Overview
"Rawdah Abdisalaam" is an online recruiter for ISIS. She is believed to currently operate out of Raqqa, Syria. Before her departure to the self-proclaimed Islamic State in 2014, Abdisalaam resided in Seattle, Washington. Global media outlets have suggested that she is British or Dutch, although in a recent conversation with Channel 4 News, she claimed she was Finnish.“Senior female ISIS agent unmasked and traced to Seattle,” Channel 4 News, April 28, 2015, http://www.channel4.com/news/female-isis-women-girl-umm-waqqas-unmasked-seattle.
On her Twitter account, Abdisalaam (also known on Twitter as “Umm Waqqas”) has outlined the religious imperatives of waging jihad and encouraged Muslims to take up arms with ISIS. Abdisalaam has accumulated over 8,000 followers, and has instructed them to travel to Turkey and contact certain guides who would shepherd them across the Syrian border into ISIS-controlled territory. Abdisalaam has been in touch with numerous recruits on the eve of their departure.“Senior female ISIS agent unmasked and traced to Seattle,” Channel 4 News, April 28, 2015, http://www.channel4.com/news/female-isis-women-girl-umm-waqqas-unmasked-seattle.
Abdisalaam also reportedly helped to form a group of ISIS “police women” known as the Al Khansa Brigade.John Hall, “How 'up to 60' women rule ISIS's capital by fear,” Daily Mail, December 4, 2014, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2858819/Up-60-British-Jihadette-women-rule-ISIS-s-capital-fear.html.
Associated Groups
- Extremist entity
- ISIS
- Read Threat Report
- Type(s) of Organization:
- Insurgent, territory-controlling, religious, terrorist, violent
- Ideologies and Affiliations:
- Islamist, jihadist, pan-Islamist, Salafist, takfiri
- Position(s):
- Recruiter, propagandizer
ISIS is a violent jihadist group based in Iraq and Syria. The group has declared wilayas (provinces) in Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the North Caucasus. ISIS has also waged attacks in Turkey, Lebanon, France, Belgium, Iraq, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Tunisia, and Kuwait.
History
Daily Dose
Extremists: Their Words. Their Actions.
Fact:
On October 7, 2023, Hamas invaded southern Israel where, in the space of eight hours, hundreds of armed terrorists perpetrated mass crimes of brutality, rape, and torture against men, women and children. In the biggest attack on Jewish life in a single day since the Holocaust, 1,200 were killed, and 251 were taken hostage into Gaza—where 101 remain. One year on, antisemitic incidents have increased by record numbers.