Islamist Extremists

Abu Ramadan was among Libya’s prominent Islamist preachers in the 1980s. His extremist views and calls for terrorism have been known since the mid-1980s. By 1988, Abu Ramadan had become a key member of the defunct “Islamic Martyrs” and as a result, was listed by the Libyan Security Services (LSS) as being among the most wanted.

Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips is a Jamaican-Canadian preacher, author, and speaker residing in Qatar. He considers himself a Salafi who advocates a traditional, literal form of Islam. Bilal Philips is the son of an Anglican mother and a Presbyterian father. Philips grew up in Jamaica for the first 11 years of his life before moving to Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Abdullah al-Faisal, whose real name is Trevor William Forrest, was born to Christian parents who served in the Salvation Army. He left Jamaica in 1979 for Saudi Arabia, where he converted to Islam after being taught about the religion in high School. Soon after graduating in 1980, he began using the name Abdullah al-Faisal.

Najmuddin Faraj, known as Mullah Krekar, is a former leader of Ansar al-Islam and a Kurdish Sunni Islamic cleric. He is originally from Iraqi Kurdistan and moved to Norway as a refugee in 1991. While he had refugee status in Norway, Krekar founded and led the armed Islamist group Ansar al-Islam, which was already established and operating in Northern Iraq.

Mohammed Rahman is a British Islamist activist and former supporter of Omar Bakri Mohammed (profile can be accessed here) Rahman is well-known for his support of Islamist views. He has been described as a lecturer in Islamic jurisprudence. Rahman is also the author of ‘Are Demonstrations Beneficial? – In Light of The Qur'an and Sunnah.

Asim Qureshi is the research director at CAGE, a UK-based Islamist advocacy group dedicated to empowering communities affected by the War on Terror. He studied International Law and is the author of “Rules of the Game” and “A Virtue of Disobedience.” Qureshi studied law at London Guildhall University.

Moazzam Begg was born in the suburbs of Birmingham in 1968, grew up in Moseley, and holds dual UK-Pakistani citizenship. During his secondary education, Begg became a member of the Birmingham Lynx street gang, which was formed to combat persecution by far-right anti-immigrant groups.

Jawad Akbar, considered to be one of Britain's most dangerous terrorists, is a Pakistani-born radical Islamist who went to the United Kingdom at a young age and also spent time in Italy while his father worked there. Akbar, who is sentenced to life, was convicted of plotting to bomb shopping malls, nightclubs, and Britain's gas network.

Abu Haleema, who used to work as a part-time bus driver, was born in London to Pakistani immigrant parents and grew up in South Kilburn. Abu Haleema is a friend of Anjem Choudary (click here to see Anjem Choudary’s profile on EMAN), the founder of the outlawed Islamist organisation al-Muhajiroun and an imprisoned Daesh supporter.

Nicolas Blancho, also known by his alias Abu Ammar, is a Swiss Islamic leader and a chairman of the Islamic Central Council of Switzerland (ICCS). Blancho converted to Islam at 16. He rose to notoriety in 2006 after organising a demonstration in the Swiss city of Bern against the Danish newspaper Jyllands Posten.

Mirsad Omerovic, also known as Ebu Tejma is a former leader of a Bosnian terrorist cell in Vienna, Austria. He is currently imprisoned for 20 years on charges related to radicalising and recruiting individuals to join Daesh. In November 2014, he was arrested as part of a police operation against his Vienna-based terrorist cell.

Eyad Qunaibi graduated from the Faculty of Pharmacy at the Jordan University of Science and Technology and received his Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Houston, Texas. Qunaibi began his career as a researcher in the Research and Development Department at the Jordan Pharmaceutical Production Company.

