Overview

Mohammed Abdul Ahad is a convicted British pro-ISIS propagandist and close associate and supporter of the U.S.-designated Islamist propagandist Sheikh Abdullah al-Faisal. Ahad helped administer Faisal’s Authentic Tauheed website alongside Mohammad Abdur Raheem Kamali and others. In July 2018, Ahad was charged with disseminating terrorist material and possessing articles useful for terrorism. On December 10, 2019, Ahad was found guilty of all charges.“Two to be sentenced for publishing terrorism-related material,” Metropolitan Police, February 7, 2020, http://news.met.police.uk/news/two-to-be-sentenced-for-publishing-terrorism-related-material-393770. He was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison in February 2020.Henry Martin, “Keyboard jihadi duo who ran Facebook and YouTube sites for jailed ‘Sheikh of Hate’ Islamist preacher who inspired Streatham and London Bridge terrorists are both jailed for four years,” Daily Mail (London), February 12, 2020, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7995151/Duo-ran-sites-Sheikh-Hate-inspired-Streatham-London-terrorists-jailed.html.

Between 2012 and 2014, Ahad administered Faisal’s Authentic Tauheed website along with Kamali and others. Ahad published Faisal’s speeches and materials supporting ISIS and al-Qaeda.“Two to be sentenced for publishing terrorism-related material,” Metropolitan Police, February 7, 2020, http://news.met.police.uk/news/two-to-be-sentenced-for-publishing-terrorism-related-material-393770. London’s Metropolitan Police began investigating Kamali and Ahad in 2016 while investigating another Authentic Tauheed contributor on Facebook. Police discovered that Kamali and Ahad played administrative roles for the website.“Two to be sentenced for publishing terrorism-related material,” Metropolitan Police, February 7, 2020, http://news.met.police.uk/news/two-to-be-sentenced-for-publishing-terrorism-related-material-393770. Kamali and Ahad were arrested simultaneously on March 1, 2017. They were later released on bail.“Two to be sentenced for publishing terrorism-related material,” Metropolitan Police, February 7, 2020, http://news.met.police.uk/news/two-to-be-sentenced-for-publishing-terrorism-related-material-393770. Ahad was arrested again on June 21, 2018, for possession of an article from a terrorism propaganda magazine, which gave instructions on how to assemble an AK47 automatic rifle. Ahad was released on bail after a police interview. On July 10, 2018, police charged Ahad with four counts of dissemination of a terrorist publication and one count of possession of a document or record likely to be of use to a terrorist.“Two to be sentenced for publishing terrorism-related material,” Metropolitan Police, February 7, 2020, http://news.met.police.uk/news/two-to-be-sentenced-for-publishing-terrorism-related-material-393770.

Ahad was part of a network of volunteers who administered Faisal’s Authentic Tauheed website. He was allegedly designated as volunteer AT3. Kamali was assigned the designation AT5 and reportedly became known as the “emir” of the volunteers.Sophie Law, “Volunteers ‘ran terror website spreading message of convicted hate preacher who praised ISIS for crucifixions and said children as young as 12 should make bombs,’” Daily Mail (London), October 29, 2019, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7626789/Volunteers-ran-terror-website-spreading-message-convicted-hate-preacher.html. According to prosecuting lawyer Matthew Brook, Authentic Tauheed volunteers emphasized quotes from the Quran or hadiths throughout the hate preacher’s speeches before disseminating the content online.Sophie Law, “Volunteers ‘ran terror website spreading message of convicted hate preacher who praised ISIS for crucifixions and said children as young as 12 should make bombs’,” Daily Mail, October 29, 2019, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7626789/Volunteers-ran-terror-website-spreading-message-convicted-hate-preacher.html. Brook also noted, “At the heart of this case is a website called Authentic Tauheed which published a number of speeches by a man who calls himself Sheikh Faisal… A significant number of them the Crown allege amounted to terrorist publications because they praised terrorist organizations such as ISIS and encouraged his listeners to support those terrorist organizations and directly or indirectly encouraged terrorist action by encouraging support for a wider violent jihad.”Amie Gordon, “Two terrorist sympathizers face prison after spreading sermons from jailed Islamist preacher Abdullah el-Faisal dubbed the ‘Sheikh of Hate’,” Daily Mail, December 10, 2019, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7776977/Two-terrorists-face-prison-spreading-sermons-jailed-Islamist-preacher.html.

Ahad and Kamali were tried in October 2019 and convicted that December. Ahad was found guilty of four counts of disseminating terrorist material and one count of possessing articles useful for terrorism. Kamali was convicted of four counts of dissemination of terrorist publications on the Internet.“Two to be sentenced for publishing terrorism-related material,” Metropolitan Police, February 7, 2020, http://news.met.police.uk/news/two-to-be-sentenced-for-publishing-terrorism-related-material-393770. Ahad was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison on February 12, 2020. Kamali received the same sentence.Henry Martin, “Keyboard jihadi duo who ran Facebook and YouTube sites for jailed ‘Sheikh of Hate’ Islamist preacher who inspired Streatham and London Bridge terrorists are both jailed for four years,” Daily Mail (London), February 12, 2020, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7995151/Duo-ran-sites-Sheikh-Hate-inspired-Streatham-London-terrorists-jailed.html.

