.Mother of the youngest suicide bomber in Yemen: “My son is a victim and terrorists misled him”
The mother of the teenager Abdul Rahman Mahdi Al-Ojairi who carried out the suicide bombing in Shibam mid-March, killing four South Koreans, called on security forces to hasten arresting terrorism veterans who deceive the youth of this country before they succeed in misleading more youth. She further demanded that security hold these terrorists accountable for crimes they committed in the country, stressing the necessity to monitor religious sheikhs who teach the youth at mosques. The mother didn’t deny that her son might have been forced into carrying out the suicide attack Korean tourists in Shibam. This came in an interview with Al-Methaq newspaper in which she confirmed that killing Korean tourists without a sin is a disaster and that losing her son was painful.
Q: How was your son Abdul Rahman brought up? And how did he reach his disastrous fate?
A: I brought up my son Abdul Rahman in the best way and educated him in the best private schools in spite of the high expense. I then took him to public schools and followed up his study. He excelled at school and his behavior wasn’t suspicious. He was polite and quiet.
Two years ago, he told me that he wanted to memorize the Holy Quran. I was happy to hear that and encouraged him to do it. I enrolled him in a Quranic school where he stayed for over a year. He was about to finish memorizing the Quran. When he finished his second year in high school, he told me that he wanted to complete memorizing the Quran at an internal center in Taiz. He said that at that center, they provided food and residence.
In the beginning, I was hesitant to allow him go to that center, but he insisted, so I agreed to allow him to study there for two months. During that time, I was in contact with him and sent him money, clothes and everything he needed. After that he came to visit us and told us that only some chapters of the Holy Quran remained for him to complete the memorization of the entire Quran. He returned to Taiz to achieve his objective. Following that, he began studying for his last year in high school. He was committed to a precise system which I taught him with regards to going to bed, getting up in the morning, leaving the house, and studying. However, having studied for two months, he started to change and stopped going to school. He told me that since he was in his last year of high school, no one punished him for being absent and that he was able to manage his study well. He used to spend all his time at the mosque, performing the five prayers and then listening to continuous religious lessons. We were always watching him. His younger brother would visit him at the mosque and find him preoccupied with the religious lessons.
I was pleased that my son was committed to performing the five prayers and following the path of God and the Sunna [the prophet’s guidance]. Last Ramadan, he started talking about martyrdom for the sake of God. He told me that he intended to be a martyr and that he wanted to go to Iraq or Palestine for jihad. ‘Prepare me for martyrdom, mother, because whoever prepares an invader is equal to the one who invades,’ said my son. He also began telling me about religion and life.
He used to give me religious books, and of course I was happy with that. He encouraged me to study at a religious institute where I began memorizing the Holy Quran. However, he never stopped talking about jihad. I appeased him and told him that if the Yemeni government allowed mujahedeen to fight in the jihad in Palestine, he would be the first to go; I would prepare him and be proud of that. He used to tell me that Jews are the enemies of God and religion, and therefore we should fight against them. I told him that everybody knows that, but going to Palestine to fight the Jews was not his decision and he wouldn’t be able to change the reality there as this issue needs strong decisions from Arab and Islamic governments and huge mobilization, and not just the efforts of one man. ‘You are alone and cannot do anything, but if mujahedeen were allowed to go to Palestine, I would allow you to go,’ I told him.
This discussion continued for many days, and every time he repeated the same ideas about jihad. After that, we had the chance to find him a job at Azal hospital . While at work, we watched him and checked up on his behavior. The personnel of the hospital loved him and commended his morals, performance and commitment to religion. Two months after he started working for Azal hospital, he told me that he was determined to leave the hospital because of the low salary they gave him. He said that he found a job with a better salary at a special office where he worked as a typist. I accepted his decision to leave his job, as I was confident that he would never go down the wrong path. He worked at that office and was punctual in going to work and coming back home. His father has been working abroad for over twelve years and, consequently, my children are familiar with me more than they are with their father. I stay with them always.
Later, my son visited me and brought me some wheat and sugar as well as some other household needs. He said that he had received his salary and bought this stuff for the house. I was very happy with that. He was an altruist and would prefer giving more to his brothers than to himself. He didn’t care about money and he never asked for money from anyone. He used to go from Al-Dayri street in Sana’a to Azal neighborhood on foot. I used to check his pocket while he was sleeping, but found nothing.
