Inquiry launched into the death of Jalal Uddin

Jalal Uddin, who was brutally murdered in 2016

An inquiry will be held into the death of Jalal Uddin, a retired Qari, who was murdered in Rochdale in 2016.

72-year-old Jalal was killed after he was attacked during the early hours of 18 February. He had been walking home after leaving a friend’s house on South Street, Wardleworth, using a play-area at the end of the street as a shortcut.

Mr Uddin was unknowingly being followed by two men in a Vauxhall Astra, when one got out and attacked Jalal with a hammer, causing horrific head injuries.

After Jalal’s death, a police investigation determined suspected Islamic extremist Mohammed Abdul Kadir dealt the fatal blows.

Kadir fled the country and was thought to have travelled from Istanbul to Syria. He has not yet been found.

Mohammed Hussain Syeedy, who had been driving the Astra, and a second man, Mohammed Syadul Hussain, who provided the murderer with £700 to travel out of the UK, both stood trial for their crimes.

Syeedy was jailed for life in 2016, with a minimum of 24 years, and Hussain was jailed for five years in 2017 after being found guilty of assisting an offender.

The trial heard Mr Uddin was "brutally" killed because he practised taweez faith healing, regarded by extremists as "black magic."
 

Read more: Family of Jalal Uddin has paid tribute to himPublished: 16 September 2016

An inquest began shortly after Mr Uddin’s death, but was paused following criminal proceedings, before it resumed in November 2020.

In November 2022, the coroner - Judge Teague KC, chief coroner of England and Wales - requested the inquest be converted to a statutory inquiry in order to permit all relevant evidence to be heard. Judge Teague will fulfil the role of chair.

The announcement of the inquiry was made on 9 November 2023 by former Home Secretary, Suella Braverman.