Ahmad recruited people online to become foreign terrorist fighters. He was caught, imprisoned and rehabilitated.

"When I was done with the rehabilitation program and came out from prison, I said to myself, ‘I’m a new person, and I am thankful I have gained so much knowledge through the programme and perspective’. When I think back, I am scared about what would have happened if I had gone too far down the rabbit hole and it would have been very difficult to come back. Or maybe there would have been no way to have come back from it again."

Malaysia does not suffer any long-term civil conflict and has not experienced significant domestic terrorist events in recent decades. However, home-grown militants have a history of becoming involved in and becoming key players in both regional and international conflicts. Malaysian fighters who travelled to Afghanistan in the 1980s returned to Malaysia and became involved in terrorist attacks and regional insurgencies in the Southern Philippines, as well as Ambon and Poso in Indonesia. Among the well-known figures are Azahari Hussin, Nordin Mat Top, Mahmud Ahmad, Zulfikli Hir, and Amin Baco.

Since 2011, a significant number of Malaysians have travelled or been apprehended by Malaysian authorities en route to Syria and Iraq to join IS and other militant groups. The fall of IS in 2018 has raised concern in Malaysia, as in Indonesia, about returning foreign fighters and their families. Malaysia has adopted a policy of repatriating foreign fighters and their families and working to disengage them from violence.