Aqsa Mahmood

Aqsa Mahmood
Born1993 (1993)
Glasgow, Scotland
DiedFebruary 2019(2019-02-00) (aged 25–26)
Syria
OccupationStudent
Known forNamed on the UN sanctions list for activities relating to ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida

Aqsa Mahmood (1993 – February 2019) was a citizen of the United Kingdom, from Glasgow, who stirred controversy in 2013 when she was one of the first UK women to voluntarily travel into ISIL territory in Syria, when she was 20 years old.[1] She was reportedly killed in February 2019 and has not been referenced or seen since.

Early life and radicalization

Mahmood was born in Glasgow to Pakistani immigrant parents (her father Muzaffar was the first Pakistani to play cricket for the Scottish cricket team).[2] Mahmood attended Craigholme School for five terms before attending Shawlands Academy in Glasgow for a year.[3][4] At the time she left the UK for Syria, she was taking a course in diagnostic radiography at Glasgow Caledonian University.[5]

Mahmood's parents believe she was convinced to join ISIL by Adeel Ulhaq. They found out Mahmood was communicating with Ulhaq in May 2013, and her father told him to leave her alone.[6] That summer, Mahmood ran away from home and told her family she wanted to marry Ulhaq, but her family convinced her to postpone the decision to marry and to return home, as she hadn't completed her education and neither she nor Ulhaq had jobs.[4]

Her mother stated Mahmood had begun dressing more religiously before she left, and had wanted to wear the niqab. She had also become increasingly interested in politics and became emotional when she watched news reports about the Syrian civil war. [4]

In November 2013, Mahmood didn't come home one night. Her mother later stated she called Ulhaq's mother and asked where her daughter was, and was told Mahmood no longer wanted to stay with her family. Her mother then contacted one of Mahmood's university friends and was told Mahmood had gone to Syria.[4]

ISIL

Mahmood herself called her mother after her arrival in Syria four days after her departure, telling her, "I will see you on the day of judgment, and I want to be a martyr."[7] A month after she left Scotland, she reportedly married an ISIL fighter.[8]

She kept in touch with her family over social media after arriving in Syria. She had a Tumblr blog and used a Twitter account under the name Umm Layth[9] and urged Muslims to join ISIL[8] or to commit terrorist acts, tweeting, "If you cannot make it to the battlefield then bring the battlefield to yourself."[10] Her blog mentioned Mauritian ISIL blogger Zafirr Golamaully, and he mentioned her on his blog.[11] She published a guide on how to reach Syria, warning women that if they traveled to ISIL territory they would have prepare for widowhood as their fighter husbands were likely to be killed.[12][13] Mahmood is also believed to have been a member of the Al-Khansaa Brigade.[10]

In June 2014, Mahmood praised motherhood in a post online, saying, "Feeling ungrateful to your mother? Are you irritated by her nonstop talking and asking about you? You feel like just shutting your door and stop her from entering your room? Wallah, you’re such a shame. How can you do and be like that to your mother?"[14] Her parents made a public appeal for her to return home in September, ten months after she left.[15] In 2015, Mahmood's family challenged the allegation that she played a role in recruiting three teenage girls, the Bethnal Green trio, to follow her example.[16] Mahmood's family stated she had told them she wasn't in touch with the girls and did not recognize their names.[17]

Early in 2015, Mahmood posted a photo of herself, standing next to young children and holding the severed head of an executed Syrian man.[14] In April that year, Mark Rowley, the Assistant Commissioner for Specialist Operations of the Metropolitan Police Service and the concurrent Chair of the National Police Chiefs' Council Counter-Terrorism Coordination Committee,[18] told the UK House of Commons Home Affairs Committee that security officials were close to compiling enough evidence to charge Mahmood, if she returned to the UK, or to request extradition, if she tried to settle elsewhere.[19]

On 28 September 2015 the United Nations placed her on its sanctions list, reserved for those with ties to Al Qaeda.[20] UK authorities rescinded her passport, to prevent her return to the United Kingdom.[21]

Ulhaq was never charged in connection with Mahmood's case. But in 2016, he and two other British men were convicted of preparation of terrorist acts and Ulhaq was also convicted of funding terrorism, for helping a 17-year-old boy, Aseel Muthana, join ISIL.[22] Muthana arrived in Syria in March 2014,[23] joining his older brother who had gone there three months before him.[24] During his trial, Ulhaq testified that he had considered going to Syria to bring Mahmood, whom he called his ex-girlfriend, home.[25] Since his release from prison in 2018 he has been returned to prison twice for breaching the terms of his parole.[26]

