A 21-year-old British student has posted a video on social media urging Muslims to join the “golden era of jihad”. Hamzah Parvez had told his family he had gone to study in Germany, but instead went to fight for Islamic State in Iraq.
In the video, Parvez claims to have been fighting with the terror group for five months and urges to fellow Muslims to come and fight with him, saying:
“This is the golden era of jihad. What are we doing sitting in the UK, what are we doing in their lands, it’s not the land for us. Are we content with eating Nando’s every week? Come to the land of jihad and shout Allah.”
Parvez’s family have spoken of their devastation over their son’s decision. Speaking to ITV News, a family member who wished to remain anonymous said that his family had financed the trip but did not know of his true intentions.
He said: “That’s not my brother. My brother doesn’t act like that. My brother doesn’t call people to do violence against others.
“I don’t recognise him, that’s just the same body, it’s not the characteristic of my brother, it’s not the way he speaks. It’s not the way he acts, it’s not the way he addresses people, that’s not my brother.”
He added that the family had made contact with Parvez a few days ago through a video call: “I said, can you admit that you lied to us, and I had to push for that. I was, like, can you admit, because you told us you were going to Germany, can you admit that you’re not in Germany?
“He was like, yeah.
“I was like, can you admit that you lied to us, can you say it to us that you’re sorry?
“And he said, ‘I’m sorry’ and the way he said it he laughed.
“I felt like he didn’t mean it, I felt like he wasn’t serious about it.”
Parvez also told him how a friend of his had died from a shrapnel wound, describing his death as “beautiful” and saying he had “dreams of his glad tidings”.
Parvez’s family say they are speaking out to warn other Muslim families of the dangers of radicalisation, and they also believe they may never see him again.
The family member said: “He said, ‘I have no plans to come home.’ My sister asked the question, what if your mum or dad died?
“He said ‘I would pray for them’ . . . that’s when I lost it . . . I started shouting at him, I started swearing at him, ‘These are your parents, these are the people since day one have been there for you and you say you wouldn’t attend their funeral and why?
“Because you want to serve this stupid leader, this self-proclaimed leader, over my parents’.”
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.