The Big Read: Reporting radicalised loved ones a heavy decision, but families and friends ‘had to do it’

SINGAPORE — It was as innocuous as the changing of a Facebook profile picture to a photograph of Islamic State (IS) militants bearing arms, or as drastic as a complete shift in an individual’s behaviour.

These were among the signs that prompted family members, friends and a colleague of five suspected radicals in Singapore to report them to the authorities.

In exclusive written interviews with TODAY, the informants told this newspaper about their considerations and dilemma before making the decision to alert the Government. Some found it harder than others, but ultimately, they believed they did the right thing. “I felt terrible of course, but I felt that I had to do it, as the family didn’t want to acknowledge the truth,” said Faridah (not her real name). Her family initially blamed her for “messing up” the life of a male kin by turning him in, after he angrily rebuffed efforts from his loved ones to talk about his support for IS.

Details about these cases such as the real names and ages of the people involved have been withheld to protect their privacy. It is understood that the individuals who were reported to the authorities have been detained, placed under a restriction order or given a stern warning. One case turned out to be a false alarm, and no further action was taken.

In recent weeks, the arrests of several individuals here - preschool assistant Syaikhah Izzah Zahrah, 22 and auxiliary police officers Muhammad Khairul Mohamed, 24, and Mohamad Rizal Wahid, 36 - have made the headlines, prompting government and community leaders to repeatedly urge family and friends of radicalised individuals to come forward.

Community leaders and counsellors had told TODAY that families could be reluctant to report their loved ones to the authorities out of love and misplaced sympathy as well as the fear of being stigmatised. “Going to the authorities is also an act of love. Because it shows that family members do not want their loved ones to be led astray,” Religious Rehabilitation Group (RRG) co-chairman Ali Haji Mohamed had said.

Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Yaacob Ibrahim has also stressed that families should not feel a “sense of shame” if they need to seek help for loved ones suspected of being radicalised.

In Izzah’s case, her parents and sister had known of her radical online postings and intention to join the IS in Syria. While they were unsuccessful in dissuading her, the family did not report Izzah to the authorities, and a family member even destroyed evidence relating to her plans to join the IS. Likewise, several of Khairul’s relatives and friends knew of his intention to fight in Syria but none of them reported him to the authorities. Khairul had also told his colleague Rizal about it, and the latter supported his intention.

Terrorism experts noted that spotting tell-tale signs is not an easy task, as it depends on how openly the radicalised individuals discuss or display their proclivity towards the IS.

Assistant Professor Mohamed Ali from the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) reiterated that such individuals start out by expressing sympathy or support for the IS. And if left undetected, they could move on to getting their hands on IS materials, and subsequently try and get in touch with members of the terror group to participate in jihad (armed struggle), said Dr Mohamed, who is also the vice-chairman of the RRG.

Ms Gullnaz Baig, a researcher on Islamic radicalism at the London School of Economics, said that IS does not solely propagate extremist ideas. It also actively instigates action, often to the extent of suggesting methods of attacks and the targets, she added. The longer individuals are influenced by IS’ view of the world and religion, the “more likely they are to be enticed to translate ideas into action”, said Ms Baig.

Ms Sabariah Mohamed Hussin, an RSIS’ research analyst and a RRG member, said that families may fall into a state of denial, as they avoid confronting the situation. “They have cognitive bias… They want to believe otherwise,” she said.

The experts noted that in some cases, practical concerns could hold a family back: The radicalised individual is the sole breadwinner, and the family is worried about losing its source of income if the person is brought in by the authorities.

Nevertheless, there are initiatives in place to assist such families. Established in 2002, the Inter-Agency Aftercare Group (ACG) complements the rehabilitation programme for radicalised individuals by providing support to their families.

The ACG comprise Malay-Muslim organisations including Khadijah Mosque, Taman Bacaan and Yayasan Mendaki. It is currently chaired by the Association of Muslim Professionals (AMP).

The group links the families with existing welfare programmes which provide financial assistance, family counselling, school and work placement as well as tuition fee subsidies.

AMP chairman Abdul Hamid Abdullah told TODAY that the initiative provides assurance to the families that their interest will be looked after by the community. “They can’t feel as though the community has abandoned them. A lot of them are already upset that their family member is detained. If we abandon them, this might just turn them against the community,” he said.

A STRUGGLE FOR FAMILIES

In their interviews with TODAY, the family members who reported their loved ones to the authorities recounted the struggle which they faced. From family tensions to concerns about their livelihoods should their employers learn of their ties to the radicalised individual, these family members said it was by no means a straightforward decision. But they were convinced they had to do it, even if it strains relationships within the family.

