Ubaydullah Hussain

Ubaydullah Hussain is a Norwegian-Pakistani national and incarcerated ISIS supporter.Agence France-Presse, “Norway sentences Isis recruiter to nine years in prison,” Local (Stockholm), April 4, 2017, https://www.thelocal.no/20170404/norway-sentences-is-recruiter-to-nine-years-in-prison. In an August 2014 interview with Norwegian newspaper VG, Hussain declared his “absolute” support for ISIS and expressed his desire to implement sharia in Norway.Brynjar Skjærli, Morten S. Hopperstad, Jonas Tjersland, Silje Ensrud, Nikolai Kleivan and Harald Henden, “Støtter IS’ halshugging,” VG Nyheter, August 16, 2014, http://www.vg.no/nyheter/innenriks/islam-debatten/stoetter-is-halshugging/a/23275610/; Hugh Eakin, “Noway: The Two Faces of Extremism,” The New York Review of Books, March 5, 2015, http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2015/mar/05/norway-two-faces-extremism/. He is the former spokesman of the Islamist organization Profetens Ummah based in Norway.Hugh Eakin, “Noway: The Two Faces of Extremism,” The New York Review of Books, March 5, 2015, http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2015/mar/05/norway-two-faces-extremism/; Erlend Ofte Arntsen, “Ubaydullah Hussain (29) pågrepet og løslatt,” VG Nyheter, April 14, 2015, http://www.vg.no/nyheter/innenriks/krim/ubaydullah-hussain-29-paagrepet-og-loeslatt/a/23434684/. Profetens Ummah has reportedly assisted Norwegian Muslims in traveling to ISIS-controlled territory.Julie Ryland, “Ubaydullah Hussain has been released,” Norway Post, November 28, 2012, http://www.norwaypost.com/index.php/news/latest-news/27748-ubaydullah-hussain-has-been-released-.

In October 2012, Hussain allegedly wrote threatening emails to Norwegian journalists Nina Johnsrud and Andrea Foss is response to their respective articles on Islamists in Norway. Hussain wrote that the journalists should be worried about their safety, and that if something should happen to them he would “smile all the way to the funeral.”Øyvind Strømmen, “Norwegian Islamist convicted,” Hate Speech International, February 12, 2014, https://www.hate-speech.org/norwegian-islamist-convicted/. Later in October, Norwegian police charged Hussain with threatening the journalists. The police held him in custody and released him after a month.Julie Ryland, “Ubaydullah Hussain has been released,” Norway Post, November 28, 2012, http://www.norwaypost.com/index.php/news/latest-news/27748-ubaydullah-hussain-has-been-released-.

On April 10, 2015, Hussain was arrested, interrogated, and released on the same day for allegedly issuing a death threat via SMS to an unidentified individual.Erlend Ofte Arntsen, “Ubaydullah Hussain (29) pågrepet og løslatt,” VG Nyheter, April 14, 2015, http://www.vg.no/nyheter/innenriks/krim/ubaydullah-hussain-29-paagrepet-og-loeslatt/a/23434684/. That December, he was arrested and charged with numerous terror offenses, including recruiting foreign fighters to travel to Syria and fight with ISIS.Agence France-Presse, “Norway sentences Isis recruiter to nine years in prison,” Local (Stockholm), April 4, 2017, https://www.thelocal.no/20170404/norway-sentences-is-recruiter-to-nine-years-in-prison. A Norwegian court sentenced Hussain to nine years in prison in April 2017 for pledging allegiance to ISIS, financially supporting the group, and recruiting Norwegian foreign fighters to join its ranks.Agence France-Presse, “Norway sentences Isis recruiter to nine years in prison,” Local (Stockholm), April 4, 2017, https://www.thelocal.no/20170404/norway-sentences-is-recruiter-to-nine-years-in-prison.