In February 2019, The Mirror reported that Mahmood was believed to have died in the warzone.[27]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Syria girls: Families 'cannot stop crying'". BBC News. 22 February 2015. Archived from the original on 23 October 2018. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
  2. ^ Shubert, Atika; Naik, Bharati (5 September 2014). "How a Glasgow girl became an ISIS bride". CNN. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  3. ^ "Glasgow woman Aqsa Mahmood 'promoting terrorism' on Twitter". BBC News. 2 September 2014. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d McGinty, Brendan (21 February 2016). "How ISIS stole my daughter: Mum admits when Aqsa Mahmood left Scotland for IS death cult she felt like she was dying". The Daily Record & Sunday Mail. Retrieved 28 December 2025.
  5. ^ "Aqsa Mahmood: how did Scot become Jihadi bride in Syria?". The Week. 4 September 2014.
  6. ^ McGinty, Brendan (21 February 2016). "Aqsa Mahmood: Brit student lured to Syria by ISIS was brainwashed with secret text messages". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 28 December 2025.
  7. ^ Hall, Hiyab (1 July 2016). "The Most Dangerous Women in Jihad Part 3: Umm Layth". Militant Leadership Monitor. 7 (6).
  8. ^ a b عروض زواج مغرية تدفع «أم حسين» و«أم ليث» و«أم جعفر» للإنضمام «للجهاد» [Tempting marriage offers prompt “Umm Hussein”, “Umm Laith”, and “Umm Jaafar” to join “Jihad”.]. Al-Quds Al-Arabi. 13 September 2014. Retrieved 28 December 2025.
  9. ^ "Aqsa Mahmood". United Nations Security Council. 28 September 2015.
  10. ^ a b "Glasgow woman Aqsa Mahmood 'promoting terrorism' on Twitter". BBC News. 2 September 2014. Retrieved 28 December 2025.
  11. ^ Holbrook, Donald; Hopkins, James (2022). "Dusty Feet: The Postings of an ISIS Blogger" (PDF). ICCT Research Paper. doi:10.19165/2022.1.03.
  12. ^ Al-Saleh, Huda (20 May 2020). ""Umm Laith"... a Daesh member and one of the most dangerous British women". Al Arabiya. Retrieved 28 December 2025.
  13. ^ "What To Do After Your Husband's Martyrdom". Radio Free Europe. 30 January 2015. Retrieved 28 December 2025.
  14. ^ a b Ali, Mah-Ruk (2015). "ISIS and Propaganda: How ISIS Exploits Women" (PDF). Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.
  15. ^ "Aqsa Mahmood's parents ask her to come home to Glasgow". BBC News. 6 September 2014. Retrieved 28 December 2025.
  16. ^ James Cook (16 March 2015). "Glasgow 'jihadist' Aqsa Mahmood denies recruiting London girls". BBC News. Archived from the original on 29 October 2018. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
  17. ^ Leask, David (1 May 2023). "Isis bride Aqsa Mahmood was 'victim who needed help to return home'". The Times.
  18. ^ "Leadership". About the Met. Metropolitan Police. Archived from the original on 30 April 2013. Retrieved 8 December 2013.
  19. ^ "Scots jihadi will be prosecuted if she comes home, say police". STV. 10 March 2015. Archived from the original on 1 July 2018. Retrieved 7 April 2015. Police commissioner Mark Rowley told the Home Affairs Select Committee work was "well advanced" to prosecute 20-year-old Aqsa Mahmood.
  20. ^ "Aqsa Mahmood". United Nations. 28 September 2015. Archived from the original on 22 February 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2019. Aqsa Mahmood was listed on 28 September 2015 pursuant to paragraphs 2 and 4 of resolution 2161 (2014) as being associated with Al-Qaida for "participating in the financing, planning, facilitating, preparing, or perpetrating of acts or activities by, in conjunction with, under the name of, on behalf of, or in support of", "recruiting for" and "otherwise supporting acts or activities of" Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, listed as Al-Qaida in Iraq (QDe.115).
  21. ^ "'Jihadi bride' arrested at Heathrow with two-year-old son". The Week. 22 January 2018. Archived from the original on 22 February 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2019. In one case, Aqsa Mahmood, 22, a suspected Isis recruiter from Glasgow, was stripped of her UK citizenship to prevent her return, The Times says.
  22. ^ Morris, Steven (10 February 2016). "Three men found guilty of helping teenage jihadi travel from UK to Syria". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 December 2025.
  23. ^ Hussein, Tam (22 August 2014). "Joining ISIS: My Meeting With Aseel Muthana". Huffington Post UK. Retrieved 28 December 2025.
  24. ^ "Terror trial: Men who helped teen go to Syria jailed". BBC News. 10 February 2016. Retrieved 28 December 2025.
  25. ^ "Ex-boyfriend of Glasgow jihadi Aqsa Mahmood facing jail". Rayo. 10 February 2016. Retrieved 28 December 2025.
  26. ^ Ashe, Isaac (5 June 2024). "Man who helped teen join IS group is jailed again". BBC News. Retrieved 28 December 2025.
  27. ^ Mcginty, Brendan; Hill, Patrick; Warburton, Dan (16 February 2019). "Family of Brit ISIS poster girl say 'jihadi brides are better in prison than dead'". The Mirror. Archived from the original on 22 February 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2019. Mahmood was 20 when she joined IS in 2013, inspiring other Brits to follow. She is believed to have been killed as the so-called IS caliphate crumbled.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.