AMONG Islamic State (IS) terrorists in Syria, Muhammad Wanndy Mohamed Jedi may have been held in some esteem, but his family and friends here would prefer if his story is buried with him.

Residents of the kampung in Malacca where he grew up have no desire to even hold special tahlil prayers while his sister told The Malaysian Insight that they are not making any attempts to get the body sent back to Malaysia.

For older sister Nur Diana, there was no shock when family members informed her that Wanndy had been killed in a drone attack in Syria last month.

She knew the day would come when she found out that he had gone to Syria to join IS. His decision to join the terrorists surprised her and other members of the family. He didn’t show any outward sign of being radicalised by IS propaganda.

She recalled that he was a loner since childhood and often spent most of his time locked up in his room.

“He never behaved differently before his departure to Syria. We didn’t even know that he wanted to go to Syria. Never once did he ever say anything related to it,” she said.

Wanndy, whose parents are both deceased, was a key player in the recruitment of Malaysians for IS and had been responsible for arranging safe passage to Syria for new recruits.

He was identified as the man behind an IS beheading video in 2015 and responsible for staging plans to attack strategic points in Malaysia, including places of worship and entertainment outlets.

Wanndy’s father died in 2000 from a heart attack while the mother died at 50 in 2013 from leukaemia. Since then, the youth reportedly grew even more reclusive.

According to intelligence reports, Wanndy was one out of at least 56 Malaysian men and women currently fighting alongside IS.

Special Branch’s Counter-Terrorism Division assistant director Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay said Wanndy became attracted to martyrdom after he read about the war in Syria on Facebook.

“It piqued his curiosity and made him want to research more and he became attracted to the hadiths that he conducted research on,” he said.

Wanndy also visited many websites and Facebook pages of local and foreign salafi jihadi figures.

“He was also very into Ibnu Taimiah’s teaching,” said Ayub, referring to the controversial medieval Muslim theologian who, among others, had issued a fatwa allowing jihad against other Muslims.

After befriending the people who had been sharing news of the suffering of Muslims in Syria, Wanndy felt his spirit to fight for Islam increase.

“From there, he helped to secure passage for a Malaysian woman to go to Syria to marry Malaysian IS members there, and when the woman was arrested, Wanndy fled to Penang and there, he met his wife Mahmudah,” said Ayub.

He added that by that time, Wanndy’s mind was already set on joining IS and in 2014, he and his wife flew to Syria.

Ayub said he believed that Wanndy’s chequered past had also created an urgency in him to go to Syria.

“He was involved in unhealthy social activities that made him want to repent. The call for jihad in Syria, which promised that one will die as a martyr and secure him a path to heaven attracted him. He wanted to cleanse his sins,” Ayub said.

Wanndy sister’s Nur Diana said when she found out that her brother had gone to Syria to join IS, she was prepared for his death.

“It was a matter of time. We knew that his time would come.”

Nur Diana said she was informed of Wanndy’s death on the day itself by her husband and her younger sister.

“People were being sceptical of whether or not he had died… I do not know. But I felt sad. No matter what happened, he is still my flesh and blood.”

She said her sister-in-law, who is pregnant with their third child, had not indicated if she wanted to return home.

“Both have made up their minds long time ago. They wanted to live and die there.”

She asked that with his death, people could stop judging him and let God alone judge him.

“Good or bad, he was still my brother. I am sad but I am also relieved that there will be no more talks about him.

“He is dead.” – May 14, 2017.