Senior figures in the Muslim community have come out in support of the Home Secretary’s decision to strip the jihadi bride of her citizenship.
The 19-year-old, who recently have birth to her third child in a Syrian refugee camp, had her citizenship revoked earlier this month after asking to return back to the UK following ISIS’ losing battle in Baghouz.
Following the decision made by Sajid Javid to block the ISIS bride’s return, members of Bethnal Green’s Muslim community have come out in support of the decision, stating it ‘might not really be in her heart’ to change.
Senior figures in the Muslim community have come out in support of the Home Secretary’s decision to strip Shamima Begum of her citizenship
Pictured: Area of housing close to where the parents of Shamima Begum live in Bethnal Green, London
Imam at the Baitul Aman mosque (pictured) Moulana Abdul Malik, 51, told The Times : ‘People who are brainwashed may not have changed their habits — those who go to extremism will not change’
Questioning Begum’s sincerity, Imam at the Baitul Aman mosque Moulana Abdul Malik, 51, told The Times: ‘People who are brainwashed may not have changed their habits — those who go to extremism will not change.
‘We think the decision taken by the Home Office was correct. I’m worried if Shamima Begum does return, she might influence other people. It would be dangerous for other young people.’
Another man, who wished to remain anonymous, told the paper: ‘She’s taking the piss. She’s not saying, ”I’ve been groomed, it was a mistake.” She only wants to come home for the NHS, for the healthcare.’
The ISIS bride from Bethnal Green would attend to wounded jihaids after fleeing the UK it emerged yesterday
Jihadi bride Shamima Begum and her friends fled to Syria by flying to Istanbul and getting a bus across Turkey
Yesterday it emerged that the 19-year-old, who was brought up in Bethnal Green, London, attended to wounded jihadis as they fought with US-led coalition after she joined terrorist group Islamic State.
Security forces told the Daily Mirror that the teenager would treat ISIS fighters in hospital as her jihadi husband Yago Riedijk, 27, who is being held at a different camp to Begum, fought coalition forces in Syria.
Begum was discovered when Times journalist Anthony Loyd spotted the nine month pregnant bride at a Syrian refugee camp.
Following the birth of her son Jerah, reportedly named after an Islamic warlord, Begum gave an Interview with Sky News in which she pleaded for ‘sympathy’ and asked to return home.
Begum (right) was pictured as Gatwick Airport with classmates Kadiza Sultana (left) and Amira Abase (centre)
Her family later petitioned to the government asking for help in bringing Begum and her baby home and challenging Mr Javid’s decision to revoke her British citizenship.
The letter, obtained by the BBC, read: ‘As we have already expressed, we are sickened by the comments she has made, but, as a family man yourself, we hope you will understand that we, as her family cannot simply abandon her.
‘We have a duty to her, and a duty to hope that as she was groomed into what she has become, she can equally be helped back into the sister I knew, and daughter my parents bore.
‘We hope you understand our position in this respect and why we must, therefore, assist Shamima in challenging your decision to take away the one thing that is her only hope at rehabilitation, her British citizenship.’
Begum was 15 when she fled from her east London home with her classmates Amira Abase and Kadiza Sultana to join the terrorist group Islamic State in 2015.
Ten days after arriving to the ISIS capital, Begum married Dutch national Yago Riedijk.
According to reports, Sultana and Abase also married ISIS fighters.
Four years later, Sultana is believed to have died and the whereabouts of Abase are unknown.
Timeline of Shamima Begum’s journey
Begum is captured on CCTV at London’s Gatwick Airport before she flies to Syria
-February 2015: 15-year-old Shamima Begum leaves her home in Bethnal Green with friends Amira Abase and Kadiza Sultana with the intention of flying to Syria.
The three schoolgirls are pictured on CCTV at London’s Gatwick Airport before they fly to Turkey
-February 2015: Ten days after arriving in Syria, Begum marries ISIS fighter and Dutch national Yago Riedijk, 27
-May 2016: Begum’s friend, Kadiza Sultana, is believed to have been killed during an airstrike in the Syrian capital Raqqa
-January 2017: CNN reports that Begum and her husband have left the city, first moving to Mayadin before arriving in the village of Baghouz
Her children, a girl aged one and a three-month-old boy, die over the following months due to malnutrition
-January 2019: Jihadi bride Shamima Begum meets Times journalist Anthony Loyd in a Syrian refugee camp
-February 2019- 19-year-old Begum gives an interview with Sky News in which she asks to return back to Britain.
She tells Sky News: ‘People should have sympathy towards me for everything I’ve been through.’
-February 2019- Begum is stripped of her British citizenship