Sumaiyyah Wakil
Sumaiyyah Wakil (born c. 1998) is a British-Bangladeshi woman who, at age 16 in August 2014, disappeared from her home in Hampshire and travelled to Syria to join the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. She was married twice, the first time to Mehdi Hassan, a jihadist from Portsmouth, and had a child by her second husband. Her brother back in England was convicted of funding terrorism in connection with money he sent her to help her return to the UK. She is believed to still be in Syria.
Early life in England and disappearance
Wakil was born in the UK of parents who emigrated from Bangladesh in the 1980s. Her father is a taxi driver and she is one of ten siblings. The family lived in Fleet, Hampshire. Her friends and relatives described her as "street smart" and like a "normal teenager" who liked Rihanna's music and fashionable clothes. When she was about fourteen, Wakil had become interested in the troubles facing Muslims in other countries; she posted about this on Facebook. She started wearing the hijab around that time, and was allegedly beaten up at school because of it. A relative speculated the incident may have helped radicalize her. She began spending a lot of time online and started communicating with individuals who would help facilitate her trip to Syria.[1]
In August 2014, days before she was supposed to get the results of her GCSEs, 16-year-old Wakil left her home in the night and travelled to Syria via Bulgaria and Turkey, using cash stolen from her older sister's wedding fund. She left a letter to her family, saying she was angry and upset about the plight of the Muslims in Syria and "the only way I can help is by leaving and going there to fight."[1] She said she wanted to become a martyr and that "I love you with all my heart but none of you understand Islam in the proper sense." In the letter, Wakil warned her family not to contact the police, and they didn't, but the police eventually heard about her disappearance, searched her family's home in 2015, and found the goodbye letter.[2]
Fate under ISIL
Within weeks of arriving in Raqqa, ISIL's Syrian capital, Wakil married Muhammad Mehdi Hassan, one of the Portsmouth jihadists.[3][1] Prior to his departure for Syria in October 2013 at age 19, he was attending sixth form college repeating one of his A-levels.[4] Wakil became pregnant with his child, but had a miscarriage, and Hassan was killed in October 2014, during the ISIL offensive to capture Kobane.[5][1] Wakil married again to another foreign fighter, thought to be a Canadian citizen, and gave birth to their daughter in July 2016.[1]
She kept in touch with her family back in Britain over Skype, WhatsApp and encrypted messaging apps, and once told them she was going to attend the stoning of a woman, something she described as "so cool."[1][6] Her family repeatedly appealed to her to return home.[7]
The police warned Wakil's family not to send her any money, because under British law sending money to the Islamic State is regarded as funding terrorism. Wakil contacted two of her brothers and asked for money, and they both initially refused to give her any. By early 2017, however, one of her brothers had decided to send his sister money. He made a series of bank account withdrawals, then took a total of £2,500 in cash to another down to give it to an intermediary for transfer to Syria. The money was supposed to be so Wakil could return home to Britain, but after she got it, she didn't come home and later she asked for more money.[2] In 2018, Wakil's brother was charged with funding terrorism because of the money he sent. The judge called him "naive" and not an ISIL supporter, but stated, "I have to follow the sentencing guidelines and make it clear to others that sending money or property that will support a terrorist cause will not be tolerated." Wakil's brother was sentenced to 30 months in prison.[8][6]
In early 2019, during ISIL's territorial last stand at Baghuz, Wakil's family made a public appeal for her to return to the UK. A close relative said, "If there’s any way you can get out, please just come back — for your daughter’s sake. We all miss you." Counterterrorism officials stated they believed Wakil was with her second husband near Baghuz. She had reportedly been stripped of her British citizenship for joining ISIL, and her family was appealing this.[1]
See also
- Hodan Abby
- Bethnal green trio
- Brides of the Islamic State
- Ahmed, Salma and Zahra Halane
- University of Medical Sciences and Technology terrorist cell
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Gadher, Dipesh; Nugee, Rose; Gardham, Duncan (February 17, 2019). "Family urges Hampshire Isis bride to give up". Retrieved 2026-08-31.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Brother guilty of funding sister who joined Islamic State group". 2019-01-15. Retrieved 2026-08-31.
- ↑ Maher, Shiraz (2014-11-06). "From Portsmouth to Kobane: the British jihadis fighting for Isis". The New Statesman. Retrieved 2026-03-24.
- ↑ "Family of teenage jihadist Muhammad Mehdi Hassan speak of devastation". ITV News. 2014-10-27. Retrieved 2026-03-24.
- ↑ Hussein, Tam (2014-10-31). "Portsmouth's ISIS Crisis: Full Story of IS Fighter Mehdi Hassan". HuffPost UK. Retrieved 2026-03-30.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Brother jailed for funding sister who joined Islamic State group". 2019-02-08. Retrieved 2026-08-31.
- ↑ Rodger, James (February 8, 2019). "Jihadi bride's brother Salim Wakil jailed for funding ISIS in Syria". BirminghamLive. Retrieved 2026-08-31.
- ↑ Gardham, Duncan. "Jailed brother of Isis bride to appeal against sentence". Retrieved 2026-08-31.
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