Kerala youth joins ISIS, tells parents 'won't return from abode of Allah'

Thiruvananthapuram: Ijas Muhammad, a physician and native of Kasargode in northern Kerala, sent an audio message to his parents on Sunday, telling them not to look for him as he had ‘reached his destination’.

Muhammad was not on a vacation, and nor had he eloped. He had, like some other Muslim youth from Kerala, joined the Islamic State (IS).

According to a report in Hindustan Times, an intelligence official said the online communication originated from West Asia.

Read: 21 people missing from Kerala, suspected to have IS links

“We reached our destination. There is no point in complaining to police as this will create more problems for you. We have no plans to return from the abode of Allah,” said the online message sent by Ijas Muhammad.

Muhammad has a medical degree from China and was working with a clinic at Vadakara in Kozhikode district. He was on leave for the last two months.
On Sunday, the Kerala LDF government headed by Pinarayi Vijayan had for the first time admitted that 17 Muslim youth had been missing from the state and might have joined ISIS.

Read: Kerala: Salafi splinter groups fuel radicalism

“The missing from Kasargode included four women and three children. And two women were among the missing from Palakkad,” he said.

At least 8 of those missing have slipped out from Bengaluru and Mengaluru airports in neighbouring Karnataka. Among them were two women in advanced stages of pregnancy.

Police suspect the role of Salafi groups in radicalising these people. “Most of them are inspired by Wahabism. The IS too is driven by the same principles,” said a Muslim reformist in Kozhikode who did not want to be named.