'I will never disown him - he's my brother': Black Country EDL supporter on his Muslim sibling

English Defence League (EDL) supporter Lee Hadley was born less than three years apart from his brother Abdul-Rahmaan Tobin, born Sean Tobin.

But the Black Country pair are now at opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to beliefs, way of life and family.

Yet they still remain close, speaking regularly on the telephone and seeing each other once every two months.

Abdul-Rahmaan was born at Sandwell General Hospital while his mother lived in Oldbury. When she moved to Doulton Road in Dudley she had Lee, and Louise, with her next husband Paul Hadley.

The half-brothers grew up very close, both supporting Wolves, playing outdoor games and mixing with friends.

They attended Springfield Junior School in Dudley, then Heathfield High School in Cradley Heath when the family moved there.

But after leaving home, and their mother moving to Weston-super-Mare, the pair drifted apart in terms of their beliefs.

On Saturdays Abdul-Rahmaan would watch Wolves at Molineux, while Lee would join up with friends from the local EDL branch.

And then it came to a head. Eight years ago, on Christmas Day, Abdul-Rahmaan took the 'leap of faith'.

The 33-year-old said: "It was something which I had been thinking about for three or four years.

"When I found out Islam was the truth for me, I knew there was only one direction for me to go.

"I said my goodbyes over the months previously – I went to my last U2 concert in Sheffield, saw The Twang in Birmingham. I worked my way from this lifestyle."

He added: "My family is very liberal, they didn't understand, but they accepted it, they knew I've always been independent."

Mr Hadley, 30, and an assembler from Cradley Heath, said: "We grew up very close, but as we grew older we saw each other less.

"When he told me, we had a chat, and I supported him, but we were obviously different in where we both stood.

"I am a very patriotic person, I love my country and I've become a supporter of the EDL.

"We did two or three marches against the plans for a new Dudley mosque. Yes, we talked about it, but we were sensible about it. I don't agree with it, but he is still my brother, I will never disown him. I still love him.

"Some of my friends say they would disown their brother if they did the same, but I won't."

The pair appeared on Extremely British Muslims on Channel 4 on Thursday night.

They were filmed visiting each other's homes with their families and reminiscing about the wild drinking and drug-taking days of their youth.

"The party was always at our house," said Abdul-Rahmaan, who said his conversion to Islam was prompted by a desire for structure and discipline in his life.

He is married to Hina and lives in Birmingham with her and their two children, Muahammed Abdullah and daughter Zahra.

They also live with Hina's children from a previous marriage – Fatima, Salaar and Mohaimin.

In the programme his teenage stepsons, who are seen being woken before dawn by him to go to mosque for prayers, tell the film crew he knows more about Islam than they do.

He said that while both the EDL and Islam promote a sense of brotherhood, 'nothing compares to Islam when it comes to brotherhood'. Yet it was clear from the programme that the two men have a great deal of love and respect for each other.

They both laugh that Sean's beard, grown for religious purposes, turned out to be ginger.

At a barbecue at his brother's house, Lee, who has five children, aged from two to 14, admitted to feeling uncomfortable in the largely Muslim gathering and 'misses the Sean I grew up with'.

He was reluctant to take part but added: "I do it for Sean. I wanted to see the programme, but I never wanted the publicity. My brother asked me to do it, and I said yes for him."