Abdul Rahman Saleem, (born Rahman Yahyaei) also known as Abu Yahya, is a British Islamic activist, born around 1975.

Early life and education

Saleem was born in

Mashhad Mashhad ( ; ), historically also known as Mashad, Meshhed, or Meshed in English, is the List of Iranian cities by population, second-most-populous city in Iran, located in the relatively remote north-east of the country about from Tehran. ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

in 1975 to a Punjabi

Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...

family. He left

for London in 1979 following the

Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution (, ), also known as the 1979 Revolution, or the Islamic Revolution of 1979 (, ) was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Impe ...

where he was bullied and discriminated against for his South Asian identity. This provoked his embracement of radical Islam and later he became closely acquainted with Al-Muhajiroun members Omar Bakri and

Anjem Choudary Anjem Choudary (, aka Abu Luqman; born 18 January 1967) is a British Islamist who has been described as "the face" of militant Islamism or the "best known" Islamic extremist in Britain. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2024 after being ...

. Nonetheless, he excelled in his studies, earning 11 A* Grades at

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools ...

and 5 A grades at

A Level The A-level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational ...

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

, Persian, Further Mathematics, Mathematics and

Physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

. Despite this, he opted to attend university in Iran and was granted a placement at Sharif University of Technology to study

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

in 1993. He graduated in 1998 and returned to the United Kingdom the following year.

Career

He is a former Al Muhajiroun spokesman, a former member of the Saved Sect, and was a prominent member of al-Maddad, an organisation that claims to have sent dozens of British Muslims to fight in

Chechnya Chechnya, officially the Chechen Republic, is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia. It is situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, between the Caspian Sea and Black Sea. The republic forms a part of the North Caucasian Federa ...

and elsewhere. In August 2001, he went to secret camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan and trained in the use of guns and explosives. He lives in Poplar, London. He is the father of five children and works for British Telecom as an engineer."Cartoon protester guilty of race hate"
''The Daily Telegraph'', 2 February 2007 On 18 November 2005 he attended the founding of Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah. He participated in the Islamist demonstration outside the Danish Embassy in London in 2006, where he chanted "Europe you will pay with your blood" and "Denmark, USA, 7/7 on its way" through a megaphone, and he was charged with using words likely to stir up racial hatred and released on bail to appear at West London Magistrates' Court on 31 March 2006 On 1 February 2007, he was found guilty, and will be held until his sentencing in April. He was found guilty of Incitement to Terrorism Overseas by a unanimous verdict, and found not guilty of Terrorist Fundraising by a majority verdict on 17 April 2008 at Kingston upon Thames Crown Court. He gave a series of speeches at the

Regent's Park Mosque The London Central Mosque (also known as the Regent's Park Mosque) is an mosque, Islamic place of worship located on the edge of Regent's Park in central London. Design and location It was designed by Sir Frederick Gibberd, completed in 1977 ...

, the DVD of which was discovered at the former residence of Omar Bakri in 2006."Muslim preacher Abu Izzadeen jailed for four and a half years"
''The Daily Telegraph'', 18 April 2008 He was sentenced the following day to three years imprisonment.

References and notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saleem, Abdul Rahman 1975 births British people of Punjabi descent Living people People from Mashhad British Islamists Iranian emigrants to the United Kingdom