Dubai: Two men who are currently on trial for terrorism related charges in the United Kingdom after travelling to Syria purchased the book ‘Islam for Dummies’ shortly before departing to Syria to fight.
Yousuf Sarwar and Mohammad Ahmad, both 22, were arrested at Heathrow airport in January after returning from Syria, via Turkey, where they were believed to have made contact with recruiters of the radical Sunni group Kataib Al Muhajireen, undertaking both firearms and explosive training.
It was revealed that the two Britons purchased both ‘Islam for Dummies’ and ‘The Koran for Dummies’ shortly before travelling to Syria from Amazon.
The information comes as governments throughout Europe and indeed the world warn of the risk of foreigners travelling to Syria to fight in the country’s civil war.
After the murder of US journalist James Foley by a suspected British citizen, fierce debate has raged over the involvement of foreign fighters fighting in Syria.
ICSR, a London based think tank, claims that as many 11,000 individuals may have travelled to the country in order to fight.
The books are billed as a tool to “help make sense of this religion and its appeal”, yet the revelation was described by Mehdi Hassan, Huffington Post Political correspondent, as ”evidence to bolster the argument that the 1,400-year-old Islamic faith has little to do with the modern jihadist movement.”
