognised him because he taught her the Quran, the court heard.

Jurors were told that Syeedy accepts that Kadir murdered Uddin and that he was with his accomplice, before and after the killing.

The case continues and is expected to conclude next month.