The Moslem community in Aberdeen was left “totally shocked” tonight after a boy who grew-up in the city was named as an Islamist militant.
Residents who attend the Aberdeen Mosque and Islamic Centre on the Spital confirmed that Abdul Raqib Amin was the man seen in a video posted by the ISIS group.
Sources in the community reported that he was often badly behaved – including “fighting in the streets” – and often had to be “dragged” to the mosque by his father.
Habib Malik, who lived in the city’s Clifton Road between 2002 and 2008, said he knew him when he was a teenager.
He said: “I’m quite surprised. I knew this young boy in Aberdeen. He was just a typical young lad, certainly. He wasn’t religious.
“I used to see him with his father bringing him to mosque, but he wasn’t into religion.”
Mr Malik said he did not believe there was any radicalisation at the city mosque.
“I’ve never encountered anything radical like that in the mosque in Aberdeen. I have never even encountered any whispers. That’s why I’m shocked,” he told the Press and Journal.
“The community we have is quite integrated with the mainstream community in Aberdeen.”
Another source in the Aberdeen Moslem community said he believed the former St Machar Academy pupil would now be in his mid-20s and had a reputation for causing trouble.
“I’m shocked, I’m totally shocked. I remember this boy. He was not a religious boy,” he said.
“I think it was a challenge for his father. I think he used to get into fights on the streets.
“He moved to Aberdeen a good 10 to 12 years ago. But he moved out of Aberdeen a few years ago.
“He looks really chubby now. He was quite a skinny boy.
“I would be meeting them in the mosque. I remember his father used to drag him to mosque.
“I used to see him and his father walk in the direction of Sunnybank school.”