Hani Mohammed Yusuf al-Siba’i is an Egyptian Sunni Islamic scholar and lawyer born in 1961 in Egypt and based in London under the status of a political refugee. Al-Sibai received financial benefits from the British government until 2017. He is believed to be one of the 14 members of the Shura of Egyptian Islamic Jihad

Hamid Abdallah Ahmed al-Ali is a Kuwaiti Salafi militant facilitator and inciter, described by the U.S. Treasury Department as "an Al Qaeda facilitator and fundraiser.". Hamid was born in 1960 in Kuwait where he was a primary education teacher of Islamic studies.

Tariq Al Zomor is an Egyptian Islamist who was among militants who assassinated former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat on 6 October 1981 during the military parade celebrating the victory of the October War of 1973 against Israel.

Abd al-Rahman al-Nuaimi was born in 1954 in Qatar and has been a board member of the Qatar Islamic Bank and a history professor at Qatar University until 2009. He is the co-founder of the Alkarama human rights NGO in Geneva.

Zaghloul Al Naggar is an Egyptian geologist and Muslim scholar, born in 1933 in a conservative environment. His father was an educationalist, and moved to Cairo in the mid-1940s where the family witnessed the brutality of the British occupation.

Abdul Rahman Abdul Karim is an Islamist Sunni preacher born in 1958 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He pursued his intermediate and secondary education at the Scientific Institute for Islamic and Arabic Sciences in Riyadh.

Sadiq al-Husayni al-Shirazi is an Iraqi-Iranian Shia marja’ Grand Ayatollah, born in 1942 in Karbala. His parents, Mirza Mahdi al-Shirazi (a Grand Ayatollah) and Halima al-Shirazi are from the distinguished clerical al-Shirazi family originally from Shiraz, Iran. Sadiq is the successor of his older brother Muhammad al-Shirazi after his death in 2001

Omar Bakri Muhammad is a Syrian-Lebanese Islamist militant leader, born in Aleppo to a wealthy family. At the age of five, he joined the Al-Kutaab Islamic boarding schools to learn Quran and Qur’anic Sciences, Hadith (the sayings of the Prophet of Islam and his Companions), Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence), and Seerah

Salman Bin Fahd bin Abdullah al-Ouda is a Saudi Muslim preacher and scholar born in 1956 in Al-Qassim in central Saudi Arabia. Al-Ouda spent six years studying Arabic grammar and Hanbali jurisprudence at the Educational Institute in Buraydah under scholars such as Abd al-Aziz ibn Baaz, and Muhammad ibn al Uthaymeen.

Mazen Al Sersawy is an Egyptian preacher born in the village of Bani Amer, Egypt. When he was eleven years old, he was honored by the Egyptian President for being one of the first children to memorize the Quran. He also obtained a prize from the Zagazig Recitations Institute in 1996.

Jihad Al Ayesh is a Palestinian Salafi preacher living in Kuwait. He is the head of Bayt Al Maqdis Centre for Documentary Studies. The centre, according to its official website, is a charity that seeks to revive the importance of Palestine in Muslim minds through publications, conferences and social media posts.

Ragheb El-Sergany is an Egyptian doctor, researcher and Islamic preacher. He started his studies at the Faculty of Medicine at Cairo University and completed his Bachelor’s degree in 1988. He then earned a Master’s degree and a Doctorate degree in Medicine from the same university in 1992 and 1998 respectively.

Hassan Al Diqqi is the co-founder of Al Islah party and the leader of the Emirates Al Ummah party in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Al Diqqi was sentenced to ten years in prison for supporting terrorist activities in Syria, and attempting to overthrow the UAE Leadership. However, Al Diqqi is now a fugitive living in Turkey.

Abu Islam graduated from the Department of Philosophy from Ain Shams University in 1981, and obtained two postgraduate diplomas, the first in Press from Cairo University in 1985, and the second in Education from Ain Al Shams University in 1993. He also pursued a master's degree in education from the same university in 1995.

Umar Al-Muqbil obtained a Bachelor degree from the Islamic University of the Imam Mohamed Ben Saoud before earning a Master degree and PhD in Sunnah (Sayings and teachings of the Prophet Muhammad) from the Faculty of Theology at the University of Imam Saud in Riyadh in 2000.

