UK: Cousin of migrant from Libya who stabbed three people to death says he converted to Christianity
Khairi Saadallah’s cousin said: “He started going to church and had tattoos all over his body including one of a cross on his arm. I haven’t had contact with him since that time.”
In the only available photo at this point of Khairi Saadallah’s arms, there is no cross tattoo, but maybe it’s on one of his forearms or on a place that doesn’t show up in the photo.
Anyway, maybe Khairi Saadallah did convert to Christianity, and since converts to Christianity have not emulated many converts to Islam in going on stabbing sprees or committing other acts of violence, his attack is a manifestation of mental illness, as British authorities have suggested.
But the cousin, the only source for this conversion claim right now, says he hasn’t seen him in two or three years. So it isn’t an open-and-shut matter that he is still a Christian now; he could have returned to Islam and decided to do what Muhammad called the greatest deed — jihad — in order to make up for his past sins, both of not being a religious Muslim and of converting to Christianity.
Another possibility: in January 2016, the Islamic State (ISIS) issued a manual entitled “Safety and Security Guidelines for Lone Wolf Mujahideen.” It told jihadis in the West to pretend to be Christians, and stated: “It is permissible for you to wear a necklace showing a Christian cross. As you know, Christians – or even atheist Westerners with Christian background – wear crosses on their necklaces.” According to a hadith, Muhammad said, “War is deceit.” (Bukhari 4.52.268).
It is not clear which one of these possibilities, if any, are right. And given the abysmal state of Britain’s investigative and law enforcement apparatus, we may never know.
“Reading terror suspect who ‘killed three’ fled Libya seven years ago and was granted refugee status because he feared Islamists – before being jailed in UK and ‘converting to Christianity,'” by James Robinson, James Fielding, Harry Howard, Ian Gallagher, Michael Powell and Abul Taher, Mail on Sunday, June 21, 2020:
A terror suspect accused of stabbing three people to death and seriously injuring three others in an attack in Reading fled Libya seven years ago and was granted refugee status in the UK because he feared Islamists, and later converted to Christianity, MailOnline can reveal.
A relative of Khairi Saadallah, 25, says the terror suspect arrived in the UK as a tourist in 2012 before claiming asylum because he was at risk from Islamic extremists due to him not leading a ‘strict religious life’ in Libya.
He then converted to Christianity three years ago, according to his cousin, and is said to have a tattoo of a cross on one of his arms.
Speaking after the attack, which took place in Forbury Gardens, Reading, on Saturday evening, the cousin, who lives in Libya and did not wanted to be named, said: ‘I cannot believe this. I can’t believe he’d do anything like this or be involved in anything to do with terrorism.
‘Khairi had been to the UK a number of times but at the end of 2012 he travelled there as a tourist and decided to stay and claim asylum.
‘He was at risk of extremists in Libya because he liked to drink and socialise and didn’t really lead a strict religious life at all.
‘He did get in trouble in England and could be aggressive but I can’t ever imagine him getting drawn into something as serious as this.’
Speaking about his conversion to Christianity, the cousin said: ‘It might have been why about two or three years ago, he converted from Islam to Christianity.
‘He started going to church and had tattoos all over his body including one of a cross on his arm. I haven’t had contact with him since that time.
‘He lived in Manchester first and now lives in Reading. I think the authorities in Britain have tried to send him back to Libya but he doesn’t want to go back. He’s been in the UK for about seven years so is practically British now.’
Earlier today it was revealed the 25-year-old has previously been jailed for minor non-terror related offences, according to reports.
The revelation came as counter-terrorism police declared yesterday’s attack in Reading as a ‘terrorist incident’….
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