He was “self-radicalized,” but where did he get these ideas? Why did he find them compelling? Why was the peaceful Islam presumably taught at his local mosque not able to withstand the challenge of the material that led him to believe he had a religious duty to murder non-Muslims? No authorities ever ask these questions, much less answer them.
“Teen detained under ISA planned to declare caliphate on Coney Island, bomb army camp, stab people,” by Jean Iau, Straits Times, February 1, 2023:
SINGAPORE – A self-radicalised 18-year-old student was detained in December 2022, after he made plans to take part in armed violence in Singapore and abroad in support of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
Muhammad Irfan Danyal Mohamad Nor had plans to stab and kill non-believers in dark alleys here, carry out a mass-casualty attack at Amoy Quee Camp by recruiting a suicide car bomber, and construct a C4 explosive device to bomb the Keramat Habib Noh grave site at Haji Muhammad Salleh Mosque in Tanjong Pagar.
The teenager also intended to declare Coney Island an ISIS wilayat (province) in the hope that it would be recognised by ISIS as its official affiliate.
He was arrested by the Internal Security Department (ISD) a few days before he planned to take the bai’ah (pledge of allegiance) to then ISIS leader Abu al-Hasan al-Hashimi al-Quraishi at the weekend of Nov 12, 2022, wearing his National Cadet Corps (NCC) uniform and a self-made ISIS flag and headband.
ISD said on Wednesday that Irfan is believed to have acted alone and had not radicalised others. His family members were not aware of his attack plans or intention to take part in armed violence overseas.
He began getting radicalised in 2020 after coming across YouTube videos by foreign extremist preacher Zakir Naik. After watching many of the preacher’s videos, Irfan watched videos of other foreign extremist preachers such as Ahmed Deedat.
He also joined online discussions and was exposed to ISIS propaganda, developing an interest in ISIS and admiring the mujahideen (fighters) featured in videos.
By late 2021, he started taking photos of himself in a ski mask, with his index finger raised to represent the concept of tawhid, mimicking the ISIS fighters he had seen online. The tawhid hand sign, symbolising the Islamic theological concept of the oneness of God, has been appropriated by terrorist groups like ISIS.
Muhammad Irfan Danyal Mohamad Nor started taking photos of himself in a ski mask, with his index finger raised to represent the concept of tawhid, mimicking the ISIS fighters he had seen online, by late 2021. PHOTO: INTERNAL SECURITY DEPARTMENT
From late 2021, Irfan wanted to live in an Islamic caliphate governed by syariah (Islamic law) and establish an Islamic caliphate in Singapore. He also wanted to recruit Muslims to join the caliphate.On Aug 9, 2022, he planted a flag he had designed – based on the flag of the Al-Qaeda-linked terrorist organisation in Syria, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham – on Coney Island. He claimed this symbolised the start of his own caliphate, which he named the “Islamic State of Singhafura”, on Singapore’s National Day, and uploaded pictures of the flag on his social media to encourage others to join, said ISD.
By October 2022, he wanted to travel to Nigeria to participate in armed violence with the Islamic State in West Africa Province. Irfan said he was prepared to die fighting on the battlefield, believing that he would achieve martyrdom that way.
He also saw Iraq, Syria, or Marawi in the southern Philippines as alternative destinations for armed violence and made online searches for flights from Singapore to these locations. He planned to travel to them after he had saved enough money.
In the meantime, he planned to demonstrate his support for ISIS by filming a video of himself taking the ba’iah on Coney Island. He understood the bai’ah to mean that he would have to comply with instructions from ISIS, including conducting attacks in Singapore, even if it meant being killed in the process.
“Irfan believed that it was his religious obligation to spread ISIS’ radical ideology. He planned to upload his video to various social media platforms to galvanise support for ISIS, and to recruit an ISIS army of between 100 and 500 fighters to assist him in conducting attacks in Singapore,” said ISD….
