Abu Rumaysah al-Britani (born 24 June 1983), born Siddhartha Dhar, is a British citizen who is an

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant An Islamic state is a State (polity), state that has a form of government based on sharia, Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical Polity, polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a t ...

(ISIL) militant. In January 2016, he was named as the narrator in a film issued by ISIL that showed the execution of suspected spies against the regime. Abu Rumaysah has been designated as a global terrorist by the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Dhar was born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

to a

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

-speaking Hindu family of Indian origin and changed his name to Abu Rumaysah after his conversion to Islam. He is believed to be in his late 30s as of 2022. He acted as a spokesperson for the Islamist group

Al-Muhajiroun Al-Muhajiroun ( ar, المهاجرون, "The Emigrants") is a Proscription, proscribed militant network based in Saudi Arabia. The founder of the group was Omar Bakri Muhammad, a Syrian who previously belonged to ''Hizb ut-Tahrir''; he was not p ...

, an organisation banned in the UK, and worked as an aide to Al-Muhajiroun's co-founder,

Anjem Choudary Anjem Choudary (, aka Abu Luqman; born 18 January 1967) is a Pakistani-British Islamist and a social and political activist who has been described as "the face" of militant Islamism or the "best known" Islamic extremist in Britain. Members ...

. Dhar also owned a

bouncy castle Bounce or The Bounce may refer to: * Deflection (physics), the event where an object collides with and bounces against a plane surface Books * Mr. Bounce, a character from the Mr. Men series of children's books Broadcasting, film and TV * ''B ...

rental company. He lived in

Walthamstow Walthamstow ( or ) is a large town in East London, east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London and the Historic counties of England, ancient county of Essex. Situated northeast of Chari ...

. He used social media to promote his Islamist views and attended demonstrations in Britain against the United States, Israel, and Arab regimes. In a video he posted to

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

, Dhar described ISIL's self declared

caliphate A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...

as "...a dream for all Muslims worldwide ... We can finally have a sanctuary where we can practice our religion and live under the

sharia Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the H ...

. It is a big, big thing". He spoke of his desire for the United Kingdom to be governed under

sharia law Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the Five Pillars of Islam, religious precepts of Islam and is based on the Islamic holy books, sacred scriptures o ...

on the BBC's '' Sunday Morning Live'' programme, and said of himself that he didn't "...really identify myself with British values. I am Muslim first, second and last". In 2014, Dhar was under investigation by British authorities for allegedly encouraging terrorism, but subsequently disappeared after being released on

bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required. In some countries ...

. Although he had been banned from travelling, Dhar departed for Paris from

Victoria Coach Station Victoria Coach Station is the largest coach station in London, located in the central district of Victoria in the City of Westminster. It serves as a terminus for many medium- and long-distance coach services in the United Kingdom, and is also ...

in London with his wife, Aisha, and their four children, and later arrived in

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

. Dhar wrote a travel guide to the Islamic State in May 2015, called ''A Brief Guide to Islamic State'', and wrote of it that "If you thought London or New York was cosmopolitan, then wait until you step foot in the Islamic State because it screams diversity. ... In my short time here I have met people from absolutely every walk of life, proof that the caliphate's pulling power is strong and tenacious". He appeared in the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

documentary ''The Jihadis Next Door''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rumaysah, Abu 1983 births Living people People from Walthamstow People from Edmonton, London English Islamists British emigrants to Syria English travel writers Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant members Islamic terrorism in the United Kingdom Killing of captives by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant English people of Bengali descent Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and the United Kingdom English people of Indian descent