Rabee Ibn Hadi Umar Al-Madkhali is a Saudi Salafi Muslim scholar. He is best known for creating an independent faction within Salafism - the Al Madkhali Salafism school of thought. Al-Madkhali’s adherents are known as Madkhali Salafis and make up one of the most significant and influential branches inside the Salafi movement.

Hassan Al-Hussaini is a Saudi Bahraini historian and a well-known Islamic preacher with Shafi’i-Sunni orientations. Born in Makkah in 1976, he grew up among a conservative family and pursued several degrees in different Arab countries. He graduated from the Sharjah Faculty at the Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University.

Mahmoud Al Masri, also known as Abu Ammar, is an Egyptian Islamic preacher who was born in 1960 to a conservative family. He was a singer before becoming a preacher in 1991. Al Masri earned a Master’s degree in Social Services from Helwan University and a diploma of Islamic Sciences from the Preacher Training Institute in Cairo.

Muhammad Saalih al-Munajjid is a Palestinian Saudi Islamic scholar, born in 1960 in Palestinian refugees in Aleppo, Syria. In 1996, he founded one of the most popular Islamic fatwa websites and according to Alexa.com (2015) the world’s most popular Islamic website, IslamQA.

Sheikh Ali Saeed Al Rubaie is the founder of “Mental Drills”, a platform which aims to transform mental training for the Muslim community. According to the cleric’s website, the platform uses exercises for refreshing the mind, doubling memorisation skills, activating memory and speed of memorisation.

Omar AbdelKafy, is an Egyptian Islamic theologian, writer, professor and manager of Dubai International Holy Quran Award Islamic Studies Center. His full name is Omar Abdelkafy Shahata and he was born in 1951 in Minya, Egypt, in a conservative family with a father who was one of the notables of the “Saiid” region.

Massad Anwar is one of the prominent Egyptian Islamic preachers and presneter of a number of television programs such as the Mercy Channel where he exposes religious lessons in Islam. Anwar and his son were arrested by the security forces in his house at Hadayek al-Qobba.

Tareq Ibn Abdul Rahman Al Hawass is a prominent Saudi advocate and preacher. He graduated from the Islamic University of the Imam Muhammad bin Saud, with a specialization in “Osoul Eddine” or the fundamentals of religion, Al Aqida and the modern religion doctrines.

Abdul Rahman Ibn Abdul Aziz al-Sudais, a well-known Saudi Salafi-Sunni preacher, is the imam of the Grand Mosque Masjid al-Haram in Makkah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and was appointed head of the “Presidency for the Two Holy Mosques at the rank of minister” by royal decree on May 2012.

Saleh Al Fawzan is an Islamic scholar from Saudi Arabia. Born in 1933, he has been a member of many high religious entities in KSA and is considered as the most senior scholar of Islam in the country. He is currently a member of the Permanent Committee for Islamic Research and Issuing Fatwas.

Hazem Salah Abu Ismail is a prominent preacher in Egypt, and a Salafi Islamist politician. The Economist described him as a “populist Salafist”. He is the son of a well-known Islamist figure Salah Abu Ismail, reputable Al-Azhar scholar, an established member of parliament and a member of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Al Mosleh was born in Makkah in 1965. He received his primary and secondary education between Makkah and Jeddah. In 1988, Al Mosleh graduated with a Bachelor’s degree from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals and later joined the College of Sharia at Imam Muhammed Ibn Saud Islamic University.

Al Arour is a prominent Syrian Salafi who moved to Saudi Arabia at a young age to learn from well-known Salafi scholars such as Muhammad Nasiruddin Al Albani, Muhammed Nasseb Al Rifai, Sheikh Mohamed Eid Al Abbasi and Ibn Baz. His work focuses on opposing Sufi and Shia religious beliefs from a Salafi perspective.