Once he came back home while I was sleeping. He took his religious books and high school books. ‘Take them to the motorbike,’ he said to his brother. ‘When my mother gets up, tell her that I am going out for a tour,’ he added.
He used occasionally go around on tours along with his friends while they were fasting. We were accustomed to that and he would come back at night, but that time he was late. I called him many times, but he didn’t answer. I sent him messages but he replied that he would never come back. Once he sent me a message telling me to strengthen my faith in God. Exchanging messages continued for several days until the advent of the Eid of Sacrifice this past December. He wasn’t with us. I called him, but he sent me a message telling me that calling him was forbidden at the place where he was. I was shocked as to why calling was forbidden. I sent him a message asking if he was imprisoned, but he didn’t reply, and then he switched off his phone. Therefore, Eid was a huge ordeal.
I thought that he might have gone to Aden, as he wanted to go there many times. On the second day of Eid, his father and I decided to go to Aden to look for our son. When we were in Al-Dhal’e heading to Aden, we received a phone call from my son. He was talking and crying. He ensured us about his wellbeing.
‘How are you, mother?’ asked my son. ‘We live in suffering and we are heading to Aden to look for you,’ I told him. He was crying and said, ‘Pray for me to obtain martyrdom for the sake of God.’ We came back to Sana’a, hoping that he would come back or call, but he didn’t. We were very sad.
After a few days, he called me and said that he was heading to attain martyrdom and only my prayer would benefit him. This was around four months ago. Later, two men came on a motorbike and met my younger son. They delivered a letter from my son Abdul Rahman, saying that he was going to Somalia, that he was on the right path, and that he requested me to pray for him to attain martyrdom. This was his last communication with me.
I realized that my son put the idea of martyrdom in his mind, and certainly he wouldn’t be able to go to Iraq or Palestine for jihad. After that, I learned that my son and others attempted to leave Yemen to go to Palestine, but they were sent back. I also found out that my son might have been imprisoned or held in custody, but I wasn’t sure. I then felt that he might have gone to Somalia after he was kept from going to Palestine.
Q: Do you mean that you realized that your son would never renounce his decision?
A: We talked a lot with him during the last period about this issue and referred to the Quran and the Sunna. I told him that his being with us and helping me and his sister is part of jihad. However, I realized that he would never renounce his idea of martyrdom, even though I told him that jihad in Palestine or Iraq was not his duty as mujahedeen are not allowed to go there. He wasn’t satisfied with what I told him, though. During the last period, he changed a lot and preferred to be isolated. He gave up wearing pants and let his hair grow longer, thinking he was imitating the Prophet (PBUH). After he sent me his last letter, I surrendered to reality and prayed for him a lot. I asked God to keep him safe. I said, ‘O my God! My son was under my guardianship and now he is in your hands. Keep him safe and return him to me.’
Q: Was he in company with people who are trustworthy?
A: I believed that my son was in God’s houses [mosques] studying the Quran and the Sunna. Therefore, I was certain he was safe with trustworthy people. I didn’t believe that God’s houses would make children disobey their parents and follow such misleading ideas. If this is the case, it is better to close down God’s houses and do our prayers at home. This means that we have to teach our children prayer and religion at home if these houses mislead them so. Those are not the God’s houses that we know. I wished that my son would be a physician or a pilot, but as he loved the Quran and the Sunna, I wished he would be a religious scholar or a famous caller to Allah.
Q: Do you regret that you lost your son?
A: I feel that I sustained a big loss and I ask God to look at him as a martyr as he was misled by wrong ideas from those people, the real terrorists. They persuaded him that this is the real martyrdom and taught him to say, ‘Kill them wherever you find them.’
Those people who taught my son twist the Quran. My son was 17 years old and those Korean tourists were not sinful. They were guests, and the Prophet (PBUH) ordered us to be generous with guests, not to kill them.
We all know that this is not the jihad that the Prophet (PBUH) recommended.
Q: Did sheikhs who taught your son Abdul Rahman live in your neighborhood?
