SINGAPORE, Feb 9 — A 33-year-old man who worked as a cleaner in Singapore was arrested under the Internal Security Act (ISA) in July last year for supporting the militant group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (Isis).

Mohd Firdaus Kamal Intdzam, a Malaysian, also radicalised his wife, a Singaporean housewife and part-time religious teacher, so much so that she was willing to accompany him to Syria and planned to bring her two children along. 

Ruqayyah Ramli, 34, was given a two-year restriction order — which curtails her movement and activities — under the ISA in August last year, the Internal Security Department said in a statement today. 

Firdaus, who was repatriated to Malaysia in August last year after the ISD completed its investigations, believed that armed jihad was compulsory for able-bodied Muslim men. He therefore harboured the intention to travel to Syria with his family to fight alongside Isis.

"He aspired to die as a martyr in the battlefield, so as to receive divine rewards. He was also willing to carry out attacks against countries that he deemed to be oppressing Muslims, or which he perceived to be munafiq (hypocrite) for aligning themselves with the West,” ISD said.

Firdaus’ path to radicalisation began in 2016, when he turned to the internet to deepen his religious knowledge and encountered Isis propaganda. Through sustained exposure to such material, Firdaus was convinced by early 2018 that Isis was fighting for Islam and that its use of violence to create an Islamic caliphate was justified. He also regarded Isis’ leader and self-declared "caliph” Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who is now dead, as the true Islamic ruler.

ISD said he actively posted materials promoting Isis and armed jihad on social media. He also created an Isis flag in March last year, which he hung at home, to show his loyalty towards the group.

Investigations, however, did not reveal any indication that Firdaus had made specific plans to carry out attacks or acts of violence in Singapore.

ISD, in its investigations into Firdaus, worked closely with the Malaysian Special Branch, the intelligence agency of the Royal Malaysian Police. His Singapore work pass was cancelled, and he was deported to Malaysia and handed over to the branch in August last year.

Firdaus and Ruqayyah married in December 2018, and Firdaus began to influence Ruqayyah with his pro-Isis views. While Ruqayyah initially had doubts, she began to believe that Isis’ use of violence against perceived oppressors of Islam, including non-Muslims and Shi’ites, was justified.

Ruqayyah also supported Firdaus’ intentions to join Isis and take up arms in Syria. 

"She believed that her role in the conflict zone would be to take care of the family through cooking and housework, and to assist other wounded Isis fighters,” ISD said.

Investigations into Ruqayyah did not turn up any indication that she had tried to spread her pro-Isis views to others. Her accreditation under the Asatizah Recognition Scheme, obtained in September 2017, has been suspended. She is also barred from teaching religious classes as part of the conditions of her restriction order. 

She is undergoing religious counselling to steer her away from her radical path, ISD said. — TODAY