Faridah recounted how the behaviour of Hamzah - a member of her family - had caught the attention of a male relative, who spoke to her about it. During gatherings, Hamzah would speak “quite passionately about IS to other family members”, and was always sharing with them information about IS and his “admiration” for the group.

“On the very day that the relative informed me about Hamzah’s support for IS, I knew something was not right… All those violent ideas were against Islamic principles. I had a strong sense that Hamzah was probably going to do something,” said Faridah.

Since the other relatives were reluctant to intervene and had hoped that the problem “would go away”, Faridah decided to speak with Hamzah as she was worried that he might attempt to join the IS in Syria. But he became very angry with her when she tried to broach the topic.

Adding that she felt other family members were “not able to get through to him”, she said: “I thought if no one else wanted to report him to the authorities even though they knew something was wrong with Hamzah (possibly because they didn’t want to rat on Hamzah), then someone has to do it and I would do it, because I don’t want Hamzah to stray further down (the path of radicalisation).”

As a last resort, she reported him to the authorities. Adding that her family was in denial, Faridah said a few relatives had in fact expressed support for her to seek help for Hamzah, including one who had backed her decision to alert the authorities. But in the end, everyone pointed their fingers at her for “messing up” Hamzah’s life. “That was a difficult period for me,” she said.

Faridah admitted that she had expected Hamzah to be given “some form of guidance via counselling programmes”. Instead, he was arrested, after the authorities uncovered “so much more during their investigations”, Faridah said. “This goes to show that we should not think we can handle the problem ourselves... Even though Hamzah has been arrested, I do not regret alerting the authorities as the alternative might have been worse. We might have lost him for good to Syria.”

Looking back on her decision, she reiterated that she did not want Hamzah to “end up in Syria, join IS, kill others or get killed”. “I wanted to do all I could to ensure that he received some help or guidance as it would be hard for any family member, relative or even me to get through to Hamzah once he has made up his mind.”

She noted that the relations between her and other family members were on the mend, “as the other family members are seeing that Hamzah is responding to rehabilitation and trying to change for the better”.

She added: “I know that I made the right decision and hope that Hamzah and the rest of family members will realise that the early intervention saved Hamzah.”

In another case, Bob noticed a family member, Adam, had started to express his support for IS and acceptance of its atrocities whenever he saw news about the terrorist group. “I also found that he had written his support for IS in a book. He also spoke about wanting to kill non-Muslims. All this got me worried,” said Bob.

He said he decided not to confront Adam, as he felt it would be futile. Adding that Adam had behavioural problems since he was in secondary school when he joined a gang, Bob said: “I could not even get him to stop his violent behaviour. I really tried my best but it did not work. As I felt that he was out of control, I finally asked the authorities for help.”

Bob said he went straight to the authorities because Adam’s support for IS was not based on any ideological belief. “In any case, I believed that the authorities could help Adam when I reported him to them,” Bob said.

He believed that Adam was attracted to IS’ use of violence. “He had never been a religious person, even during the time he was supporting IS,” Bob pointed out.

While it did not take long for him to alert the authorities, Bob said he was “initially worried” that he may be implicated, or his job could be at stake if his employer found out about Adam’s behavior or the fact that he was being investigated for radicalisation. Nevertheless, he was convinced he did the right thing given the potential harm that Adam could have caused “if he continued to support IS or worse, try to copy their violence”.

Bob stressed: “It is not just his safety that may be at stake but others’ as well. At least now Adam is receiving some form of help and counselling to help him mend his ways.”

On what advice he would give to people who are worried about family members being radicalised, Bob said they need to keep a lookout for signs, which include how their loved ones react to news on terror attacks. For example, whether they celebrate the attacks and state their desire to emulate the violence. They can also keep a “journal of events” so that they can track “whether the behaviour is escalating”.

While it is a tough decision to report a loved one to the authorities, Bob said that people must remember that the intent is to seek help early for the radicalised individual, rather than allow the behavior to escalate.

Faridah urged family members to “have the moral courage to do the right thing”. She said: “We are the closest to our loved ones... Do not hesitate to inform or seek help when you notice some warning signs. You are saving your loved ones by acting in their best interests.”

FOR SOME, BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY

As there is no kinship to speak of, the decision to report radicalised individuals to the authorities was relatively easier to make for their friends and acquaintances, based on the interviews with TODAY.

Enjoying a close friendship for many years, Pillai noticed that his friend Abdullah started to become “angry with the world” after experiencing family problems. “He started blaming the world for everything,” Pillai recalled.

