Being an Isis martyr’s better than school, hate preacher ‘told children’
AN imam who encouraged his congregation including children to join Islamic State told them martyrdom was better than school or college, a court heard yesterday.
Kamran Sabir Hussain, 40, was recorded by an undercover police officer delivering 17 sermons in a mosque aimed at recruiting members for IS, the Old Bailey was told.
On September 2 last year, he allegedly told nine children and 35 adults that martyrdom was the ‘supreme success’, greater than any other such as school or college.
Those who died ‘fighting for Allah’ had nothing to fear because they would be forgiven, he is claimed to have said. They would be martyrs in paradise hated by no one except ‘unbelievers’ and hypocrites.
In front of a congregation of ten to 15 children under the age of 15 and about 25 adults on August 19 last year, Hussain allegedly said the Government funded groups such as the English Defence League and Britain First to insult Muslims, attack them and put them down.
‘The kuffar [unbelievers] will attack you and kill you,’ he added. ‘Stand up and be ready to sacrifice, be ready to stand in the face of the elements of shaytan [satan], be ready to spill blood and have your blood spilt.’
An undercover officer known as ‘Qassim’ began attending the mosque in Stoke-on-Trent in June last year and recorded sermons given by Hussain over a period of ‘some weeks’.
‘Nobody knew he was a law enforcement officer and nobody knew he was recording the sermons,’ said Sarah Whitehouse QC, prosecuting.
Ten of the sermons, in a mixture of English and classical Arabic, are to be played to the jury, covering current affairs and reminders to the congregation to fear God and the day of judgment.
‘Much of the context of Mr Hussain’s sermons was unobjectionable,’ Miss Whitehouse said. ‘The sermons took the classic form of any sermon preached in a mosque up and down the country.
‘Some of the sermons, however, strayed beyond mainstream moderate Islamic thought and moved into support and encouragement to those carrying out acts of terrorism.’
The court heard that in March last year Hussain posted a ‘chilling message’ on social media in which he said the ‘Khilafah’ – a reference to IS – was ‘knocking on your door and the fulfilment of Allah’s command is near and if you don’t like it and are enraged start of Ramadan, Hussain delivered a 23- minute sermon to around ten people in which he gave an account of Islamic military victories.
On the subject of the Battle of Badr in which the Prophet Muhammad was victorious against a much larger army, Hussain is said to have compared the circumstances to Syria today.
He spoke of a ‘small fledgling state who is standing in the face of a pompous and arrogant army’ – described in court as a ‘clear reference’ to IS – and asked his audience to pray for it to be victorious and its oppressors annihilated.
On August 5 last year, he is claimed to have told his congregation that ‘mujahideen’ [holy warriors] ‘take over a land, they stand a black flag, and establish the law of Allah over the necks of the people, whether they like it or don’t like it’ and ‘nobody – not the Queen, not the Prime Minister – can say that you are not allowed to establish the law of Allah’.
The sermon echoed a recording Hussain had apparently made at a demonstration saying: ‘Inshallah [God willing], we will see the black flag of Islam over Big Ben and Downing Street’.
Hussain, who had been living in a flat close to the mosque where he preached his sermons, is accused of two charges of encouraging support for IS and six of encouraging others to commit acts of terrorism.
He was arrested on February 14. He refused to answer questions but gave police a written statement saying the ability to discuss ‘difficult concepts in a challenging world’ was an essential part of religion and freedom of speech and he did not believe he had encouraged anyone to be a terrorist.
Hussain denies the charges and the trial continues.
‘Black flag of Islam over Big Ben’