One of five men wanted by the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) for their links to a Middle Eastern terror network is a Universiti Malaya (UM) lecturer, whose colleagues say had worn his jihadist and fundamental Islamist views on his sleeve from as early as last year.
Colleagues of Dr Mahmud Ahmad, now a wanted man for his alleged role as a recruiter for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) insurgent movement in the Middle East, said his behaviour began to show signs of radical change in 2013, when he started openly preaching of every Muslim man’s responsibility to defend Islam, whatever the cost.
“He was not discreet about his passion for jihadism and martyrdom,” said a colleague who wished to remain anonymous, to The New Straits Times.
“We would be chatting about the most mundane of topics and somehow he always managed to divert the conversation to these subjects.”
Said another senior member of Mahmud’s faculty, “He talked a lot about struggles, wars and linking them to jihad.
“However, since late last year, he had been more focused on the concept of martyrdom and holy war. I don’t how this came about.
“Now that the police have said he is a wanted man, everything makes sense now.”
Mahmud, who also goes by the nom de guerre Abu Handzalah, is married with three children and lived in Taman Selayang Baru, Batu Caves, Gombak, before he disappeared.
At UM, he was an active member of the Islamic Studies Academy, lecturing undergraduate, post-graduate and doctorate classes. He was also the head of the facutly’s student affairs department and a member of its academic and curriculum department committees.
The university had initiated its own line of inquiry after Mahmud went AWOL. “He just vanished and abandoned his responsibilities. If he is arrested for engaging in criminal acts, he can be dismissed or sacked by the university,” said another source.
Outside of UM, Mahmud also founded a religious school in Gombak, the Open Tahfiz Centre, but ever taught there.
Mahmud and four other Malaysian men: Mohd Najib Husen, Muhammad Joraimee Awang Raimee, Mohd Amin Baco and Jeknal Adil, are wanted for their ties to the regional Abu Sayyaf terrorist group and the Middle Eastern ISIL network.
Mahmud especially is suspected of having acted as arecruitment agent for ISIL operations, vetting and arranging for Malaysian jihadists to be transported to Iraq and Syria to join the insurgents there.
Police suspect Mahmud and the other four wanted men are currently hiding in southern Philippines, but urge any members of the public possessing information on their whereabouts or activities to contact the nearest police station.
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