During his brief tenure, he was seen as a committed enemy of the al-Itihaad al-Islamiya, a now-defunct militant Islamic group based in the Ogaden and parts of Somalia, because he worked closely with the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front during their early operations against the movement.
Abu Basir was strongly supportive of opposition to the Syrian regime, during the Syrian civil war he established a Facebook page called al-Mu’arada al-islamiya lil-nizam al-souri (Islamic Opposition to the Regime in Syria) and in May 2012 he appeared in an online video clip alongside armed rebels, implying he was taking part in fighting inside Syria.
He has taught in Vazhakkad Darussalam Madrasa, Shivapuram Islamiya College and Chennamangallur Islahiya College.
He joined Stationery Stores FC in 1971 after a brief stint with the defunct Metal Construction Football Club (Apapa) after having led the Zumratul-Islamiya Grammar School, Surulere to victory in the 1970 Principals' Cup Football competition for secondary schools in Lagos State.
In June 2013, Zazou submitted his resignation in protest at President Morsi's appointment of a member of the Construction and Development party as governor of Luxor - this party being associated with the Jama'a al-Islamiya group, which had killed 62 tourists and local tourism-industry workers in the 1997 Luxor Massacre.
Qassam is an acronym for the Arabic Quwat al-islamiya al-mujahida (Islamic combatant force), meaning the armed branch of an Islamic movement.