Teenage Sunday School Teacher Accused of Recruiting Jihadists in Extremism Case

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A 19-year-old woman, employed as a Sunday school teacher, allegedly sought the position to encourage children to embrace extremist ideologies, the Old Bailey was told. The defendant, Dzhamilya Timaeva, reportedly used her role to instill beliefs about waging jihad, including distributing a cartoon book titled *Little Muwahideen*, which prosecutors say glorified holy war against non-believers.

 

The court heard that Timaeva was the head teacher at the Windsor Muslim Association and had been preparing to teach at the Tawheed Islamic Education Centre in Maidenhead. She had created lesson plans and a curriculum for the school and ordered 70 copies of the *Little Muwahideen* book, which were delivered to her home in Windsor, just a mile from Windsor Castle. The book, designed for children, emphasized the "duty" of waging war in Islam, the jury was told. 

 

Prosecutor Gareth Weetman argued that Timaeva’s actions reflected a broader intent to spread extremist ideologies. He stated: "This is a case about extremism. In simple terms, it is the prosecution case that Dzhamilya Timaeva had extremist beliefs and wanted to encourage others to share those beliefs. The defendant saw it as her duty to teach these extremist beliefs to young children. In order to do so, she obtained a place as a teacher at an Islamic Sunday school."

 

Mr. Weetman emphasized that Timaeva had actively implemented her plans by September 2022, teaching children with the objective of promoting the idea that waging war against non-believers was integral to Islam. "This was all part of her plan to spread to others not just the furtherance of Islamic belief but that part of Islam is waging war against those who do not believe in Islam," he said.

 

Timaeva was arrested at Heathrow Airport while attempting to board a flight to Turkey. Upon searching her iPhone, investigators found a video on her Telegram account titled *Incite the Believers*, which reportedly urged viewers to carry out arson attacks in the West. Additional materials found on her devices included a document on the "permissibility of suicidal operations" and a note titled *The Woman I Want to Be*, which included aspirations of raising children to become soldiers for Allah.

 

The prosecution also revealed videos supporting ISIS, the extremist organization that once controlled large swaths of Syria and Iraq, were stored on Timaeva’s phone. Mr. Weetman added, “Police discovered several videos in support of ISIS, highlighting her extremist views and intent.”

 

Timaeva, who has been released on bail, denies charges of disseminating terrorist documents and possessing materials for terrorist purposes between October 2022 and February 2023. Her trial is ongoing.

 

Based on a report by Daily Mail 2024-11-18