Before being detained in October 2017, Muhammedali was working in Yiwu city in east China as an interpreter. His cousin, who resides in Turkey, found out from trustworthy sources that he was taken to a prison in October 2017. Originally from Kashgar, Muhammedali was not alone, there were 31 people in his family who had been detained around that time, 15 of whom are believed to be currently held in prison. His cousin has tried to reach out to the Chinese Consulate in Istanbul but her request for information was rejected. She believes that Muhammedali was possibly detained because he could speak Arabic.