An alleged British ISIS supporter has been jailed for life for stalking and murdering an imam who was bludgeoned in the face with what is believed to have been a hammer.
Mohammed Syeedy, 21, was consumed by hatred for Jalal Uddin, 71, because he practised a form of Islamic healing in Rochdale's Bangladeshi community which the terror group consider “black magic”.
Syeedy acted as getaway driver for another man, Mohammed Kadir, who bludgeoned Uddin to death in a children's play area on February 18, Manchester Crown Court has heard.
High Court judge Sir David Maddison handed Syeedy a life sentence, with a minimum term of 24 years.
The judge said Mr Uddin was a “gentle, well-respected man” who was attacked and “brutally” killed because he practised Ruqya faith healing.
He told Syeedy: “You and your co-offender saw the practice as a form of black magic that could not be tolerated within Islam.”
Twenty-four-year-old Kadir fled the UK three days after the murder.
Meanwhile, another popular imam and broadcaster Ajmal Masroor declared that Uddin was guilty of practices that were “totally forbidden in Islam”.
Sufis claimed that Masroor's criticism of Uddin provided “a theological justification” for the murder.
The broadcaster claimed that Uddin's “grave sin” was a form of faith healing whose use is widespread among traditional south Asian Muslims.
