He lived for years in the Gothenburg area, where he is considered to have been radicalized.
Now Somali-born Abdulkadir Mumin, known for harsh rhetoric and his henna-dyed beard, is being singled out as IS’s new global leader.
He is one of IS’s top leaders, confirms Magnus Ranstorp, docent in political science and terrorism researcher at the Norwegian Defense Academy.
Mumin is not a caliph, but rather the operative spider in the web for IS provinces – including those in Syria and Africa as well as IS Khorasan in Afghanistan. The latter has launched several terror plans in Europe.
Abdulkadir Mumin, also known as Sheikh Mumin, was born in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland in Somalia sometime in the 1950s. During the 1990s and early 2000s, he lived in Hjällbo in Gothenburg with his wife and daughter.
Sworn fealty
Magnus Ranstorp, who wrote about Moomin in a research study, emphasizes that the Somali was radicalized through the Bellevue Mosque in Gothenburg, where he preached and also radicalized others. He is said to have contributed to tens of people from Sweden joining Somali al-Shabaab and collected money for the Islamist terror group.
Moomin himself, however, moved to Britain in 2003, where he became a citizen and became known for encouraging sermons in mosques in London and Leicester, according to information provided to AFP.
There he also got to know, among others, Mohammed Emwazi, who later became known as the IS executioner “Jihadi John”, says Magnus Ranstorp.
In 2010, Sheikh Mumin returned to Somalia, where he became the spokesperson for the jihadist movement al-Shabaab before it joined the terrorist network al-Qaeda. But a few years later, he swore allegiance to IS.
The terrorist movement al-Shabaab shows itself in Mogadishu in Somalia. The photo was taken in 2010, before the organization joined al-Qaeda. Archive image.
The terrorist movement al-Shabaab shows itself in Mogadishu in Somalia. The photo was taken in 2010, before the organization joined al-Qaeda. Archive image.
Photo: Mohamed Sheikh Nor/AP/TT
Actual leader?
In recent years, Mumin has led the jihadist movement in his homeland, survived assassination attempts and climbed the ranks. European intelligence sources tell AFP that he “distributes volunteers and money”, including to the ADF rebel movement in Uganda and groups in Mozambique, Yemen and Afghanistan. Researchers at the International Center for the Study of Radicalization (ICSR) at King’s College London have determined that he is now IS’s de facto global leader.
That role requires a sharp intellect and leadership qualities, something Sheikh Mumin likely has, according to Ranstorp. In addition, his ideology is in line with IS, which wants to declare a caliphate and have Sharia law.
He has a Salafist-Jihadist mindset. It is a violent ideology, its representatives see themselves as the enlightened ones and those who wage the implacable war against infidel non-Muslims.
Fact: Salafist Jihadism
Salafism is a very conservative and literal interpretation of Islam, where followers want to follow the Prophet Muhammad and his closest companions as closely as possible through, among other things, clothing, rituals and rules for social behavior. Those who do not live up to the standards are labeled as apostates or infidels.
Salafist jihadism espouses a militant version of this interpretation.
Being a Salafist does not automatically mean that you are an extremist or a proponent of violence, but Salafism has in some cases proven to be a breeding ground for violent jihadism. Some notable events from the Swedish Salafist-jihadist environment are the extensive travel to jihadist groups in the Middle East, as well as the terrorist attack on Drottninggatan in Stockholm in 2017.
Sources: NE and FHS