A: Frankly, I don’t know them and I don’t know who taught my son the Holy Quran. All I know is that my son memorized the Quran and an honoring ceremony was held at a mosque during which they granted his father a certificate for supporting him.
Q: Security apparatuses spread pictures of those who are wanted. Do you know any of them?
A: I don’t know any one of them. I didn’t allow my son to bring his friends to our home as I was busy with tailoring. Even his father didn’t chew qat with his friends at home. My son never mentioned the names of his friends to me.
Having lost my son, I would like to tell mothers that they shouldn’t forbid their sons from going to mosques. However, my advice is that the activities of mosques and religious sheikhs who teach our children should be monitored. It is not reasonable to forbid our children from going to mosques upon hearing the call to prayer.
Q: Your son was a teenager and you know that at such an age it is easy to be misled. Why didn’t you watch your son and his company to keep him safe?
A: I didn’t expect that Abdul Rahman would commit such a mistake inside his country. I expected that he might have gone to fight in the countries that he wished to go to. I never heard him say bad things about any official in the country.
Q: Was Abdul Rahman kidnapped?
A: I don’t rule out that. He might have been taken to some place and threatened. He was affected upon hearing my voice on phone.
Q: You said that he cried when he called you.
A: I believe that he coercively cried and that he was misled and prompted into taking the action that he did. He cannot have done this inside his country out of his own satisfaction. I am 100 percent sure of this.
Q: Did you ever think to inform security and ask them to help you find your son?
A: Yes I did. I thought a lot about that, but I didn’t do out of fear that my son was safe in Somalia and that I may put him in a dilemma. Therefore, I decided to be patient.
Q: How and when did you learn about the painful incident?
A: I learned about the incident the third day after it occurred. I am not interested in news, but since my son left home, I followed up the news on Al-Jazeera and Yemen channels. Suddenly, I saw a picture of Abdul Rahman on TV. I had to be patient. I suffered a lot in bringing him up. In spite of my grief, I would like to reconfirm that my son who wished martyrdom was misled and prompted into this action.
Q: Why don’t you demand the government to take revenge on those who prompted your son into this action?
A: We are most certainly demanding that because another Abdul Rahman may be misled by those tomorrow and after tomorrow. I mean, if the concerned bodies don’t pay attention to this issue, other children will be victims like Abdul Rahman. There are people who work on youths of Abdul Rahman’s age and they will succeed unless security takes on its role and arrests those who mislead our children.
YemenTimes
Q: How was your son Abdul Rahman brought up? And how did he reach his disastrous fate?
A: I brought up my son Abdul Rahman in the best way and educated him in the best private schools in spite of the high expense. I then took him to public schools and followed up his study. He excelled at school and his behavior wasn’t suspicious. He was polite and quiet.
Two years ago, he told me that he wanted to memorize the Holy Quran. I was happy to hear that and encouraged him to do it. I enrolled him in a Quranic school where he stayed for over a year. He was about to finish memorizing the Quran. When he finished his second year in high school, he told me that he wanted to complete memorizing the Quran at an internal center in Taiz. He said that at that center, they provided food and residence.
In the beginning, I was hesitant to allow him go to that center, but he insisted, so I agreed to allow him to study there for two months. During that time, I was in contact with him and sent him money, clothes and everything he needed. After that he came to visit us and told us that only some chapters of the Holy Quran remained for him to complete the memorization of the entire Quran. He returned to Taiz to achieve his objective. Following that, he began studying for his last year in high school. He was committed to a precise system which I taught him with regards to going to bed, getting up in the morning, leaving the house, and studying. However, having studied for two months, he started to change and stopped going to school. He told me that since he was in his last year of high school, no one punished him for being absent and that he was able to manage his study well. He used to spend all his time at the mosque, performing the five prayers and then listening to continuous religious lessons. We were always watching him. His younger brother would visit him at the mosque and find him preoccupied with the religious lessons.
I was pleased that my son was committed to performing the five prayers and following the path of God and the Sunna [the prophet’s guidance]. Last Ramadan, he started talking about martyrdom for the sake of God. He told me that he intended to be a martyr and that he wanted to go to Iraq or Palestine for jihad. ‘Prepare me for martyrdom, mother, because whoever prepares an invader is equal to the one who invades,’ said my son. He also began telling me about religion and life.
