By Hassan M. Abukar
Michaela Muller is weak and plagued by constant worry, sleepless nights, and depression.
“Doctors can’t help me,” she says.
She and her husband are in their home country, Germany, but their son Andreas (“Andy”) Martin Muller, his Eritrea-born wife, and their nine-year-old daughter, are still missing after disappearing in the summer of 2011. They are believed to be in Somalia.
Andy converted to Islam in 1999 and is believed to be with the Al-Shabaab group.
“My son went to Somalia for his daughter’s sake,” insists Michaela. “He wanted her to live in a Muslim society.”
Michaela does not believe her son is a terrorist. “He is not the fighting type,” she says, “and has never even touched a weapon. He wouldn’t kill a fly.” Before Andy left for Germany in 2011, he was a clean-living, law-abiding citizen with no criminal record and no history of violence.
However, in 2012 and 2013, Andy was the subject of two massive police hunts in Kenya and Uganda, and was reported to have sneaked in these countries to engage in acts of terror. “The Kenyan police has cause to believe that this man [Andy] has information about the activities of Al-Shabaab,” a police statement said.
Then, in the fall of 2013, after Al-Shabaab’s devastating attack on the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenyan police named Andy and British-born Samantha Lewthwaite, best known as “The White Widow,” as their main suspects. The police would later backtrack from that assessment. Four gunmen were involved in the attack and they all died. The Kenyan authorities also arrested and charged four Somalis in Eastleigh for providing material support to the attackers.
Andy subsequently phoned Michaela and strongly denied any involvement in the terror attack. “Mummy, it is not true,” he said. “Don’t believe it.” Moreover, according to Michaela, Andy was in Somalia on the day of the attack and had called her twice. “He was shocked,” says Michaela.
Michaela still remembers her son’s serene childhood growing up in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. “Andy played the trombone in our church until he turned 19,” she reminisces. He had an upbeat personality and “to everybody, he was the most loved, sweet little boy.” Michaela says he always had the best grades in school.
Andy’s conversion to Islam sent shockwaves through the family, especially as he had been raised in a tight-knit, Christian household. However, his parents accepted his choice of religion and were very understanding. He started calling himself Ahmed Khalid Muller and decided to leave Germany and live in a Muslim country. His parents could not understand why their son would leave his native country where many Muslims — Germans and immigrants — live together peacefully.
Sometime in September 2011, after unsuccessfully trying to emigrate to Bosnia and the United Arab Emirates, Andy entered Somalia with his wife and daughter through Kenya’s porous border. No one has heard of the family’s whereabouts. It is as they have fallen off the radar, his mother explains. It is still unclear why Andy entered Somalia and whether his intention was to settle peacefully there or pursue a darker agenda. He might be in the Lower Juba, the only region in the country where Al-Shabaab is in control.
The most heartbreaking moment for Michaela was when she spoke to her granddaughter. The little girl asked her if she could “come and see her” in Somalia. It was an emotionally wrenching phone call for Michaela who heard that her granddaughter had developed malaria pout in Somalia and was treated by a traditional medicine man with honey and plants. The thought of her grandchild living in a small village or in the bushes with no modern amenities still terrifies Michaela.
Michaela worries constantly of her son and his family. Every time a drone strikes Somalia, she becomes consumed with fear, and Andy’s continuous presence in Somalia has her in emotional handcuffs. “Since September, 2011, I have been suffering day and night,” she says. “I wait and sit holding my mobile phone, but it never rings.” She confesses that she often despairs of seeing Andy again, and doesn’t know how to deal with it. “Sometimes, I feel I should die during the night and never wake up again,” she adds.
As a child, Michaela wanted to visit Somalia: “A beautiful land, with wonderful people and the most beautiful women on the globe.” She respects and admires Islam and has read about it extensively. She once challenged Andy on why he was defying his parents and being unkind and inconsiderate to them when Islam teaches that paradise is under the feet of mothers. His response was immediate and brutal: “You are Kaffir (infidel) — that is the difference.” Michaela knows Andy is wrong and misguided. She says her son has been brainwashed. “Al-Shabaab people have nothing to do with the wonderful religion of Islam,” she says.
Michaela, her husband, and Andy’s friends just want him back home. “Andy holds a special place in my heart,” says Michaela. “Every day, I ask God to give me back Andy, my granddaughter — my loving little sunshine — and her mom.”
Hassan M. Abukar
Email:[email protected].
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