Man who called for jihad 'by sword' at busy Brighton mosque jailed for 4 years

Abubaker Deghayes, 53, promoted "jihad by sword" when he addressed worshippers at the Brighton Mosque and Muslim Community Centre

A man from Brighton, who made a stabbing gesture as he called for jihad 'by sword' at a busy Brighton mosque, has been jailed for four years.

Abubaker Deghayes, 53, stood up unannounced and addressed around 50 worshippers, including children, at the Brighton Mosque and Muslim Community Centre on 1 November 2020 after evening prayers.

During his speech, which was captured on video, Deghayes encouraged people to take part in violent ‘jihad’.

He was found guilty of encouraging terrorism following a trial at the Old Bailey.

During his Old Bailey trial, jurors were played a video of Deghayes' speech at the mosque

During his trial, jurors were played a video of Deghayes' speech at the mosque.

In it, he was seen to make a stabbing gesture when talking about jihad.

He told worshippers: "Whose power is more powerful than us? Allah is more powerful than you. You, idiots. You kuffar (non-believers)... The non-believer is an idiot. He's stupid."

He went on: "Jihad, jihad, jihad. Jihad is compulsory. Jihad is fighting by sword. That means this jihad is compulsory upon you, not jihad is the word of mouth but jihad will remain compulsory until the Day of Resurrection..."

> Man whose two sons died fighting in Syria found guilty of promoting terrorism in Brighton mosque

Two of Deghayes' sons were killed fighting for Islamists in Syria and he lost a third in a stabbing in Brighton.

Abdul Deghayes had become embroiled with drugs and was murdered by a dealer in 2019 aged 22. He was the twin brother of Abdullah, who was killed fighting in Syria in 2016 aged 18.

Their brother Jaffar, 17, was killed in 2014 while trying to overthrow Bashar Al-Assad's government.

A serious case review into their deaths found opportunities were missed to prevent the teenagers from being radicalised and to stop them from going to Syria.

Amer, another son and former finance student, who also travelled to Syria, is understood to be continuing to fight for the cause.

Abubaker Deghayes denied wrongdoing, saying he was explaining the meaning of Jihad by the sword as self-defence

Asim Takriti , the chairman of the Brighton mosque reported Deghayes to Sussex Police after being concerned by his speech.

He said: "We know Deghayes for a number of years, but expressing his view in such a way that's terribly wrong and he got reported the next day.

"I was terribly concerned about his speech as his speech only reflected his ideas, it does not reflect the ideas of the community."