Saeed Al Ghamdi is a Saudi academic and Islamic preacher, who graduated from the College of Shariah with a master’s degree and a Ph.D. from the College of Fundamentals of Religion, Al-Imam University in Riyadh. He worked as an assistant professor in the College of Shariah and Fundamentals of Religion, King Khalid University.

Al Mutairi is a Kuwaiti Islamic theologian, politician and academic. The president of the unofficial Ummah Party in Kuwait, and professor in the Department of Interpretation and Hadith in the College of Sharia at Kuwait University, Al Mutairi regularly tweets and posts on social media channels on contemporary geopolitical developments.

Omar Brooks is a British radical Islamist extremist and propagandist who has been charged and imprisoned over his support for terrorist groups. Having converted at age 17, Brooks was radicalised at the Finsbury Park Mosque where he met Omar Bakri Mohammad - a high-profile British Islamist.

Ismail Wahwah is a Jordanian-Australian dual citizen and the current head of Hizb-ut-Tahrir Australia (HT Australia) - the Australia chapter of the global Islamist movement that calls for a global Muslim super-state based on a hardline interpretation of Shari’a law.

Ata Abu Al Rashta is the current leader (Ameer) of HT Global - the radical Islamist movement that calls for an Islamic super-state (Caliphate) ruled by Shari’a law. Al Rashta’s current whereabouts are unclear, due to his position as the head of HT Global - an organisation that is banned in over 40 countries.

Anjem Choudary is a British-Pakistani radical Islamist preacher that was sentenced to five years in prison by a British court in 2016 for inviting support for Daesh. Choudary also led the “Muhajiroon” network - an Islamist extremist group that advocated for an extreme interpretation of Islam, and which called for Sharia law in Muslim lands.

Hassan is a radical French Muslim preacher and a member of the Young Muslims of France in collaboration with the Union of Islamic Organisations of France (UOIF), a pro-Muslim Brotherhood organisation. Hassan has made several hateful and anti-Semitic statements on social media since 2004.

Benhaj rejects Western democracy and calls for the establishment of an Islamic state. Ideologically, Benhaj is a Salafi who believes in the literal interpretation of the Quran and Sunnah. He is also influenced by the ideas of Ibn Taymiyyah, Mohamed Ibn Abdul Wahhab, Abu al-Ala al-Mwdudi and Sayyid Qutb.

Ali Ferkous is a well known Algerian Salafi/Madkhali preacher in Algeria. For most of the followers of the Salafi school of thought, Sheikh Ferkous is the most prominent Salafi preacher in the country. Ferkous’ fatwas are frequently criticized because of their nature.

Abu Qatada al-Filistini is a Jordanian Salafi cleric who has been accused of having links to terrorist organisations such as Al Qaeda. The United Nations accuses him of fundraising for Al Qaeda-related groups and of encouraging “the commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism”.

Sheikh Wael Mohieldin Sayed Al Zard is a Palestinian preacher based in Gaza. He obtained his bachelor degree in the fundamentals of religion in 1995 from the Islamic University in the Palestinian territories. He also obtained a master’s degree in Hadith from the same university in 2001.

Abdul Razzaq al-Mahdi is a Syrian cleric, born in 1961 in Damascus. He pursued Islamic Sciences in 1977 in the al-Fathu’l Islami institution in Damascus from great scholars of Damascus such as Abdur Razzaq al-Halabi, the mufti of Hanafis and one who collected mutawatir recitations.

In 1985, Dr. Abdelhaleem moved to London where he obtained a master’s degree and a PhD. From there, he emigrated to Canada. The Sheikh’s journey into Islamism began in the 60s amid the conflict between secularism, supported by the government, and the “Islamic awakening” led by the Muslim Brotherhood.

Hajjaj Al Ajmi is a Kuwaiti preacher and social activist, accused and sanctioned by the US government and the United Nations in 2014 for supporting Al-Nusrah Front affiliated with Al Qaida in Syria - Al Ajmi led the fundraising campaigns for the benefit of Al-Qaida in Syria.