He used to give me religious books, and of course I was happy with that. He encouraged me to study at a religious institute where I began memorizing the Holy Quran. However, he never stopped talking about jihad. I appeased him and told him that if the Yemeni government allowed mujahedeen to fight in the jihad in Palestine, he would be the first to go; I would prepare him and be proud of that. He used to tell me that Jews are the enemies of God and religion, and therefore we should fight against them. I told him that everybody knows that, but going to Palestine to fight the Jews was not his decision and he wouldn’t be able to change the reality there as this issue needs strong decisions from Arab and Islamic governments and huge mobilization, and not just the efforts of one man. ‘You are alone and cannot do anything, but if mujahedeen were allowed to go to Palestine, I would allow you to go,’ I told him.
This discussion continued for many days, and every time he repeated the same ideas about jihad. After that, we had the chance to find him a job at Azal hospital . While at work, we watched him and checked up on his behavior. The personnel of the hospital loved him and commended his morals, performance and commitment to religion. Two months after he started working for Azal hospital, he told me that he was determined to leave the hospital because of the low salary they gave him. He said that he found a job with a better salary at a special office where he worked as a typist. I accepted his decision to leave his job, as I was confident that he would never go down the wrong path. He worked at that office and was punctual in going to work and coming back home. His father has been working abroad for over twelve years and, consequently, my children are familiar with me more than they are with their father. I stay with them always.
Later, my son visited me and brought me some wheat and sugar as well as some other household needs. He said that he had received his salary and bought this stuff for the house. I was very happy with that. He was an altruist and would prefer giving more to his brothers than to himself. He didn’t care about money and he never asked for money from anyone. He used to go from Al-Dayri street in Sana’a to Azal neighborhood on foot. I used to check his pocket while he was sleeping, but found nothing.
Once he came back home while I was sleeping. He took his religious books and high school books. ‘Take them to the motorbike,’ he said to his brother. ‘When my mother gets up, tell her that I am going out for a tour,’ he added.
He used occasionally go around on tours along with his friends while they were fasting. We were accustomed to that and he would come back at night, but that time he was late. I called him many times, but he didn’t answer. I sent him messages but he replied that he would never come back. Once he sent me a message telling me to strengthen my faith in God. Exchanging messages continued for several days until the advent of the Eid of Sacrifice this past December. He wasn’t with us. I called him, but he sent me a message telling me that calling him was forbidden at the place where he was. I was shocked as to why calling was forbidden. I sent him a message asking if he was imprisoned, but he didn’t reply, and then he switched off his phone. Therefore, Eid was a huge ordeal.
I thought that he might have gone to Aden, as he wanted to go there many times. On the second day of Eid, his father and I decided to go to Aden to look for our son. When we were in Al-Dhal’e heading to Aden, we received a phone call from my son. He was talking and crying. He ensured us about his wellbeing.
‘How are you, mother?’ asked my son. ‘We live in suffering and we are heading to Aden to look for you,’ I told him. He was crying and said, ‘Pray for me to obtain martyrdom for the sake of God.’ We came back to Sana’a, hoping that he would come back or call, but he didn’t. We were very sad.
After a few days, he called me and said that he was heading to attain martyrdom and only my prayer would benefit him. This was around four months ago. Later, two men came on a motorbike and met my younger son. They delivered a letter from my son Abdul Rahman, saying that he was going to Somalia, that he was on the right path, and that he requested me to pray for him to attain martyrdom. This was his last communication with me.
I realized that my son put the idea of martyrdom in his mind, and certainly he wouldn’t be able to go to Iraq or Palestine for jihad. After that, I learned that my son and others attempted to leave Yemen to go to Palestine, but they were sent back. I also found out that my son might have been imprisoned or held in custody, but I wasn’t sure. I then felt that he might have gone to Somalia after he was kept from going to Palestine.
Q: Do you mean that you realized that your son would never renounce his decision?