Created in 2008, Authentic Tauheed is a pro-ISIS, Islamist website. Although featuring almost 2,000 blogposts and serving as the largest repository for Faisal’s lectures and speeches, Authentic Tauheed has not been updated since August 17, 2017.Abdullah al-Faisal, “Entering the Lizard Hole (Notes & Audio),” Authentic Tauheed, August 16, 2017. http://www.authentictauheed.com/. Still, Faisal’s recordings and accompanying notes remain available for listening, reading, and downloading on the site. The Authentic Tauheed library includes lectures titled “Requirements of Jihad,” “We Shall Never Integrate,” “We Shall Never Follow the Jews and the Christians,” and “The Kuffaar and the Fear Factor.”“A-Z Lectures,” Authentic Tauheed, accessed November 20, 2019, http://www.authentictauheed.com/p/z-lectures.html; “Notes: Requirements of Jihad – Shaikh Faisal,” Authentic Tauheed, March 12, 2011, http://www.authentictauheed.com/2011/03/notes-requirements-of-jihad-shaikh.html; “Notes: We Shall Never Integrate – Shaikh Faisal,” Authentic Tauheed, May 4, 2011, http://www.authentictauheed.com/2011/05/notes-we-shall-never-integrate-shaikh.html; “134 We Shall Never Follow the Jews and Christians,” Authentic Tauheed, July 14, 2011, http://www.authentictauheed.com/2011/07/134-we-shall-never-follow-jews-and.html; “113 The Kuffaar and the Fear Factor,” Authentic Tauheed, July 2, 2011, http://www.authentictauheed.com/2011/07/113-kufaar-and-theh-fear-factor-e.html. In a two-hour long speech titled “Is the new Caliphate Valid?,” Faisal states, “According to shariah law the homosexuals are to be killed so they are terrified by the [ISIS] caliphate.”Abdullah al-Faisal, “Is the new Caliphate Valid?” Authentic Tauheed, July 21, 2014, http://www.authentictauheed.com/2014/07/audio-is-caliphate-valid.html. In a speech titled, “The Ideological Warfare of the Kufaar against the Ummah,” Faisal says, “…the Jews hate Hitler. Yet the Jews are worst than Hitler in character. They have surpassed Hitler with their cruelty. We lived to see the Jews become the very thing that they hate.”Abdullah al-Faisal, “Is the new Caliphate Valid?” Authentic Tauheed, May 24, 2015, http://www.authentictauheed.com/2015/05/.

Ahad has also regularly promoted and hosted numerous other Authentic Tauheed-related chatrooms and social media channels on Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, Paltalk, Blogspot, YouTube, Google+, and Wixsite. As of November 19, 2019, Authentic Tauheed’s Twitter account has been suspended, but the site’s Paltalk page remains popular and has more than 1,742 followers.Authentic Tauheed Paltalk channel, accessed November 18, 2019, http://www.paltalk.com/g2/group/1347249153/DisplayGroupDetails.wmt. To signify his ownership, maintenance or otherwise association with these channels and sites, Ahad often uses the terms “Islaamtruth1,” “IslamTruth1,” or “IslamicTruth1.”Islaamtruth1 Website, “ISLAM PROPAGATION,” accessed November 18, 2019, https://islaamtruth1.wixsite.com/authenticislam/about.

Ahad has likely used many aliases to maintain Facebook pages and groups, including “Authentic Tawheed Question and Answer”Authentic Tauheed, Facebook Page, “Authentic Tauheed Question and Answer,” accessed December 16, 2019, https://www.facebook.com/groups/469828066452566/. and “Sheikh Faisal [Video and Audio MP3].”Sheikh Faisal {Video and Audio MP3}, Facebook Page, “Sheikh Faisal {Video and Audio MP3},” accessed December 16, 2019, https://www.facebook.com/groups/abuhafiza4/. These Facebook groups are mainly “closed groups” with thousands—Authentic Tauheed with over 6,600 members“Authentic Tauheed Question and Answer,” Facebook Page, accessed December 18, 2019, https://www.facebook.com/groups/469828066452566/.—or several hundred members.“Sheikh Faisal {Video and Audio MP3},” Facebook Page, accessed December 16, 2019, https://www.facebook.com/groups/abuhafiza4/. Ahad also operates a YouTube channel focusing on “street” dawah (Islamic proselytizing).Abuzainab9, YouTube Channel, accessed December 16, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/user/abuzainab9. Many of these YouTube videos open with what Ahad refers to as “the Islamic State nasheed.”Additionally, Ahad has also uploaded hundreds of audio lectures of key jihadi material to the Internet Archive, including recordings of Anwar al-Awlaki, Abu Baraa, Anjem Choudary, Abu Izadeen, and Omar Bakri Mohammed.“Abdul Ahad,” Internet Archive, accessed November 19, 2019, https://archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A%22Abdul+Ahad%22&page=1.

Additionally, Ahad appears to run the organization IslamicTruth1 Dawah Propagation International (IT1DP).Islaamtruth1 Website, “ISLAM PROPAGATION,” accessed November 18, 2019, https://islaamtruth1.wixsite.com/authenticislam/about. IT1DP appears to share the same U.K. Registered Charity Number (1147041) as a U.K. charity known as the Shah Baquibillah Orphanage Trust, which reportedly operates in the London borough of Tower Hamlets as well as Bangladesh.“Shah Baquibillah Orphanage Trust,” The Charity Commission for England and Wales, accessed December 16, 2019, https://beta.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-details/?regid=1147041&subid=0. According to the Trust’s website, Ahad is listed as the point of contact, but it is unclear how involved Ahad is in the Trust’s operations.“Contact” Shah Baquibillah Orphanage Trust, accessed November 19, 2019, https://islaamtruth1.wixsite.com/sborphanagetrust/contact.