From Aspiring Basketball Star To Jihad; American Delights In Fighting For ISIS

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The following report is a profile of Abdi Nur, a Somali-American from Minneapolis, Minnesota who is currently fighting with the Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria. The American jihadi uses the Twitter alias Salahadeen (@Al_Abdullah). He also has an ask.fm account, which has not been recently updated. He claims he was close to Douglas McAuthur McCain, an American ISIS fighter from the Minneapolis area who was killed by the FSA on August 27,2014.[i]

Background

Nur began tweeting on March 2, 2014.  On April 13 he tweeted, "May Allah swt make it easy for us in darul kuffar [land of infidels i.e. the West]." This indicates that he was still in the U.S. at this point. The first indication that he travelled to Syria comes on July 28 when he tweeted, "What a beautiful day in Raqqa #Allahu Akbar."

Nur also shared some information about his youth in the U.S. He says that he was once an avid basketball player, tweeting on August 29, " 'Story of My Life' a young boy raised in the U.S., Dreams to be a basketball player now Under the Khilafah [caliphate] #Blessed."

On September 4 Nur hints at a criminal past writing, "Back in the US me nd [and] my homies used to rob these kaffirs [infidels] on the daily. 'Ghanima'[booty] lol been getting ghanima my whole life lol."

On his Ask.Fm account he confirms that he is from Minneapolis. A user asked "Where did you make hijra [emmigrate] from, and how did you learn abt the haqq [truth]??" The fighter responded, "Made hijra from mpls, from the quran and sunnah and tawakakul [faith] in Allah." Someone asked, what is "mpls", and Nur confirmed "Minneapolis Minneasota Aka USA lol."[ii]

Praise For Paris Attacks And Threats To The West

Nur enthusiastically responded to the January 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris, writing, "May Allah Accept our dear brothers nd give them the highest ranking with Allah Swt. 'PARRIS shooting' well well well done iqwah [brothers]."

On August 30 he tweeted a threatening message to America, "In Sha Allah by Allah, America you shall pay for what you have done to the Muslims around the world in this dunya [life] nd ahkirah [afterlife]."

On August 26 the fighter retweeted a meme, by InvitetoIslam, a Birmingham-based organization that produces flashy, radical images and is also active on Twitter. [iii] Nur tweeted an image of a cityscape with the words, "We love death more than you love life." This was his contribution to the trending ISIS hashtag, "AmessagefromISIStotheUS."

In a possible response to the recent international activities conducted by ISIS fighters in France and Belgium, Nur boasted January 15, 2015, "My family [i.e., ISIS] so big we went international within few months. The Islamic State – security and peace. May Allah bless our khilafah and cripple the haters."

Life In Syria

On August 27 Nur eulogized fellow American ISIS fighter Douglas McAuthur McCain writing, "A good brother of mine just got shahada [martyrdom] @Iamthetooth Forever will I remember you nd never forget you ahki [my brother] May Allah Accept Him #RaiseToJannah

On August 10 Nur posted a photo of a young child giving the Tawheed [Islamic concept of monotheism] gesture with the caption, "Even little kids understand tawheed [better] then most of you Westerners #IslamicState."

On August 12 he shared a photo of himself posing with an AK-47 in a field with the caption, "If the sky would be proud of the existence of the starts [sic], the land should be proud of the existence of the Mujahideen."

Nur shared that he teaches English to his fellow Syria fighters. On August 12 he tweeted, "Teaching English to all my ansari [native] brothers. Man got a full class alhamdulilah #Muhajireen&AnsariThing."

Nur has numerous tweets encouraging others to travel to the war zones in order to join ISIS. His profile description reads: "O Muslim everywhere, for today - by Allah's grace - You have a state and Khilafah." On August 19 he shared an anecdote on the subject: "A brother just gave me the news, that his 65 year old father is making hijrah fesibililaah [is emigrating for the sake of Allah] after his son been here for 3 months #makedua [pray]."

It is evident that Nur also has contact with fellow ISIS fighters in Iraq. On August 27 he wrote, "Subhanallah just got news that my dear brother Abu Ali Al Hindi carried out a dogma operation in Iraq Karballa May Allah Accept you akhi."

Nur also tweeted to another Somali-American figher from Minneapolis, who uses the alias Mujahid Miski. Mujahid Miski is currently in Somalia fighting with Al-Shabab.[iv]

The fighter revealed some of what he does in Syria. On July 29 he wrote, "Doing Rabat [guard duty] in the frontlines against PKK allahu akbar never felt so hyped."

Arguments With Acquaintences From The U.S.

It appears that some of Nur's friends who dissaprove of his decision to fight in Syria wrote on comments on his Ask.Fm page.

A user wrote, "I've known you for a long time and it saddens me deeply to know that right now, what you're reacing towards is filled with nothing but falsehood and disobedience to Allah. I pray that Allah guides both you and I to the straight path." Nur responsed, "May Allah guide all of us."

Another person who knows Nur personally wrote, "A lot of people are being questioned because of you." The fighter replied, "Allah [has] written it for them."

It was also twice suggested to Nur that he remove his photo showing his face from his Ask.Fm account, since this could be incriminating for his family. The fighter acknowledged this possibility, but did not remove the picture.