One of the extremist killers of Lee Rigby has revealed that
he was inspired to convert to Islam by a hardline preacher who advocates
beating women and killing gays.
After he was convicted of murder this month, Michael Adebowale wrote
in a letter that the radical sermons of Khalid Yasin had taught him ‘the
purpose of life’.
However, he complained that his horrific crimes had alienated him
from his family, who do not understand him because they are not Muslims.
Inspiration: Michael Adebowale, left, converted to Islam after listening to a sermon by Khalid Yasin, right
The 22-year-old, currently being held at Belmarsh prison, also
lamented the fact that mainstream Muslims had condemned the killing of
Fusilier Rigby outside Woolwich Barracks in May this year.
Adebowale and fellow jihadist Michael Adebolajo, 29, shocked the
world when they struck the soldier with a car in broad daylight and then
hacked at his body with a meat cleaver.
They denied murder, but Adebolajo’s only defence was that he was
engaged in a holy war, while Adebowale – who has suffered psychotic
episodes since the killing – declined to testify in his own defence.
The pair were convicted on December 19, and they could spend the rest
of their lives in prison after they are sentenced early in the new
year.
Guilty: Adebowale, left, and Michael Adebolajo, right, were convicted of murder earlier this month
The day after the guilty verdict, Abedowale wrote a letter explaining his life story to an unknown pen pal.
He said that he had converted to Islam in 2009 after investigating the religion and listening to a sermon by Yasin.
“I have always been a fairly spiritual person in terms of belief
in the unseen, and I suppose because most of my friends at that time
were Muslims,’ Adebowale wrote.
So the combination of the two factors caused me to start reading up and learning more about Islam.
The more I learned the more interested I became, which led to me
listening to a lecture by Sheikh Khalid Yasin – you may have heard of
him, he is based in the U.S.
The title of this lecture is called “What is the Purpose of
Life?” After hearing this I had to conclude that the purpose of life is
to acknowledge and worship the creator.”
Yasin, 67, is a former gang member from New York City who grew up in a
series of foster homes before converting to Islam as a teenager.
He has attracted attention with his extremist views, telling a
documentary that gay people should be put to death, and has been accused
of encouraging men to beat their wives.
His other beliefs include the claim that HIV was created by the U.S.
government to oppress the third world, and that Muslims should not go to
university because intellectual study is anti-Islamic.
Adebowale and Adebolajo have previously been associated with British
hate preacher Anjem Choudary and with Anwar Al Awlaki, a terror suspect
who was assassinated in Yemen by a U.S. Army drone.
However, in his letter Adebowale complained about the backlash
against Fusilier Rigby’s murder from the vast majority of Muslims.
“I have had little support as you can imagine,” he wrote. “Many people are shocked and many Muslims sadly ill-judged me.”
He also told his recipient that he found it hard to get on with his
relatives, many of whom publicly spoke out against his crimes.
“Even though I received letters from my family they aren’t Muslim so unfortunately I never get that sort of “click” with them,” he wrote.
Adebowale’s mother Juliet Obasuyi told the Mail this month: “I lost my son. He’s not dead, he’s still alive, but I lost him to the Jihad people.”