A: We talked a lot with him during the last period about this issue and referred to the Quran and the Sunna. I told him that his being with us and helping me and his sister is part of jihad. However, I realized that he would never renounce his idea of martyrdom, even though I told him that jihad in Palestine or Iraq was not his duty as mujahedeen are not allowed to go there. He wasn’t satisfied with what I told him, though. During the last period, he changed a lot and preferred to be isolated. He gave up wearing pants and let his hair grow longer, thinking he was imitating the Prophet (PBUH). After he sent me his last letter, I surrendered to reality and prayed for him a lot. I asked God to keep him safe. I said, ‘O my God! My son was under my guardianship and now he is in your hands. Keep him safe and return him to me.’
Q: Was he in company with people who are trustworthy?
A: I believed that my son was in God’s houses [mosques] studying the Quran and the Sunna. Therefore, I was certain he was safe with trustworthy people. I didn’t believe that God’s houses would make children disobey their parents and follow such misleading ideas. If this is the case, it is better to close down God’s houses and do our prayers at home. This means that we have to teach our children prayer and religion at home if these houses mislead them so. Those are not the God’s houses that we know. I wished that my son would be a physician or a pilot, but as he loved the Quran and the Sunna, I wished he would be a religious scholar or a famous caller to Allah.
Q: Do you regret that you lost your son?
A: I feel that I sustained a big loss and I ask God to look at him as a martyr as he was misled by wrong ideas from those people, the real terrorists. They persuaded him that this is the real martyrdom and taught him to say, ‘Kill them wherever you find them.’
Those people who taught my son twist the Quran. My son was 17 years old and those Korean tourists were not sinful. They were guests, and the Prophet (PBUH) ordered us to be generous with guests, not to kill them.
We all know that this is not the jihad that the Prophet (PBUH) recommended.
Q: Did sheikhs who taught your son Abdul Rahman live in your neighborhood?
A: Frankly, I don’t know them and I don’t know who taught my son the Holy Quran. All I know is that my son memorized the Quran and an honoring ceremony was held at a mosque during which they granted his father a certificate for supporting him.
Q: Security apparatuses spread pictures of those who are wanted. Do you know any of them?
A: I don’t know any one of them. I didn’t allow my son to bring his friends to our home as I was busy with tailoring. Even his father didn’t chew qat with his friends at home. My son never mentioned the names of his friends to me.
Having lost my son, I would like to tell mothers that they shouldn’t forbid their sons from going to mosques. However, my advice is that the activities of mosques and religious sheikhs who teach our children should be monitored. It is not reasonable to forbid our children from going to mosques upon hearing the call to prayer.
Q: Your son was a teenager and you know that at such an age it is easy to be misled. Why didn’t you watch your son and his company to keep him safe?
A: I didn’t expect that Abdul Rahman would commit such a mistake inside his country. I expected that he might have gone to fight in the countries that he wished to go to. I never heard him say bad things about any official in the country.
Q: Was Abdul Rahman kidnapped?
A: I don’t rule out that. He might have been taken to some place and threatened. He was affected upon hearing my voice on phone.
Q: You said that he cried when he called you.
A: I believe that he coercively cried and that he was misled and prompted into taking the action that he did. He cannot have done this inside his country out of his own satisfaction. I am 100 percent sure of this.
Q: Did you ever think to inform security and ask them to help you find your son?
A: Yes I did. I thought a lot about that, but I didn’t do out of fear that my son was safe in Somalia and that I may put him in a dilemma. Therefore, I decided to be patient.
Q: How and when did you learn about the painful incident?
A: I learned about the incident the third day after it occurred. I am not interested in news, but since my son left home, I followed up the news on Al-Jazeera and Yemen channels. Suddenly, I saw a picture of Abdul Rahman on TV. I had to be patient. I suffered a lot in bringing him up. In spite of my grief, I would like to reconfirm that my son who wished martyrdom was misled and prompted into this action.
Q: Why don’t you demand the government to take revenge on those who prompted your son into this action?
A: We are most certainly demanding that because another Abdul Rahman may be misled by those tomorrow and after tomorrow. I mean, if the concerned bodies don’t pay attention to this issue, other children will be victims like Abdul Rahman. There are people who work on youths of Abdul Rahman’s age and they will succeed unless security takes on its role and arrests those who mislead our children.
YemenTimes
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