One of the young men arrested on alleged terror offences yesterday was former UK student Tarik Hassane, 21, who left Britain to study in Sudan before returning with the hopes of joining the National Health Service (NHS). A cursory glance at Mr Hassane’s social media profiles outlines the mind of a Islamist as he becomes more extreme about his faith, despite benefitting from the best of what the UK had to offer him.
Mr Hassane was described by the Telegraph as having received an offer to study at King’s College in London, though he turned it down because he didn’t quite make the grades he needed to get onto the medical course. Instead, he was offered biomedicine, but saw a loophole in Britain’s NHS recruitment and found out that he could study medicine in Sudan and return to the UK to become a public sector worker.
While one girl described Mr Hassane as a “lovely guy” who is “not a terrorist” – a look into Ask.fm social media profile reveals a darker side to man who seems to have descended further into literal, extremist interpretations of Islam.
The website allows users to ask questions of people, usually via Twitter. Mr Hassane received lots of questions from friends and anonymous users alike, some which asked his views on religion, women, and his personal life.
When asked as to whether or not a prospective wife would need to be as pious in her religious views, Mr Hassane answered: “…she would needs to do what’s obligated of her. She would also need to have a personality where she obeys her husband, good character and isn’t high maintenance.”
Asked which Islamic speakers people should set out to listen to, he answered, over a year ago, that the Al Qaeda recruiter Anwar al-Awlaki was a good choice. Awlaki is thought to be responsible for the online radicalisation of Roshonara Choudhry, another King’s College student who stabbed Member of Parliament Stephen Timms MP for his support for the Iraq War.
Describing where he was born, Mr Hassane referred to his home in Ladbroke Grove as “West Londonistan” and criticised Christian and Jews not willing to live under an Islamic State as being the reason for “bloodshed” across the world. When asked about his views on Syria, Mr Hassane said: “our brothers and sisters in Syria have realized that Jihad is what will bring them true freedom and justice, not some democratic system… my conclusion… is that only through Jihad does the Law of Allah get established, and justice established on Earth. Because the enemies of Allah swt are not repelled except with fighting.”
His last update, about 10 months ago, was a response to people accusing him of misogyny and treating Muslim women as lower class citizens. Channel 4 reports that shortly before his arrest, Mr Hassane tweeted, “Oi lads … I smell war”.