With a family background from Iraq, Mohammad was born in Manchester, England in 1986.[1] His family migrated to Norway in 1989, and Mohammad settled with his family in Larvik.[2] In September 2006, he legally changed his name to "Giovanni", the Italian equivalent to English "John" but claimed to mean "God is gracious". For unknown reasons, he reverted to his original name in January 2007.[3] Mohammad started studying Islamic Sharia law at the Islamic University of Madinah in Saudi-Arabia in September 2009.[2] In March 2010, he was expelled from the university for being considered "politically active." Mohammad however appealed the verdict, and was allowed to continue studying at the university.[1]