Islamic State in Malaysia

Since the establishment of the Islamic State militant group (IS) in 2013, Malaysia has faced a growing threat from the group and from homegrown extremists influenced by its radical interpretation of Islam. Despite numerous arrests and counter-terrorism operations targeting individuals linked to IS, on 28 June, the group staged its first attack in Malaysia when two men on a motorbike detonated a hand grenade outside a nightclub in Puchong Jaya, on the southwestern outskirts of Kuala Lumpur. Eight people sustained injuries in the attack. While this attack was not on the scale of IS’s Paris or Belgium incidents, it was enough to announce the group’s presence in Malaysia. Since the incident, security authorities have intensified their counter-terrorism operations within Malaysia. However, the IS threat is also being driven by Malaysian IS fighters in Iraq and Syria, who have established networks in their home country to carry out attacks, recruit members and procure funds for IS. 

25-year-old Muhammad Wanndy Mohamed Jedi is one of the most prominent Malaysian IS figures operating overseas. Wanndy was born in a small rural village in the Durian Tunggal area in Malacca where – according to Malaysian media – he grew up as something of an outsider. In January 2015, he travelled with his wife across the Turkish border to join IS in Syria. Wanndy, who has taken the name of Abu Hamzah Al Fateh since joining IS, is now one of Malaysia’s most wanted Islamist militants. 

Authorities believe that he is part of the Katibah Nusantara, a 100-strong IS unit headquartered in Syria that is made up of Malay-speaking jihadists from Malaysia and Indonesia. Wanndy has appeared in a number of IS’s promotional videos and became particularly notorious after footage was released of him beheading a Syrian man in February 2015. He was also linked to the Jakarta attacks of January 2016 and was reportedly the mastermind behind Malaysia’s first IS attack this June. 

Wanndy is best known amongst Malaysian authorities for his recruitment efforts through social media and networks on the ground. Consistent with IS’s online propaganda campaign internationally, Malaysian IS foreign fighters like Wanndy are taking to social media to detail their operations in the Middle East, portraying the group as a brotherhood and urging supporters to stage attacks on Malaysian soil. This radical ideology is appealing to young marginalised members of society. Malaysia’s Home Minister, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, stated in 2015 that an estimated 75 percent of new IS supporters in the country were recruited online; Wanndy himself reports to have been recruited over Facebook and to have received help over social media to travel to Syria. 

Based on information gathered during a counter-terrorism raid in October 2016, reports emerged that Wanndy has established a network in Malaysia under the codename Gagak Hitam (Black Crow). The members reportedly consist of businessmen, technicians, banking staff, and even a school counsellor. Reports released after the arrest of 14 Gagak Hitam members suggested that Wanndy was not impressed with the impact of the nightclub bombing in Puchong Jaya in June and intended to stage further attacks in Malaysia. Authorities also revealed that cell members had been busy raising funds for the IS cause; Wanndy had reportedly amassed more than MYR 100,000 (USD 33,144) in donations from his followers in Malaysia. He also reportedly encouraged sympathisers to demonstrate their support through lone actor attacks. 

Although there is no formalised IS group in Malaysia, fighters such as Wanndy and others have demonstrated that a network of militant cells directed from abroad can be just as effective, if not slicker, as it makes it difficult for security forces to identify, monitor and destroy such structures. Such networks, as typified by Gagak Hitam, are well coordinated and connected with their overseas leaders. Split up into groups with specific priorities – such as weapons procurement, financing and attack orchestration – these cells have demonstrated some sophistication in coordinating their operations, despite several foiled attacks and arrests. 

In May 2015, authorities highlighted a worrying trend of young families leaving the country to join IS, reportedly because they believed Malaysia was not Islamic enough. Malaysia has traditionally practised a moderate form of Sunni Islam, although conservative Wahhabi doctrines, which share similarities with IS’s fundamentalist doctrine, are increasingly gaining ground in the northeast of the country. Even though security forces have launched an awareness campaign about the dangers of IS, and have increased social media monitoring in the country, IS ideology is already well embedded in certain areas of Malaysian society and poses a clear threat. As long as Malaysian figures such as Wanndy continue to glorify IS over social media and develop networks in their home country, it will be difficult for authorities to mitigate IS’s influence in Malaysia.