Ahmed Al Naqib was born in Sinbalawin in 1974. He obtained the Elementary General and Azharite Certificate and then completed general education until he graduated from the Faculty of Arts, Cairo University, Department of Arabic Language and Literature, in which he completed a master's thesis and then a doctorate.

Ahmed Farid is a member of the Salafi movement in Egypt and one of its prominent names in the region. He was born in the city of Minya in Upper Egypt in 1952. He holds a medical degree from Alexandria University. At the university, he met Ibrahim Al Zafarani, who later became a leader in the Muslim Brotherhood.

Hazem Shouman is an Egyptian preacher from the Muslim Brotherhood and based in Mansoura. He gained notoriety after his inflammatory attacks on non-Islamists. Before the Egyptian revolution, he regularly appeared on Salafi TV channels such as Al Nas and Al Rahma.

Mohamed Hussein Yacoub is an Egyptian Salafi muslim scholar. Born in 1956 in Matimdiyah, his father was one of the founders of The Matimdiyah Islamic Association for Muslims to Unite Efforts to Act according to the Qur'an and the Prophet Muhammad's Sunnah. Mohamed Hussein has given hundreds of lectures in Da’wah.

Khaled Al Rashed, born on 18 March 1970 in Al Khobar city in the Eastern Province in Saudi Arabia. Al Rashed is a radical Salafist cleric and a member of the so-called Movement of Reformers. According to a number of Islamist websites, Al Rashed obtained a university degree in forensic sciences in the United States.

Hijazi Sherif is an Egyptian Salafi preacher from Kafr El Cheikh region. Unlike other scholars, Al Heweny did not graduate from famous religious schools in Egypt or in other Muslim countries. Instead, he learned Hadith and Sharia in mosques from famous Sheikhs such as bin Baz, al Uthaimin, and Al Albani.

Abd al Muhsin Zabin Mutib Naif al Mutayri is a Kuwaiti preacher and an Assistant Professor at the Department of Interpretation and Hadith at the College of Sharia and Islamic studies at the University of Kuwait. He is also an imam at the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs in Kuwait since 1995.

Mohamed Hassan is a prominent Egyptian preacher. Born in 1962 in Dakhleya in Egypt, he joined the Coranic school at the age of four. He obtained a bachelor’s degree from Cairo University, a master’s degree from the Institute of Islamic studies, and a PhD from the American University in London.

Mohammed Al Nabusli is one of the most famous preachers in the Middle East, a writer, professor, Muslim scholar, and co-founder and manager of Nabulsi Encyclopedia of Islamic Science and attained a Master’s degree from the University of Lyon and a PhD from the University of Dublin.

Mohamed Al Saghir is an Egyptian preacher living in Qatar. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, an influential Muslim Brotherhood international organisation headed by Youcef Al Qaradawi.

Dr. Al Ajmi holds a bachelor’s degree from the College of Sharia at Kuwait University in 1996. In 2004, he obtained a PhD from the Academy of Science at the University of Cairo. Al Ajmi served as an Assistant Dean at the College of Sharia and Islamic Studies at the University of Kuwait.

Abdul Al Rahman Saleh Al Ashmawi was born in Ara village in Al Baha region. He joined the Faculty of Arabic Language at the Imam Muhammed bin Saud Islamic University and graduated in 1977. He also obtained a PhD from the Department of Rhetoric, Criticism and Methodology of Islamic Literature in 1989

Abdulaziz al Fawzan was born in Al Qasim region in 1964. He obtained a Bachelor’s degree from the Sharia College and Fundamentals of Religion at Al Qassim. Al Fazwan then joined Imam Muhamed ibn Saud Islamic University where he graduated with a master’s and a PhD in comparative jurisprudence.

