Two men murdered an imam because they viewed his practice of Islamic healing as "black magic", a jury has heard.

Jalal Uddin, 71, suffered multiple injuries to his head and face in an attack, thought to have involved a hammer, in a children's play area in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, on the evening of February 18 this year.

The Crown say the Bangladeshi national was targeted after he left the mosque where he usually prayed, ate a meal at a friend's house and then walked home.

Mohammed Hussain Syeedy, 22, and Mohammed Abdul Kadir, 24, were said to have developed "a hatred" of Mr Uddin when they discovered last year that he practised Ruqya healing - which involves the use of amulets.

It is alleged the pair went on to mount surveillance of Mr Uddin, described as "quiet, dignified and well-respected", before events reached a deadly climax.

Opening the case at Manchester Crown Court, prosecutor Paul Greaney QC said: "Who hated a decent man like Jalal Uddin with such virulence? The answer to that important question is to be found in the twisted ideology of Isis, sometimes known as Islamic State.

"Jalal Uddin was a practitioner of a form of Islamic healing called Ruqya.

"Isis regards this practice as black magic and adheres to the view that those who engage in it deserve severe punishment, even death.

"Mohammed Hussain Syeedy, the defendant, and an associate of his named Mohammed Abdul Kadir were supporters of Isis and so they subscribed to the view that those who practised Ruqya deserved such punishment."

Mr Greaney said Syeedy will claim he does not support Isis or violent extremism of any kind.

He told jurors: "Your task will be to determine whether that defence may be true. Our submission is that once you have heard all of the evidence, you will be sure that it is not true."

He said it was the Crown's case that Syeedy drove Kadir to the gates of the park, knowing full well that Kadir intended to attack Mr Uddin so as to kill him or at least cause him really serious harm.

He said the pair had "stalked" Mr Uddin around the streets of Rochdale on February 18 before Kadir left Syeedy's car and ran towards Mr Uddin as he entered the park on the final leg of his journey home.

Kadir was said to have landed "repeated forceful blows", including to his mouth and teeth, which left the victim with a depressed skull fracture. He then dashed to the exit on the other side of the park where he was picked up by Syeedy and spirited away, the court heard.

Two young girls discovered the unconscious Mr Uddin at about 8.45pm and the alarm was raised. He was rushed to hospital where he died a short time later - as a result of a killing "of hatred and intolerance", said Mr Greaney.

Syeedy, of Ramsay Street, Rochdale, denies the murder of Mr Uddin with another (Kadir).

Kadir fled abroad in the days that followed the murder, the jury was told.

Kadir, of Chamber Road, Oldham, boarded a flight from Manchester to Copenhagen in Denmark three days after the killing, followed by a connecting flight to Istanbul, Turkey.

Mr Greaney said: "Attempts by investigators to trace Kadir have proved unsuccessful, something that is hardly surprising given that Istanbul has often been used as a staging post to Syria, although where Kadir in fact ended up is not known."

On February 23, police searched the home address of Syeedy, where he lived with his family, and seized an iPhone from a coffee table in the lounge A large volume of IS-related material was discovered on the device, including many photographs of Syeedy and his friends - including Kadir - raising IS one-finger salutes, the prosecutor said.

Photographs of flags associated with jihad draped over road signs were also found, and an image of someone holding up a flag for "Rochdale 2 Syria" - an aid convoy in which the defendant was involved.

The jury was also shown video footage of one such convoy to Syria, which was interspersed with images of Syeedy and others said to be giving the IS salute, and a man planting an IS flag, apparently in the UK.

A further search the next day uncovered a memory card which included an image of Syeedy and another man holding a jihadist flag outside the Jalalia Mosque in Trafalgar Street. It is thought the photograph was taken in October 2014.

Another photograph showed Syeedy wearing a stab-proof vest outside the same mosque.

A WhatsApp image of Syeedy and two men holding a jihadist flag over a road sign in Rochdale, which was altered to read "War Zone Ends", was also shown to jurors.

In a bedroom wardrobe at the Ramsay Street address, investigators also found various patches, flags and a headband, all said to have contained jihadist symbols.

Mr Greaney said the material seized clearly showed that Syeedy had been "radicalised".

He said Syeedy had travelled to Syria in 2013 as part of an aid convoy and said "perhaps" his mindset changed then.