Around the same time, another one of Abdullah’s friends, Rafi, began to share some “religious information” with Abdullah to help him cope with his family issues, Pillai said. “What alarmed me was when Abdullah started to discuss issues of armed jihad with me,” he said.

After Abdullah became closer to Rafi, Pillai said he saw changes in Abdullah’s character: He ditched his “havoc lifestyle”, and started spending a lot of time on religious activities. He also began paying “a lot of attention” to his religious obligations, and shared a book about jihad with him, Pillai said.

On occasions when the three friends met, Rafi and Abdullah both “spoke angrily about the affairs affecting the Muslim world”. Abdullah also stopped keeping in touch with Pillai.

Pillai said he tried to advise Abdullah the moment he noticed the behavioural changes. He advised him to “seek legitimate sources of religious information instead of relying on dubious sources”, and urged him to refrain from taking sides on overseas conflicts since he “did not know exactly what was going on”.

However, his advice fell on deaf ears and he decided to report Abdulllah to the authorities. “To me, it was very clear... this guy (Abdullah) is my friend and I had a moral responsibility to ensure Abdullah did not go on to become even more extreme,” said Pillai. “Think of it this way, the authorities would have more resources than us, as individuals, to prevent a potentially radicalised individual from spiraling further down the path of radicalisation.”

Pillai said he never doubted his decision to alert the authorities. However, he regretted not studying the issues enough which Abdullah had raised with him so that he could understand what was going through Abdullah’s mind.

“On hindsight, it was my mistake not to have read up or found out more.” Pillai said.

In another case, Koh became “very concerned” when he learnt that his colleague Mahmood had used “a picture of militants and weapons” as his profile picture on Facebook. “Although I was not very sure, I was very worried that he may be supporting some terrorists or terrorist groups,” Koh said. Nevertheless, he did not observe any behavioural changes in Mahmood. “There was nothing to indicate, from Mahmood’s verbal and non-verbal behaviours, that he was becoming radicalised,” Koh added.

Koh said that after he spoke to Mahmood about his concerns, the latter took down the profile picture. However, Koh still felt worried and he decided to alert the authorities. “I thought it was better to (do so) as they are in a position

to assess him. I don’t have the expertise,” he said.

While all he wanted to do was help his colleague, Koh said he struggled to come to terms with his decision for a while, as doubts crept in as to whether he had made the correct assessment about Mahmood. “I was concerned about the actions that the authorities may take against him,” Koh said. Mahmood went on to receive counselling, and Koh said he was relieved to know his colleague got the help which he needed. “I would like to think that my intervention played a part in ensuring that he did not sink deeper into radicalisation, even to the point where he might harm himself and others,” Koh added.

In some cases, it could be a false alarm. This was what Mani experienced after he became worried about what a person said during their first and only encounter. “He told me he was training for war. At that time, I read about the terrorist attacks, IS and how people from all over the world wanted to travel to Syria. I was very worried so I decided to report him... it is better to be safe than sorry,” said Mani, who called in the authorities.

However, investigations found that Mani’s concerns were unfounded. Still, Mani said he “would not be able to answer to” himself if he did not alert the authorities and the man turned out to be radicalised. “We just need to do our part and report anything untoward and let the authorities investigate and do the necessary,” he said.

OTHER AVENUES OF HELP

With the terror threat in Singapore and the region at its highest in recent years, experts said it was inevitable that some may be overzealous in alerting the authorities to individuals suspected of being radicalised.

While the public has to be vigilant, Associate Professor Bilveer Singh from the National University of Singapore reiterated the need to guard against a witch hunt. “There is a big gulf between religiousity, piety and extremism. And it is very difficult to detect extremism unless someone verbalises it personally or in cyberspace,” said Assoc Prof Singh.

Mr Abdul Manaf Rahmat, a religious teacher who has been a RRG member since 2003, stressed that members of the public should not be too quick to “judge a book by its cover”. Instead, they should find out more details to fully ascertain if the person has been influenced by IS propaganda, he said. Apart from going to the authorities, members of the public can also approach local asatizahs or the RRG for assistance, he noted.

First established in 2003, the RRG’s initial objective was to rehabilitate detained Jemaah Islamiyah members and their families through counselling. Over the years, the group has broadened its scope to dispel misinterpretations promoted by extremists groups.

Ms Sabariah, the terrorism analyst from RSIS, noted that the RRG is working with local asatizahs to develop expertise on assessing an individual’s extent of radicalisation. “If we want everyone to play a role, we shouldn’t say ‘Oh, just go to this particular group or that particular group’,” she said. “The asatizahs would be in a position to not just give advice, but monitor the individual, and if it’s serious, they would be able to alert the authorities too.”