From any angle we look at the life of Mo, whose real name is Muhammad Dakhlalla, he is considered a completely normal American student. Last year, however, Mohammad was arrested along with another student from the University of Mississippi in the United States while entering the airport to join the ISIS terrorist group. But how did this happen?
Muhammad is incarcerated in a US federal prison. He prepares for his first long interview with CNN and after hearing the question, he laughs nervously and says: “Tell me exactly where to start?”
Today is the first day of his 8-year prison sentence. Mohammad was sentenced for the crime of “attempting to join and help ISIS”, but he has no extremist beliefs. He says that he is up to his neck in this mire because of “love”.
The last year of university and the beginning of problems
Mohammad Dihlala was born and raised in Mississippi. He is the youngest child in the family and has four brothers. Among his friends, both Muslims and non-Muslims can be seen. Mohammad had not met many girls in his life until the incident happened in his final year of university. During his senior year, he fell in love with Jaelyn Young, an honors sophomore in chemistry.
Muhammad says: “It was at the beginning of the last year of university that I met this lady. She was beautiful and such words; But another thing that attracts me to women is their vigilance, intelligence and intelligence. That’s why I got to know Jaelin more. We went here and there together. In addition to being interested in me, he told me before the relationship started that he is also interested in Islam.
Muhammad grew up in an Islamic environment. His father “Odi” is the Friday imam of the Muslim minorities in their city, who lived in Bethlehem in the West Bank a few decades ago. Lisa, Muhammad’s mother, was born in New Jersey and then converted to Islam. Udi and Lisa hoped to establish the “Islamic Center of Mississippi” in the city of Starrville.
But it didn’t take long that after marriage, Jaelin also converted to Islam and this issue completely surprised Muhammad.
Muhammad says: “One day, Jaelin told me that he had made a serious decision about converting to Islam and wanted to become a Muslim. I was really surprised when he converted to Islam on the same day. To tell you the truth, I was busy in the mosque at that moment, and my parents were the first ones to notice Jaelin’s conversion to Islam. When I returned home, I found out that he had converted to Islam and I was really speechless with happiness.”
Muhammad now says about the “second surprise”: “About a few weeks later, without me saying anything or trying to force her, Jaelyn decided on her own to choose the full veil as her covering. I mean, it was totally his decision. He was wearing a tent.”
Mohammad’s family says that Jaelin used a veil and a niqab and only his eyes were visible. Jaelyn was changing rapidly, becoming increasingly cautious and strict in every way.
Mohammad says with a laugh: “When Jaelyn was changing so quickly, I had to think a little bit. Maybe… I should have… analyzed it with a critical eye. For example, I was thinking that we went a little fast.”
But Muhammad says that love blinded him.
“Well, you know, love can blind your intelligence and logic. I believe in this matter. I mean, if it wasn’t for love, I wouldn’t be here talking to you as a defendant. I didn’t think about this at all.”
The Federal Bureau of Prisons rarely makes room for criminals like Muhammad. His interview with CNN is completely an exception, which was based on an agreement between the Ministry of Justice, CNN and Muhammad. Muhammad’s words show how dangerous the power of ISIS’s internet propaganda is for American youth. Jaelin, who was also convicted in this case, did not want to be interviewed by CNN.
In August, Mohammad Dihlala was sentenced to 8 years in prison. He will be 32 when he is released from federal prison.
After converting to Islam, Jaelin quickly went to the virtual world and found “ISIS” there. Jaelin rarely showed Muhammad the videos he watched; Unaware that those videos had done their job!
Muhammad says: “The story started from here when exactly Jaelin became a Muslim because he wanted to learn more. I’m not sure how he first came across those ISIS propaganda videos, but I remember some of them. For example, one of the first videos I remember was about how ISIS was formed. In that video, historical conflicts in the Middle East were mentioned as the basis for the formation of ISIS. That video then ties everything together as if everything is the fault of western societies. In the video, you see several non-Muslims using inappropriate words.”
