Mohammad Zafirr Rechad Golamaully (born February 19, 1989) [1] is a man from Mauritius who traveled to Syria to join the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in 2014. He was notable for his blog posts about his life in ISIL, [2] and for his British and Mauritian family members' prosecution for financing terrorism. [3] [4] His younger sister, Lubnaa, followed him to ISIL in 2015. [4] In 2024, Défi Media reported Zafirr had died "some time ago." [5]
Zafirr attended the Royal College Curepipe between 2001 and 2007. His classmates called him by the nickname "Gola" and said he was a rock music fan. [6] His friends said he had little interest in extremism growing up. [2] Beginning in 2012, according to one friend, Zafirr began advocating for the foundation of a caliphate. In January 2014, Zafirr began writing his blog. [2] In March, he left for Dubai. [7] From there, he traveled to Syria and ISIL.
Prior to his departure, Zafirr had confided in his British aunt and uncle, Mohammed Iqbal Golamaully and Nazimabee Golamaully, over Whatsapp, and asked them to help conceal his plans from his parents. He told his aunt and uncle he was going to claim he was getting nursing training in preparation to doing humanitarian aid work. [4]
After joining ISIL, Zafirr took the nom de guerre Abu Hud. Online he called himself the Paladin of Jihad, saying he had gotten the name from a magazine article which described Osama bin Laden as a Paladin. [2] Zafirr asked his aunt and uncle for money after his arrival in Syria, and they sent £219. [4] On his blog, he described his life in Syria and answered questions from prospective recruits. His blog mentioned Scottish ISIL propagandist and recruiter Aqsa Mahmood, as well as well as other notable ISIL bloggers, and Mahmood's blog referenced his. [2]
Zafirr's blog provided advice for anyone who wanted to travel to Syria; he warned prospective travelers to be cautious and plan their trip well in advance because "the kuffar are out to prevent our brothers and sisters" from going. When asked what he enjoyed most about his life in Syria, he said, "This is a tough one but living under shari’ah in the only areas on planet Earth where the laws of Allah are being implemented 100% is pretty awesome." As well as advice, Zafirr also posted poems, book recommendations and a list of sheikhs he listened to. [2]
In February 2015, he posted about the murder of Muath al-Kasasbeh, a Jordanian pilot who was captured by ISIL after his fighter jet was shot down over Syria. Zafirr wrote, "IS not only burned him alive but threw debris and rubbles on top of him and then crushed him. (#WatchTheVidDude) This is because his bombings had the same effect on innocent Muslims. We just gave Jordan a taste of its own medicine." [2]
In March, Zafirr's sister Lubnaa Rechad Golamaully (born August 10, 1992) [1] also traveled to Syria. She texted her uncle Mohammed that Zafirr had bought her a gun. In the aftermath of her disappearance, Lubnaa and Zafirr's parents expressed shock at their children's decision to join ISIL and said, "I do not know if we have missed anything in our education of our children." [4]
In his final blog posts, in September 2015, Zafirr defended ISIL to readers who criticized the group's violence, stating, "You don’t have a clue, not the slightest idea, of what the reality on the ground is. You allow yourself to be fed garbage by a biased media hellbent on portraying us as the bad guys... If you cared, you’d be here fighting and defending the weak and the oppressed here. Not crying about them after you got hyped watching on al-Jazeera as they end up on a shoreline somewhere." He defended ISIL's enslavement of the Yazidi people, saying the Yazidis had a belief system that was "filthier than filth" and adding, "There is nothing wrong with the slavery which is associated to Islam and nothing wrong with the slavery associated with the Islamic State." [2]
In 2016, Zafirr's aunt and uncle in Britain pleaded guilty to financing terrorism and admitted they'd transferred money to him knowing it may be used for terrorist purposes. [4] Mohammed was sentenced to 25 months in prison and Nazimabee to 22 months. [1]
In 2024, Zafirr's parents, Mamode Rechad Golamaully and Zulekha Bibi Cassam Mohamed Golamaully, as well as another uncle, Mohamed Cassam Mohamed Hansrod, were arrested in Mauritius for financing terrorism. They were accused of transferring more than 224,000 Mauritian rupees to Zafirr and his wife between 2014 and 2019. [1]
In 2025, Zafirr, Lubnaa and another Mauritian national were added to the United Nations sanction list and also charged with financing terrorism. [1]