Yahya al-Bahrumi (Arabic: يحيى البحرومي; December 2, 1983 – October 2017), born John Thomas Georgelas, and also known as Ioannis Georgilakis (Greek: Ιωάννης Γεωργιλάκης), and with the kunya Yahya Abu Hassan (Arabic: يحيى أبو حسن), was an American jihadist, Islamic scholar, and supporter of the Islamic State (ISIL).
[1] About a year after a caliphate was declared in mid-2014, Bahrumi was able to join the Islamic State in its capital of Raqqah, where he became a "leading producer of high-end English-language propaganda" for IS.
[1][5] Bahrumi was born in Bexar County, Texas, on December 2, 1983, to a Greek American conservative and wealthy family with a long military tradition; his parents were Timothy Georgelas and Martha Karas.
[9] He converted to Islam while in college shortly after the 2001 September 11 attacks, and left Texas to study Arabic in Damascus, developing a great profiency.
Like Bahrumi, she was born in 1983, suffered from benign tumors, and rebelled against her parents by using drugs and adopting strict Islamic practices and support for jihad.
[10] During their marriage the two "often quarreled", but Yahya's self-confidence, vast knowledge of Islamic texts (he memorized both Hans Wehr's Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic and Kitab al-ʿAyn by Khalil al Farahidi in a short period of time),[11] and the Quranic judgement that "Men are in charge over women"(Q.4:34), led Tania to accept Bahrumi's decision making for many years.
Bahrumi worked tech jobs in Texas, supported the presidential candidacy of isolationist, pro-gold standard, anti-drug prohibition, libertarian Ron Paul.
[14] Bahrumi conducted online seminars in Arabic and English that did "much to 'prepare' Westerners" for ISIL's declaration of a caliphate, and had sufficient prestige that European jihadists came to Egypt to learn from him in person.
"As they reached the border, a Syrian government sniper fired at them, the bullets kicked up dirt nearby, and the two adults dragged three puking children, a suitcase and a stroller across the minefield, through a gap in the barbed wire and into Turkey.
His wife later said that she and the children had been tricked into entering Syria, and that she had telephoned her mother-in-law as soon as possible and asked her to contact the US FBI, who later told her that she would not be charged with joining an extremist organisation if she returned to the US.
After the caliphate was declared on 29 June 2014, he pledged his allegiance, but was captured by forces aligned with the Free Syrian Army before he could make his way to Islamic State territory.
There he served as "the Islamic State's leading producer of high-end English language propaganda and ... a prolific author" for the magazine Dabiq, writing articles with titles such as "Kill the Imams of Kufr [Disbelief] in the West" (referring to Suhaib Webb, Nihad Awad, Hamza Yusuf and others).
[23] Graeme Wood quotes Al-Bahrumi: The fact is, even if you were to stop bombing us, imprisoning us, torturing us, vilifying us, and usurping our lands, we would continue to hate you because our primary reason for hating you will not cease to exist until you embrace Islam ... we fight you, not simply to punish and deter you, but to bring you true freedom in this life and salvation in the Hereafter, freedom from being enslaved to your whims and desires as well as those of your clergy and legislatures, and salvation by worshipping your Creator alone and following His messenger.
[1][24]Although a devout Muslim, Yahya and his wife used cannabis and psilocybin psychedelic mushrooms as the definition of khamr (intoxicants) is a matter of Islamic scholarly debate.