On October 24, 2020, a Telegram bot operated by English-speaking supporters of the Islamic State (ISIS) called on followers to kill Hassen Chalgoumi, the imam of the Drancy mosque in Seine-Saint-Denis, near Paris. The post accuses Chalgoumi of defending the publication of cartoons insulting the Prophet Muhammad, and describing teachers who use these cartoons in their lessons as “heroes.” The bot praises the 18-year-old Chechen Muslim who beheaded French history teacher Samuel Paty, and addresses Muslims in France telling them, “Your new target is this old man,” describing him as “more [filthy] than the French [infidels].” It should be noted that jihadis have escalated their incitement against France and especially against Muslim scholars who are presented as misguided in recent weeks. An Al-Qaeda-affiliated media group called upon Muslims in France to kill “imams of misguidance” in a statement released in recent days.[i]
It should also be noted that the Telegram bot has been deleted.[ii]
The message, lightly edited for clarity, reads:
“Look at this old man who gave fools fatwa. Wallahi [by Allah] you bastard, you are more deserving of being beheaded and your body thrown to [feed] a dog, and you are worse than those infidels of France. O dogs, if it weren't for your mouths, the disbelievers would not have dared to ridicule Islam. Hassan al-Chaljoumi, the imam of a mosque in the city of Drancy, France, said that publishing images offensive to the Messenger of Allah should be tolerated, and that teachers who publish images offensive to Islam are ‘heroes.’ There are about seven million French Muslims. But where are you O Muslims? Don't you know [that] if you [die] for the sake of Allah then your reward is Jannah [paradise]? Our noble prophet peace be upon him was insulted, why are you silent? Isn't al akh [the brother] Abdullah [Anzorov, the killer of the French teacher Samuel Paty] a good example for you? That 18-year-old young brother, should [make you feel] ashamed of yourself...
Note: Your new target is this old man. Execute him! For he is more najisss [filthy] than the French kuffar [unbelievers].”
[i] See JTTM report, Al-Qaeda-Affiliated Media Outlet Urges Muslims In France To Mobilize And Perpetrate Attacks, October 25, 2020.
[ii] Telegram.me/muwahhidun, October 24, 2020.
