Abu Haleema

Abu Haleema was born in London to Pakistani immigrants and grew up in South Kilburn.^[1] He works part-time as a bus driver.^[1] His name, Abu Haleema (أبو حليمة), means Father of Haleema. Haleema is the name of his daughter.

In April 2014, Abu Haleema's home in London was raided by the police, who seized his passport and left a letter from the Home Office explaining that they believed that Haleema intended to travel to Syria to engage in terrorism-related activities. Haleema denied the claim, saying: "They believe I'm involved in terrorism-related activity, which is not true, and that I may have been thinking of going to Syria to fight, which is completely not true".^[2][3]

In January 2015, Abu Haleema was one of around 400 people who had their Twitter accounts closed, reportedly on the orders of the British security services and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).^[4]

In April 2015, Abu Haleema was arrested in London by officers from the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command on suspicion of "encouragement of terrorism contrary to Section 1 of the Terrorism Act 2006".^[5] Haleema was later released on bail on condition that he did not use social media to promote his views. He was not been convicted of any offence. On September 11 2020, Shakil Chapra admitted the offence of dissemination of terrorist publications contrary to section 2 of the Terrorism Act 2006 at Kingston Crown Court, following an investigation by Counter Terrorism Policing South East (CTPSE). The 43-year-old sent an Islamist terrorism-inspired video clip on September 11, 2019, with the intention of encouraging acts of terrorism or helping with the preparation of a terrorist act. Members of the 52-strong group also wished each other "happy 9/11" during the chat, Kingston Crown Court heard. Chapra was jailed for two years and six months after admitting to dissemination of a terrorist publication. The 43-year-old was told he would serve an additional 12 months on extended licence. Police became aware of the video Chapra sent when officers seized the phone of another person in an unrelated drugs investigation, the court was told. Messages sent by others on the Whatsapp group on the day Chapra shared the video included "it's a sweet 18 party". Judge Peter Lodder QC said these were "clear references to the 18th anniversary of the terrorist attacks in New York".He added: "That same day, under the name Abu Haleema, you sent a message saying 'I will show you the most gangster Nigerian' and you endorsed the content of a one-minute, 33-second video." The judge said the video glorified Boko Haram, which has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) group and was banned in the UK because of its terrorist activity. The video played to the court showed Boko Haram's leader condemning moderate Muslims and supporters of democracy, before firing a machine gun into the air. Judge Lodder told the defendant: "You later accepted that the video was about the kidnapping of school children." The video played to the court showed Boko Haram's leader condemning moderate Muslims and supporters of democracy, before firing a machine gun into the air. Judge Lodder told the defendant: "You later accepted that the video was about the kidnapping of school children." The court was told Chapra joined the banned al-Muhajiroun (ALM) group in 2013 and was filmed praying in front of the black flag of IS during the Channel 4 documentary The Jihadis Next Door in 2016. He was seen in the programme alongside Khuram Butt, one of the London Bridge attackers, who killed eight people and injured dozens more when they ploughed a van into pedestrians on 3 June 2017. In mitigation, defence barrister Hossein Zahir QC said Chapra no longer supported IS and that his "ideological view has changed".The court was told Chapra joined the banned al-Muhajiroun (ALM) group in 2013 and was filmed praying in front of the black flag of IS during the Channel 4 documentary The Jihadis Next Door in 2016. He was seen in the programme alongside Khuram Butt, one of the London Bridge attackers, who killed eight people and injured dozens more when they ploughed a van into pedestrians on 3 June 2017. In mitigation, defence barrister Hossein Zahir QC said Chapra no longer supported IS and that his "ideological view has changed". ^[6][7]

Abu Haleema is active in social media such as YouTube and Facebook which he uses to spread his views. In January 2016, The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Abu Haleema was attempting to build a support base in Sydney and Melbourne by criticizing moderate Muslim figures in Australia.^[8]

• Abu Haleema - Hope Not Hate.
• Padraig Reidy: We cannot choose which free speech we will defend and which we will not.