\u201cIs Botox a sin?\u201d A bearded man wearing a traditional white Muslim cap reads the question from a sheet of paper, then looks up to address his TikTok audience. <\/p>\n
\u201cYes, it is a sin,\u201d he smirks. \u201cYou must accept that you will age. Do you still want to look like you are 20, when you are 80? No one will believe you.\u201d <\/p>\n
Abul Baraa, a German-speaking Salafi preacher, is reaching thousands of followers with\u202fQ&A clips like this, which counterterrorism experts say can eventually leave followers ripe for recruitment by terror groups. Salafism is an ultra-orthodox, puritanical strain of Islam followed by a minority of Muslims. <\/p>\n
The preacher\u2019s casual and relatable style has helped him amass a following of more than 82,000 on TikTok and tens of thousands more on other social media platforms, where he has published more than 2,000 videos. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe most commonly known influential preacher in the German-speaking world right now, the \u2018It\u2019 model, so to say, is Abul Baraa,\u201d Nicolas Stockhammer, a counterterrorism expert at the University of Vienna, explains. <\/p>\n
\u201cTikTok radicalization \u2013 it is a new term for this phenomenon\u2026 And\u202fISIS-K\u202fis one of the profiteers of this dynamic. They appeal specifically to those very young adolescents.\u201d <\/p>\n
In light of an alleged terror plot on a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna, there is renewed concern about online extremism among youth. The 19-year-old alleged mastermind of the attack was radicalized online, Austrian authorities say, although it is unclear how. <\/p>\n
Abul Baraa, a 51-year-old German citizen, has repeatedly denied any connection to ISIS or any other jihadi groups. <\/p>\n
But his content is seen as the first stop on the path to extremism, according to Kaan Orhon, a deradicalization case worker at the Green Bird association in Bonn, Germany. He says Abul Baraa\u2019s name comes up as a common denominator in the radicalization of almost every youngster he works with. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe is the rock star of the Salafist scene in Germany,\u201d Orhon explains. \u201cHe is extremely popular with young people because he caters to needs, questions, interests that young people have, but that are not picked up by any other Islamic theological institutions.\u201d <\/p>\n
Questions answered by Abul Baraa may be as benign as \u201cIs it okay to play Fortnite?\u201d\u2013 a popular video game. <\/p>\n
Abul Baraa answers this one in a two-minute stylized clip, with images of the video game in his backdrop. <\/p>\n
\u201cThese games are not to be played. We are Muslims. We love Allah and we hate pluralism,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n
Keeping young people from engaging in the modern world is Abul Baraa\u2019s objective, experts say. In promoting an anti-West, Salafi ideology, Orhon says, his content pulls viewers away from their communities, leaving their young minds vulnerable to extremist influence. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhat makes him dangerous is that he is like a gateway drug for more radical actors,\u201d explains Orhon, who describes Baraa\u2019s discouragement of activities and interests that are not religiously permissible as laying \u201ca groundwork of isolation.\u201d <\/p>\n
In one short Q&A posted on YouTube, Abul Baraa asks: \u201cCan you be friends with a kafir? That means that you are friends with someone who is not a Muslim. This is against our religion.\u201d <\/p>\n
Once isolated, the teenagers influenced by Abul Baraa may become ripe for the picking by radical groups like ISIS-K, an active affiliate of ISIS stemming from central Asia, \ufeffsay Stockhammer and Orhon. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the point where his distancing becomes insincere, because he knows that he lays the groundwork where other actors are picking his target audience up and leading them further into radicalization,\u201d Orhon says. <\/p>\n
German security services have had Abul Baraa on their radar for years. <\/p>\n
Born Ahmed Armih, the preacher grew up in Lebanon before moving to Germany around 2002. <\/p>\n
He became the chief imam of Berlin\u2019s As-Sahaba Mosque, where he built and maintained connections with violent jihadi figures, according to local German authorities. The mosque was searched by police in 2018 on suspicion of terrorist financing. It is now closed. <\/p>\n
Baraa eventually moved his preaching to Lower Saxony, a state in northwestern Germany, where he joined an association of preachers known as the \u201cGerman-speaking Muslim Community,\u201d or DMG. He delivered sermons at the group\u2019s mosque in Braunschweig until June of this year, when German authorities banned and dissolved the DMG for extremist activity. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe ban on the DMG is a hard blow to the Salafist scene in Lower Saxony and beyond. By banning the scene, we are depriving German-speaking Salafist preachers of their most important platform for spreading their extremist ideology,\u201d Daniela Behrens, Lower Saxony\u2019s minister of the interior and sport, said in a statement announcing the ban. <\/p>\n
The crackdown pushed Abul Baraa to establish and develop a presence on social media, where he remains a prolific producer of content. This week he responded to media reports linking him to the suspected Taylor Swift concert plot with a TikTok video and a livestream. <\/p>\n
\u201cDear brothers and sisters, as you\u2019ve observed, there is currently a massive campaign against us,\u201d he says in the TikTok clip. \u201cEvery time they try to find something new so they can silence us.\u201d <\/p>\n
Abul Baraa\u2019s followers are likely to be presented with more extremist content by social media algorithms built to fuel and feed their interests. <\/p>\n
And groups like ISIS-K are ready to take advantage, actively seeking to recruit minors because it presents a challenge to law enforcement. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe calculation of ISIS-K and those people who are behind this dynamic is that\u2026 it\u2019s not so easy to prosecute them by law because they are too young,\u201d Stockhammer says. <\/p>\n
The suspected Taylor Swift concert plot was stopped, but European security officials fear ISIS-K is already recruiting for its next attack from the fringes of the internet, where young minds may be susceptible and alone. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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