Jaelin had shown that video to Muhammad. Muhammad says: “When he showed me that video, I knew how impressed he was. “I could feel his inner anger and when he transferred it to me, because of the love I had for him, the same feeling was transferred to me.”
ISIS’s propaganda machine is considered a danger for all young people
Mohammed says that their goal in joining ISIS was not to engage in jihad or commit violence – their goal was to help other Muslims in the newly established Muslim state!
He says: “When Jaelyn first looked at these videos, she found a strange belief in them. He said to himself that this [ISIS] is the group that is supposed to come to the aid of Muslims. After watching the videos, I realized that people are helping each other in rebuilding cities and helping the needy. These things were like humanitarian aid for us.”
These statements sound completely silly, but this young lover did what his lover had done. Muhammad says: “All this time he’s been convincing me, I really don’t know how we got here. But I know that Jaelin was aware of my love for him and I did everything he said blindly.”
They corresponded online with people they believed to be ISIS members in Syria. One of Muhammad’s messages was: “I know how to work with computers. from IT I will also take off my head. I will help you there.”
“I won’t come back”
According to the FBI, Jaelin contacted someone who he believed would help them travel to Turkey and cross the border to join ISIS in Syria. The two married secretly and after a long preparation period, they bought a one-way ticket to Istanbul.
Mohammad and Jaelin finally packed their bags on August 8, 2015. Before leaving, Mohammad wrote an emotional farewell letter to his parents. The last line of the letter reads: “I’m sorry. I love you all. “I decided to leave here and I will not come back.” Also, the image of a small heart stands out at the end of the letter. The two then drove to an airport near Columbus, Mississippi. They even went near the flight gate but were finally arrested.
Arrested at the airport
Muhammad said to himself at that moment: “Everything changed. My heart stopped. It was as if my whole body was numb. I was thinking to myself, what kind of dirt should we pour on our heads now?
According to the FBI report, both Jaelin and Muhammad confessed immediately. Of course, there was no need for this! It turned out that the person who pretended to be an ISIS member was actually an FBI agent.
They were found guilty last spring and sentenced in August. Mohammad’s sentence was lighter because of his cooperation with the security agencies, but Jaelin, who was known as the mastermind by the security authorities, was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
The biggest regret of life: Mother
During the interview, Mohammad did not mention the name “Jaelin” even once. It was also difficult for Muhammad to mention the name of another woman: His mother, who was suffering from cancer at the time of his arrest, passed away earlier this year.
He says: “One of the biggest regrets of my life, which has been occupying my mind even now, is: I chose a woman over my mother whom I only knew for a year and because of which I lied to my mother. My mother always supported me throughout my life but I never appreciated it. “I was always honest with my mother in my life, but love for another girl was enough to turn my life upside down.”
ISIS have managed to attract young people from different countries, including the United States, to their group through social networks
Muhammad deeply regrets why he didn’t seek help from his father during the turmoil, especially regarding religion. His father is the Friday imam of the mosque and he never taught his son to shed anyone’s blood or hurt anyone. Muhammad says: “I wish I would seek refuge in the Muslim community. I wish I could take refuge in my father because he is very knowledgeable in these matters. In addition to Islam, I mean Middle East policies as well. “If I consulted him, he would tell me exactly what ISIS is.”
Muhammad’s current opinion about ISIS
I asked Mohammad about the terrorists who are operating in Europe and Syria. He replied that he never intended to participate in such activities.
Muhammad says in this connection: “They don’t have a proper understanding of Islam because the most important goal of Islam is to “establish peace”. A person must submit to God’s will. But ISIS says that if you want to move in the way of God’s pleasure, then it is better to join us because we are the real Muslim community… but ISIS does not do that. The name of what ISIS does is not “Islam” at all. If anyone feels that he is getting closer to ISIS-like thoughts, his solution is to get closer to the Muslim community. “They will tell you no, joining ISIS is a bad idea.”
Now Muhammad’s palate is no longer bitter; In fact, he is happy to have been caught. Muhammad knows that if he were to go to Syria, the possibility of his death would be high. He will remain a committed Muslim as before and will be 32 years old when he is released from prison.
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