Abu Izzadeen (, ''Abū ‘Izz ad-Dīn''; born Trevor Richard Brooks on 18 April 1975) is a British spokesman for Al Ghurabaa, a British

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

organisation banned under the

Terrorism Act 2006 The Terrorism Act 2006 (c. 11) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that received royal assent on 30 March 2006, after being introduced on 12 October 2005. The Act creates new offences related to terrorism and amends existing o ...

for the glorification of terrorism. He was convicted on charges of terrorist fund-raising and inciting terrorism overseas on 17 April 2008 and sentenced to four and a half years in jail. He was released in May 2009, after serving three and a half years, including time on remand. In January 2016, he was sentenced to two years imprisonment for breaching the Terrorism Act by leaving the UK illegally.

Personal background

Abu Izzadeen is a British citizen born on 18 April 1975 in Hackney, east London, to a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

family originally from

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

. Brooks converted to

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

the day before he turned 18, on 17 April 1993, changing his name to Omar, but preferring to be called Abu Izzadeen. He is fluent in

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

. He trained and worked for a while as an electrician. He has three children with his wife, Mokhtaria, whom he married in 1998.

Political activities

Abu Izzadeen met Omar Bakri Muhammed and

Abu Hamza al-Masri Mustafa Kamel Mustafa (; born 15 April 1958), also known as Abu Hamza al-Masri (; , – literally, father of Hamza, the Egyptian), or simply Abu Hamza, is an Egyptian cleric who was the imam of Finsbury Park Mosque in London, where he preache ...

Finsbury Park Mosque The Finsbury Park Mosque, also known as the North London Central Mosque, is a five-storey mosque located next to Finsbury Park station close to Arsenal F.C., Arsenal Football Club's Emirates Stadium, in the London Borough of Islington. It serve ...

in the 1990s. He visited

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

in 2001, before the

11 September attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

, as part of

Al-Muhajiroun Al-Muhajiroun (, "The Emigrants") is a Proscription, proscribed terrorist network based in Saudi Arabia and active for many years in the United Kingdom. The group was founded by Omar Bakri Muhammad, a Syrian who previously belonged to ''Hizb ut- ...

; he said he went there to give a series of lectures. He also said he had attended terror training camps in Afghanistan. He described the 7/7 suicide bombers in London as "completely praiseworthy". On the eve of the anniversary of the 7/7 attacks in London, he was filmed preaching to a group of Muslims in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

mocking and laughing at those who believe in the war on terror and who feel a need to resist Islamic terrorism. He also mocked the courage of journalists who were captured by insurgents. He has openly stated that he wishes to die as a

suicide bomber A suicide attack (also known by a wide variety of other names, see below) is a deliberate attack in which the perpetrators knowingly sacrifice their own lives as part of the attack. These attacks are a form of murder–suicide that is ofte ...

. On 20 September 2006, Abu Izzadeen 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 ...

disrupted

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, more commonly known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom and the head of the Home Office. The position is a Great Office of State, maki ...

John Reid's first public meeting with Muslims since his appointment. He called Reid an "enemy" of Islam.

John Humphrys Desmond John Humphrys (born 17 August 1943) is a Welsh people, Welsh broadcaster. From 1981 to 1987 he was the main presenter of the ''BBC Nine O'Clock News, Nine O'Clock News'', the flagship BBC News television programme, and from 1987 until ...

interviewed Izzadeen on the edition of 22 September 2006 of

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

's ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * The current day and calendar date ** Today is between and , subject to the local time zone * Now, the time that is perceived directly, present * The current, present era Arts, entertainment and m ...

'' programme. In a heated discussion Abu Izzadeen stated that his aim was to bring about

Sharia law Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on scriptures of Islam, particularly the Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' refers to immutable, inta ...

in the UK and that this should be achieved without following the democratic process but rather "in accordance to the Islamic methodology". On 22 March 2017, Izzadeen was incorrectly identified as the perpetrator of the

2017 Westminster attack On 22 March 2017, a Terrorism, terrorist attack took place outside the Palace of Westminster in London, seat of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, British Parliament. Khalid Masood, a 52-year-old British people, Briton, Vehicle-ramming attac ...

by a number of news sources, including ''

Channel 4 News ''Channel 4 News'' is the main news programme on British television broadcaster Channel 4. It is produced by ITN, and has been in operation since Channel 4's launch in November 1982. Current productions ''Channel 4 News'' ''Channel 4 News'' ...

'' and ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', until it emerged that he was still in prison. This incorrect information was subsequently added to Izzadeen's Wikipedia page, sparking a conflict among editors over whether it should be included. It was removed once and for all eight hours after the attack, after Channel 4 apologized for incorrectly naming Izzadeen as the attack's perpetrator.

Arrests and convictions (2007–15)

British police arrested Abu Izadeen on charges of inciting terrorism on 2 August 2007. A spokesman for

Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's London boroughs, 32 boroughs. Its name derives from the location of the original ...

said the arrest is related to an "on-going inquiry," involving a speech Abu Izadeen gave in the West Midlands area in 2006, which predates 20 September 2006 incident. Izzadeen was arrested again in a pre-dawn police raid on 24 April 2007 under the

Terrorism Act 2000 The Terrorism Act 2000 (c. 11) is the first of a number of general Terrorism Acts passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It superseded and repealed the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 1989 and the Northern Ireland (E ...

"in connection with inciting others to commit acts of terrorism overseas and terrorist fundraising". On 17 April 2008, Izzadeen was among six men convicted at Kingston upon Thames Crown Court of supporting terrorism, while the jury failed to reach a verdict on a third charge of encouraging terrorism. He was subsequently jailed for three and a half years. On 14 November 2015, Izzadeen and

Sulayman Keeler Sulayman Keeler (born Simon Keeler) is a Muslim convert and leader of Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah, a British Islamist organisation. He is a former member of Al-Muhajiroun, a banned organisation designated as a terrorist organisation, and led the S ...

were detained by police in

Lőkösháza Lőkösháza () is a village in Békés County, in the Southern Great Plain region of southeast Hungary. Geography It covers an area of and has a population of 1804 (2015). An important railway line crosses the Hungarian-Romanian border here ( ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

, on a train heading to

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

, because they were not able to identify themselves. During the time of their detention, on 17 November 2015, a

European Arrest Warrant The European Arrest Warrant (EAW) is an arrest warrant valid throughout all member states of the European Union (EU). Once issued, it requires another member state to arrest and transfer a criminal suspect or sentenced person to the issuing stat ...

appeared in the

Schengen Information System The Schengen Information System (SIS) is a governmental database maintained by the European Commission. The SIS is used by 31 European countries to find information about individuals and entities for the purposes of national security, border ...

against both individuals. The two men did not inform the British authorities about leaving the UK despite the court decision ordering them to do so.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Izzadeen, Abu 1975 births Living people 21st-century British criminals Alleged al-Qaeda recruiters Converts to Sunni Islam from Christianity British Salafis Criminals from London British Islamists English people of Jamaican descent Islamic terrorism in the United Kingdom People imprisoned on terrorism charges Sunni Islamists British prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of England and Wales

Personal background

Political activities

Arrests and convictions (2007–15)

See also

References