‘HE DREW WRATH UPON HIMSELF’

WESTERN BUREAU:

The local Islamic community has joined relatives and residents of a number of St James communities in distancing themselves from Sheik Abdullah el-Faisal, whose sentencing was again postponed in New York on Monday after he was convicted of supporting ISIS while in Jamaica in the state’s first-ever terrorism trial.

After being convicted on January 26, el-Faisal was scheduled to be sentenced on February 9, but that was postponed until March 6.

Yesterday, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office told The Gleaner that the sentencing has again been delayed, as the judge is off this week.

Born Trevor William Forrest in the parish of Westmoreland, the 59-year-old controversial cleric, who grew up in Point, St James, was extradited to the United States in August 2020, after being indicted by the New York City Police Department on five counts of terrorism, including reports that he spread propaganda in support of the Islamic State terrorist group between 2014 and 2017.

“He lived his life, and I live mine,” his estranged brother Marshal Forrest told The Gleaner. “His life has nothing to do with mine, and my life has nothing to do with his.”

Forrest told The Gleaner that he had mixed views about the outcome of el-Faisal’s trial on January 26, even though they had not been in touch for several years.

“Somebody saw the report about his conviction and called my sister, and then I was told about it. I have mixed feelings about it but, then again, every man has a right to decide their own destiny,” said Forrest. “It is a long time that I have not heard from him. He has just been out of touch with everybody, including his family. So, whatever happened to him, we heard it through the grapevine.”

Prior to his 2020 extradition and subsequent trial, el-Faisal was deported from the United Kingdom to Jamaica in 2007 after serving four years of a nine-year prison sentence in London. He had been convicted of three counts of soliciting the murder of Jews, Christians, Hindus, and Americans, and two counts of using threatening words to stir up religious hatred.

Following that extradition, el-Faisal visited Kenya for a preaching tour in 2010 when he was taken into custody by local security forces while preaching at a mosque in Nairobi, in violation of his work permit stipulations. His detention sparked a protest among Muslim supporters, which triggered clashes with police that left five persons dead.

However, that does not line up with Forrest’s memories of his brother, who he described as being approachable during the brief time el-Faisal was back in their home community following his 2007 deportation to Jamaica.

“He and I talked at length about that [first] extradition, and I tried to get in-depth [information] about what happened, and he denied everything. I had no reason to doubt his denial, knowing the kind of person I knew him to be, as I could not really fathom the idea that he could have been a terrorist,” said Forrest.

“I never saw him in that light, and, even now, I still do not see him in that light. I know he is very zealous about his religion, but for him to go out of line to become a terrorist, I don’t know him to be that kind of person,” Forrest added. “We grew up together and he was jovial, highly intelligent. Plus, he was always a go-getter and was always travelling about. Most, if not all, of his life he was sociable, jovial, easy to talk to, and kind.”

Residents of the neighbouring Summer Hill district, where el-Faisal had attended the Maldon High School, likewise remember him as a friendly and outgoing person during his time back in the area after his deportation.

One resident, Ginger Jones, told The Gleaner that she last saw el-Faisal in 2017, the same year he was arrested by the Jamaican police after allegedly trying to convince an undercover United States police officer to join ISIS.

“Di man grow up around here and go away go a foreign, and mi nuh know him as no criminal. Last time mi see him was in a supermarket with his family, and that was about five years ago. Mi nuh know none a them as no bad persons,” Jones recounted.

Another resident, Garry Bernard, said that he was in disbelief when he first heard news reports linking el-Faisal to terrorism.

“Him leave here long time from him a pickney, years ago. So him reputation was never here long time. That man go away to foreign and was a bright brain boy,” said Bernard, referencing el-Faisal’s emigration to Britain in the 1980s. “When dem deport him and say him a terrorist, is like me a say, ‘Fi mi Point have terrorist? Terrorist from up at Point?’”

The Islamic Council of Jamaica told The Gleaner that it had previously advised the cleric to change his ways.

“He was warned before that, if he never changed his path to come on the correct path, this sort of destruction would have come to him. We do not rejoice over what happened to him, as we do not wish it for anybody, but we say that he drew wrath upon himself. So, whatsoever comes to him, he drew it upon himself,” Public Relations Officer Abu Ibrahim told The Gleaner.

Meanwhile, Forrest recalled that, long before el-Faisal was ever accused of terrorism, his zealous commitment to Islam, to which he had converted at age 16, had created a rift between himself and the rest of his family, who were all faithful members of the local Salvation Army congregation.

“We grew up as a Christian family and we had to go to church every Sunday, so my brother grew up in a Christian home with strict Christian principles. He was the only person who found another religion outside of Christianity, and, of course, we were not going to gravitate to a new religion just like that,” Forrest explained.

“He could not indoctrinate us either, though he tried to do so. He thought I would follow his footsteps, but I decided that I am not going to gravitate to a religion that I don’t know anything about,” he said.

Despite that estrangement, though, Forrest harbours no ill feelings towards his brother.

“If he is innocent, it is what it is. And, if he is otherwise, it is what it is. I just want to wish him all the best and that he stays strong,” said Forrest. “If he is innocent, he won’t be the first religious martyr. Most of the apostles in the Bible were incarcerated for their personal beliefs in God, so he won’t be the first or the last.”

During the two-month trial, el-Faisal’s lawyers described him as a blowhard who spouted noxious opinions.

The New York Times says one lawyer, Alex Grosshtern, told jurors el-Faisal had not recruited anyone to assist ISIS in a “specific act of terrorism”.

Prosecutors argued that el-Faisal provided material support to the Islamic State through violent jihadist advocacy, and ISIS recruitment through different writings, speeches and recordings and tradecraft instructions to others on how best to travel to Syria and Iraq to join ISIS and how best to avoid suspicion or arrest.

The court was told that the cleric also provided contact information of foreign fighters to facilitate entry into and support in ISIS regions and acceptance by ISIS partners. He is also said to have acted as a marriage broker, strategised with Islamic State fighters on battlefield tactics, and inspired others to commit their own violent acts in allegiance to ISIS.

“This case was about the far reach of crimes committed by [el-Faisal] and the promotion of terrorism. [He] aided ISIS as it committed horrific violence against innocent people,” said Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

Bragg’s office described el-Faisal as “one of the world’s most influential English-speaking terrorists”.

“[He] threatened the safety of thousands by providing material support for an international terrorist organisation,” stated New York City Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell.

christopher.thomas@gleanerjm.com