Former Islamic radical claims ‘talk of jihad’ common at Queen Mary Uni Friday prayer

Over the last five years physics student Sohail Ahmed claims to have witnessed fiery speeches about jihad during Friday prayer at Queen Mary University of London, clandestine talks at the homes of “brothers” from the Islamic Society, and one student disappearing to reputedly join Isis and fight in Syria.

The 23-year-old former Islamic radical has spoken out as fears have been voiced about a “culture conducive” to non-violent extremism on campus at Queen Mary - as it is named in a new list of “worst offenders” for hosting radical preachers.

said Mr Ahmed.

Mr Ahmed, born to Pakistani parents in east London, grew up in a household that believed in the extreme Wahhabi Salafi interpretation of Islam and he was radicalised at an early age.

Already with a deep hatred of the UK and a firm belief that he was living in “enemy territory”, he claims he considered carrying out an attack on home soil when he was 16 or 17-years-old by placing a bomb at a high profile location. He says he never went beyond “scoping out a few places”.

On arrival at Queen Mary in 2010 to study medicine he found little evidence of his extremism being mirrored at the Whitechapel campus.

he said.

But when he transferred to study physics at the university’s main campus in Mile End in 2012 he experienced a sea-change.

he says,

This thinking included discussion about jihad, fighting the ‘kuffar’, and establishing a caliphate.

Mr Ahmed, who has since left Islam and come out as being gay, has grave concerns about the influence of Queen Mary’s Islamic Society, of which he was a member.

he said.



But he says the problem has grown from a wider failure to engage with and tackle the threat from radical Islamism.

he said.

Queen Mary Student Union and the university’s Islamic Society did not comment when contacted by the East London Advertiser.

Good old Sohail hahahahahaha

I remember him, quiet dude generally, I don't ever recall him going around being this so called "radical" when he was Muslim....nor do a lot of the guys over at Whitechapel after talking to them about him, he was always considered a nice guy and gentle...so I don't get why he's going around portraying himself as some sort of "radical".

Frankly speaking after his Muslim phase, he left Islam, went and joined the Athiest Society, believe he was treasurer and Athiest Society started focusing on events aimed towards Muslims and issues about Islam. So obvious I would without a doubt believe he is bias and has an agenda.

Plus the ISOC during the early days were far stricter and closed off.....its since 2011 they opened up, were more accepting of other valid opinions and since then its become a lot more popular. Events would be far more packed out in comparison to when I started.

Omg im going queen mary this september

Maybe i should think twice about joining this so called isoc

Maybe i will become radicalised and will wage war on the kuffar

Posted from TSR Mobile

Go to their events, go to the Friday prayer and judge for yourself

Are you calling that dude in the article a liar?

Why would he do this to us?

Posted from TSR Mobile

Well, judging by the huge amount of Jihadists here... they could easily be the people this article mentions

Good old Sohail hahahahahaha

I remember him, quiet dude generally, I don't ever recall him going around being this so called "radical" when he was Muslim....nor do a lot of the guys over at Whitechapel after talking to them about him, he was always considered a nice guy and gentle...so I don't get why he's going around portraying himself as some sort of "radical".

Frankly speaking after his Muslim phase, he left Islam, went and joined the Athiest Society, believe he was treasurer and Athiest Society started focusing on events aimed towards Muslims and issues about Islam. So obvious I would without a doubt believe he is bias and has an agenda.

Plus the ISOC during the early days were far stricter and closed off.....its since 2011 they opened up, were more accepting of other valid opinions and since then its become a lot more popular. Events would be far more packed out in comparison to when I started.

I completely agree. An example of a disgusting worm jihadist can be found here:



Typical. Always coming up with excuses to cover up any kind of extremism that may exist. First it is "they aren't muslims" now it is "jews and atheists and propaganda", what next? Your pathetic mentality just shows how much you despise people who don't believe in the same things as you or maybe have a different opinion to you.

If he is lying, then go debate and provide evidence instead of accusing of bias and an agenda. You would do this if you could logically think for yourself.

The guy in the article was just throwing around buzz words and didn't really deliver any specifics.

But I guess a person who actually interacted with Sohail probably knows a lot more about it than you or me, for that matter.


Like most things, radicalism/extremism/fundamentalism is all relative...

Regardless, it should be taken seriously, as should any accusation of radicalising.

I'd rather see some proof and debating rather than just "lol, bias, agenda, atheist".

There'd be a great debate if the guy had actually mentioned any specifics but it's all probably just rhetoric and exaggeration...

Until we find out what you said is true, we should not assume it isn't.

I didn't say anything...

The bit about it probably being rhetoric and exaggeration?

It looks that way. The article doesn't go into any great detail.

It must have been a slow news day or something..

Someone could probably recreate that entire story and make it seem like the far-right are infiltrating and/or brainwashing people or anyone. It smells too much like a pre-written template.