Also Known As

Extremist entity
ISIS
Read Threat Report
Type(s) of Organization:
Insurgent, territory-controlling, religious, terrorist, violent
Ideologies and Affiliations:
Islamist, jihadist, pan-Islamist, Salafist, takfiri
Position(s):
Founder, leader, spokesman

ISIS is a violent jihadist group based in Iraq and Syria. The group has declared wilayas (provinces) in Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the North Caucasus. ISIS has also waged attacks in Turkey, Lebanon, France, Belgium, Iraq, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Tunisia, and Kuwait.

Type(s) of Organization:
Insurgent, territory-controlling, religious, terrorist, violent
Ideologies and Affiliations:
Islamist, jihadist, pan-Islamist, Salafist, takfiri
Position(s):
Supporter

ISIS is a violent jihadist group based in Iraq and Syria. The group has declared wilayas (provinces) in Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the North Caucasus. ISIS has also waged attacks in Turkey, Lebanon, France, Belgium, Iraq, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Tunisia, and Kuwait.

  • Rhetoric

Unknown

“[I can understand the 9/11 attacks] given the USA’s war in the Muslim lands of Afghanistan and Iraq.”“Radical Islamist defends alleged threats,” News in English, January 27, 2014, http://www.newsinenglish.no/2014/01/27/islamist-stands-by-his-threats/.

Unknown

Speaking to an unnamed individual who testified in court against an Islamist: “With God the Almighty’s will, you will burn in hell and in this world, and In shah Allah, Muslims will take responsibility.”“Radical Islamist defends alleged threats,” News in English, January 27, 2014, http://www.newsinenglish.no/2014/01/27/islamist-stands-by-his-threats/.

Aug.16, 2014

In reference to ISIS’s practice of beheading: “Beheading is not torture, people die instantly, as opposed to what the West does with Muslim prisoners.” Hugh Eakin, “Noway: The Two Faces of Extremism,” The New York Review of Books, March 5, 2015, http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2015/mar/05/norway-two-faces-extremism/.

Jan. 2014

“[Osama bin Laden was a] freedom fighter who worked for Islam.” Nina Berglund, “Radical Islamist defends alleged threats,” News in English.no, January 27, 2014, http://www.newsinenglish.no/2014/01/27/islamist-stands-by-his-threats/.

Oct. 2012

To a Norwegian journalist: “…you should be concerned about your own security. This isn’t a threat, warning or scare-mail. But if something should happen to you, I will smile all the way to the funeral.”Nina Berglund, “Radical Islamist defends alleged threats,” News in English.no, January 27, 2014, http://www.newsinenglish.no/2014/01/27/islamist-stands-by-his-threats/.

Aug. 2012

“I will give them protection, Inshallah. As soon as […] I can get hold of an AK-47 (automatic rifle). These swine belong to an occupation power, Israel, and have additionally occupied our mosque, al-Aqsa. Oh Allah, get the filthy Jews out of our mosque. They are real swine and must be fought. It is a pity that the brother that shot against the [Oslo] synagogue in…2006 did not hit anyone,” (referring to the 2006 shooting at the Oslo synagogue.) Øyvind Strømmen, “Norwegian Islamist convicted,” Hate Speech International, February 12, 2014, https://www.hate-speech.org/norwegian-islamist-convicted/.

Unknown

In reference to Lesbian Somali activist Amal Aden: “They should absolutely not beat her. They should have stoned her to death, since practicing homosexuality shall be punished with death.”Nina Berglund, “Radical Islamist defends alleged threats,” News in English.no, January 27, 2014, http://www.newsinenglish.no/2014/01/27/islamist-stands-by-his-threats/.

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Extremists: Their Words. Their Actions.

In Their Own Words:

We reiterate once again that the brigades will directly target US bases across the region in case the US enemy commits a folly and decides to strike our resistance fighters and their camps [in Iraq].

Abu Ali al-Askari, Kata’ib Hezbollah (KH) Security Official Mar. 2023
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