It was a trend no one wanted to see catch on, young educated foreigners from primarily well to do backgrounds, fleeing their countries to be part of one of the most dangerous organisations in the world - [the so-called] Islamic State (IS). They come from all walks of life and their numbers are increasing every day.
Hoda, a 20-year-old girl from Alabama in the United States of America, is the latest to run away from home to join the fight with IS. Hoda left home in November 2014.
In a recent interview from Syria, Hoda agreed to give Buzzfeed an insight into why she wanted to leave the US and join IS. Her father Mohammed shared the family's pain and an unnamed classmate of the girl revealed the warning signs that led up to Hoda's departure to Syria. Mohammed said he wanted to share his story so no other family lost their child to the IS.
He never imagined his child would make such a choice, he said, as he had fled Yemen with his wife more than 20 years ago and all of his five children were born in the US.
The family resides a little outside Hoover, Birmingham, Alabama which was ranked as one of the top cities to live in the US. Hoover has a large Muslim community and three mosques owing to a high number of international students from the Middle East attending the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). Hoda was a student studying business at UAB before she left for Syria.
Mohammed states that his family is like any other Muslim family in the community, and the women dressed modestly, wearing the hijab when they left home. Hoda described her parents as strict, a fact that her father did not dispute, but added that it was not extreme and believes that IS brainwashed his daughter.
He also believes that gifting her a smartphone after graduating high school resulted in her affiliation with IS. As a concerned parent, Mohammed said he regularly checked her phone, which she hated. But she only had Islamic apps like the hadiths, Quran, sura, nothing out of the ordinary.
Around 2012, Hoda turned to her religion, as she was struggling to find her purpose in life. Through her access to the internet, Hoda revealed that she got more in touch with her faith as she found scholars and readings of Islam, a year-and-a-half before fleeing to Syria. Scholar lectures about Islam on YouTube made an impact on her more than the ones in her hometown, she said.
Hoda said her dedication to her faith pleased her parents, who saw her dress more modestly and behave well. Mohammed was especially proud of her ability to retain the most important chapter of the Qur’an, Surat Al-Kahf, which talks about the backlash by the society against the first adopters of Islam who were forced to abandon their home and live in a cave.
In 2013, Hoda secretly set up a Twitter account where she gained thousands of followers and support for her opinions. Her anonymity on social media allowed her to speak freely on controversial and religious issues.
A former classmate who followed her on Twitter described Hoda as an activist who supported radical interpretations of Islam online. She said it was strange to see her persona on Twitter and the quiet girl she was in person. It almost seemed like Twitter was her alter ego. It didn't surprise the classmate that Hoda joined the IS.
Hoda’s classmates and her father both described her as a loner who didn't hang out with friends. Hoda explained it was something she chose as she did not want to associate with people who did not share her views. She said she wants every Muslim to move to the IS-controlled territory.
After secretly renewing her passport and paying for a plane ticket with her tuition money, Hoda was ready to make her move while her father was away in Washington. Hoda told her family she had a field trip to attend and that her grades depended on it. In the evening, she called her sister and lied again, saying that she'd got on the wrong bus and would return the next day. Not pleased, but unable to do anything, Hoda's family waited till the morning for her to return.
By then, Hoda had already landed in Turkey and texted her family to say that she had left to join the IS. The family was hysterical and immediately called the FBI. But by the time her father arrived from his trip the next day, she was already in Syria.
Mohammed told Buzzfeed that all attempts to urge his child back to the US failed and so he ordered the rest of his family to terminate all contact with her. After a month, Hoda informed her family of getting married to a 23-year-old fighter called Suhan Rahman, an Australian also known as Abu Jihad al-Australi on December 20. However the marriage was short-lived (just 87) days and Hoda posted on Twitter that he had died in battle.
Mohammed fears that the Muslim community and his neighbours in Hoover blame him and his wife for their daughter's choice. He fears for the rest of his children - for their future jobs and marriages.
Hoda is one of the thousands who have run away to be part of the Islamic State terrorists - 200,000 foreigners from 90 countries have fled, according to CNN. They come from all walks of life and seemingly normal backgrounds.
Like Hoda, Aqsa Mahmood from Scotland also left to join the militant group in November 2013, when she was just a 19-year-old. CNN reported that her father said she was a normal child, who listened to Coldplay and read Harry Potter books. It was only when the civil war broke out in Syria that she grew concerned and started praying a lot. Then like Hoda, she ran away to become a recruiter for the Islamic State. To encourage more women to join, she started a blog to talk about her life in the Islamic State.
However, there is no one more prominent than Jihadi John, originally named Mohammed Emwazi who is now infamous for beheading seven journalists, including James Foley. Emwazi born in Kuwait, was just six-years old when he came to the UK with his family. He attended Mohammed Kynaston Community Academy, north London and later graduated in computing from the University of Westminster in 2009. According to BBC, one of Emwazi's school teachers said he didn't have a troubled background.
Another fighter for IS was former model and well known DJ Sharky Jama (25) from Melbourne, Australia, who was described as a likeable person who also had a promising future ahead of him. He is believed to have been shot dead fighting alongside fellow militants in Syria.
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source : dna india
Monday
20 April 2015
7:42:09 AM
685050
In 2013, Hoda secretly set up a Twitter account where she gained thousands of followers and support for her opinions. Her anonymity on social media allowed her to speak freely on controversial and religious issues.