ELISE: Do u ever miss australia?
ZEHRA: Nah, I would never miss such a country. When I think of living undermeath a law other than Allah's law, it actually mskes me cringe loool (SIC)
In early 2015, four months after she left Melbourne for Syria, Zehra Duman was adamant that she never wanted to return home.
Over an encrypted messaging app, the so-called "jihadi bride" who went by the moniker Umm Abdullatif, told me that leaving Australia and joining the Islamic State was "the most amazig thing i did."
"Yeah i miss my mum, sisters, niece etc. But that was all part of my sacrifice," she said.
When the caliphate was declared, I was very excited as I was waiting for it for years.
Zehra was then living in the Islamic State's de facto capital, Raqqa, and active on social media - posting photos of herself and other niqab-clad women clutching rifles and posing in front of flash cars.
She was also calling for attacks on her home country.
At the time, and since then, I have not been able to independently verify that Zehra was behind the social media account used in our conversation, or that her claims were credible.
Tweet from an account linked to Zehra Duman. Source: The Feed
But if true, it's an insight into the mindset of the 19 year-old high school dropout who travelled to Syria at the height of Islamic State's reign, and its appeal to disaffected youth around the world.
Zehra says she wasn't influenced by anyone else in her decision to leave Australia.
"Nobody knew i wanted to travel to Syria. I made the decision pn my own, amd I basicslly left last minute. I sold my car, booked my ticket for that night and left melbourne". (SIC)
Like many others who travelled to the front line at that time, she says she was motivated by the conflict in Syria, and wanted to help Muslims who were suffering.
Excerpt from conversation. Source: The Feed
But the circles she ended up moving in were doing far from that. Her social media was filled with photos of the family of Australian foreign fighter Khaled Sharrouf.
Sharrouf notoriously posted photos of his son holding up a severed head.
Tweet from an account linked to Zehra Duman. Source: The Feed
Duman was married to another fighter, Mahmoud Abdullatif. This former Melbournite, known for his love of clubbing and partying, had also posted photos of himself online posing with guns in Syria.
"I knew him from a long time ago, back in my non practisimg (SIC) days. And i only found out he was here when i got here," she told me.
Mahmoud Abdullatif Source: The Feed
"He was everyrhing i ever wanted in a husband." (SIC)
Zehra and Abdullatif's marriage was short-lived - he was reportedly killed just months before our conversation. This was, according to his bride, a good thing.
You probably womt believe but i was actually so happy for him. All i thought was, he is with my Lord, seeking provision. Flying the heart of a green bird. I only wsnted what he got. (SIC)
In a tweet, Zehra asked that Sharrouf's eldest son be martyred like her husband - "may he grow to be like him & receive a beautiful death just like him".
Zehra told me that she, and the other women she was surrounded by, also wanted to die.
When asked about her own views on jihad, she told me those who were being killed by Islamic State deserved it.
Excerpt from conversation Source: The Feed
"Innocent? Think again. Dawla will never harm anyone that hasnt did anything wrong." (SIC)
Not long after we chatted, she and other Islamic State members dropped off social media - apparently they'd been warned against being active online by senior IS leaders.
Now, after years of being out of the public eye, Zehra Duman has reappeared in the Al-Hol displaced persons camp in Syria. Her wish for martyrdom has, it seems, not been granted.
Last week Zehra's mother Ossie that her daughter had messaged her from the camp.
Ossie is now begging the Australian government to bring her daughter home.
She insists that Zehra - who reportedly now has two children - also wants to return.
She messaged to say that she was going to Al-Hol. That she didn't have any food for the kids. That she wanted me to go and get her.
"But I can't go get her. The Australian government needs to bring them home."
The Federal Government is now considering its options.
"This will be a very complex case and Australia will make decisions consistent with our national security interests," Prime Minister Scott Morrison said last week.
Zehra Duman has changed her mind about returning to Australia, and by some accounts, is remorseful and admits that it was all a huge mistake. She is no doubt in a situation similar to other young Muslims who travelled to Syria to join the fight, and would now like to return home.
The question is, should she be prevented from returning to Australia for the choices she made as a teenager back in 2014?