Nasser al Omar is a Saudi preacher, and a member of the Muslim Scholars Association, a Muslim Brotherhood organisation headed by Yusuf Al Qaradawi, one of the preachers profiled by EMAN. He was born and raised in Al Moraidasiih, a Saudi village in the region of Qassim in 1952. In 1974, he graduated from Riyadh’s College of Sharia

Yasser Al Habib is a Kuwaiti-born Shia hate preacher that regularly targets revered figures in Sunni Islamic history, including Prophet Muhammad’s wives, and his companions. His remarks have lead to global condemnations from Sunni Muslims, and even condemnations from Shia clergy.

Othman Al Khamees is a Kuwaiti Salafist preacher. Khamees studied at the Imam Muhammad Bin Saud Islamic University in Riyadh, and holds a Masters degree in Islamic Hadith. Khamees is anti-Shia, often using divisive rhetoric rooted in fundamental Sunni interpretations of Islam

Wagdi Ghoneim is an Egyptian salafist preacher and long-time member of the global Muslim Brotherhood (MB) currently residing in Turkey in exile. He has been a frequent speaker at MB-sponsored events including those held by the UCOII, ICCI, and the League of Swiss Muslims.

Abulaziz Al Tarefe is a Saudi Salafi scholar of Kuwaiti origin. Al Tarefe is an Islamic preacher and has engaged widely in preaching activities, including presenting a number of religious lectures and hadith preaching through radio and television. Al Tarefe regularly tweets on his English and Arabic twitter account.

Nabil Al Awadi is a Kuwaiti television presenter and Salafi scholar that began gaining media attention for his fundraising activities to Jihadist groups in the Syrian crisis. Al Awadi had his Kuwaiti citizenship revoked in August 2014 due to his funding of terrorism. In 2018, Kuwait reinstated his citizenship.

Zakir Abdul Karim Naik is an Indian Islamic televangelist and preacher. He is currently an alleged criminal absconder in charges related to alleged funding terror activities, hate speech, inciting communal hatred, and money laundering. He fled in 2016 and is a fugitive wanted for questioning in India.

Aid Al Qarni is a prominent Saudi salafi scholar that gained a significant follower base through his multiple social media accounts, including Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Although previously known for his extreme views, including calling for Jihad in Syria in an interview on live television.

Saleh Al Maghamsy is a Saudi Arabian imam and preacher of the Quba mosque in Medina, Saudi Arabia, and maintains a large follower base on social media, including Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Maghamsy has a long history of preaching hate and espousing an intolerant ideology towards non-Muslims.

Al Qaradawi is an Egyptian Islamic theologian based in Doha, Qatar, and chairman of the International Union of Muslim Scholars. He is best known for his programme Al-Sharīʿa wa al-Ḥayāh, broadcast on Al Jazeera, which has an estimated audience of 40–60 million worldwide.

Al Arefe is a prominent Saudi scholar and preacher with a reach of tens of millions of people on social media. Al Arefe was born and raised in Riyadh, and began his career studying medicine but was persuaded by his family members to pursue religious studies.

Arfan Bhatti, who is believed to be the most dangerous person in Norway, made his first public debut back in January 2012 as the leader of the Norwegian Islamist group Profetens Ummah. He is known as the “glue” of the Salafi group in the Norwegian media. Bhatti was born and raised in Oslo but spent several years in the early 2000s in his home country Pakistan.

Tarik Chadlioui is a Belgian-Morrocan Islamist preacher who has been frequently accused of running fundraising and recruitment activities across Europe for Daesh and other Islamist extremists organisations in Syria. Chadlioui was formerly located in Belgium but later relocated to Egypt in 2010 following the Belgian government’s decision to ban Islamic face coverings for women in public.

Haitham al-Haddad is a British jurist and Islamic scholar who was born in Saudi Arabia in 1966. He is currently the Chair and operations advisor and a trustee for the Muslim Research and Development Foundation, which has been described by the UK government’s counter-extremism commissioner, Sara Khan, as “the main Salafist organisation in the UK”.