HE was just 16 when he held a cashier hostage at a supermarket in a small town in northern Malaysia.

He was not merely out to rob, nor was he a career criminal doing what he knew best.

He was carrying out an attack on the orders of his handlers – Islamic State (IS) militants who were waging a savage war hundreds of miles away in Syria.

The teenager received his instructions on his handphone and he carried out the deed as a sign of obedience to his newfound online friends. To him, they were heroes. 

He was caught by the police who found IS materials on him, including a book and newspaper clippings about the terror group. They also found two jubah (robes), a kopiah (skull cap), a serban (turban), a knife and a toy pistol in his sling bag.

He is now on record as the youngest IS member in Malaysia.

Now 18, Idham (not his real name) is back with his family after rehabilitation. He is still under close police supervision.

The Malaysian Insight caught up with him and his father at home recently. Wearing a long-sleeved green shirt and black pants, the bespectacled youth sat at the far end of the sofa, nervously clasping his hands.

His father, a civil servant, said Idham was still traumatised by the events of two years ago, refusing to even walk into the supermarket he had stormed.

Hero worship

His father said Idham was a quiet boy, who often locked himself in his room reading his stacks of books on wars and superheroes or playing computer games. 

He became interested in IS when he read about how the terror group seized control of Raqqa in Syria.

From there, he went on to watch videos and search online for more information about the terror group. He got in touch with Malaysian members of IS in Syria.

“I befriended a few of them. I cannot remember their names now. But they shared with me photographs of their battles, with fighters carrying the black flag,” said Idham.

He said he had wanted to be a part of it.

The chats, Idham said, went on for months without his parents’ knowledge.

On his attack on the cashier at the supermarket, Idham said: “I could sense her fear but I still held a knife to her.

“They (IS handlers) told me to do it. They even told me to call the police (afterwards). I do not know for what purpose. I did it all without any question,” he said.

Idham was detained under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012. In a press conference in 2016, police said Idham had been  brainwashed into believing in the IS ideology though email and social media, and had wished to prove his capability.

Idham spent less than a year in prison where he underwent rehabilitation. Being a juvenile and because his was a terrorism related offence, he was kept apart from the other convicts.

He completed his SPM examination last year while in jail and is now waiting for the results which are expected next month.

Since his release two months ago, parents have become closer to him, hoping that he will speak to them if he was troubled.

Easy prey

Idham fitted the profile of those easily duped into joining extremist organisations, said terrorism expert Ahmad El-Muhammady.

He said religious extremists detained in Malaysia for involvement with IS were typically lonely and naive, from broken families, and had a genuine desire to defend their religion at all costs.

He said people with these characteristics were “easy prey” for extremist organisations, adding that almost all of the 50 terror suspects, aged between 16 and 50, currently undergoing rehabilitation, were found to be emotionally and psychologically unstable.

Most lacked religious knowledge or their understanding of Islam was inaccurate or skewed.

Most possessed these characteristics, Ahmad said, although there were also a number engaged in militancy who did not fit the type. 

Father blames himself for buying son handphone

Idham’s father has blamed himself for what has happened to his son. He said Idham, the third of four siblings, would not have gotten mixed up with IS if he had not given the boy a handphone.

“I should have waited until he was in Form Five, like his older siblings, before I gave him one.

“But at the time, I felt sorry for him as he was a loner and I thought he would make full use of the gadget. Little did I know it would lead him to this,” said the father.

He said after Idham was released, he tried to enrol him in a religious school but  he could not catch up. He now has a private religious tutor.

“I also gave him a new handphone. It’s a basic phone. He no longer has access to Facebook or any type of social media. I made sure of that.” – February 28, 2018.