Muslim Cleric: Ft. Hood Attacks Consistent with Islam

A radical Muslim cleric who was in email communication with the Fort Hood mass-murderer states that the attack is consistent with Islam and derides those Muslims who condemn the attack.

Imam Anwar al-Awlaki had been in email contact with Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the Muslim soldier who shouted “Allahu Akbar” before gunning down dozens of his fellow servicemen and women at Fort Hood, since December 2008.

In a Washington Post article, al-Awlaki claims that Hasan cited Islamic law demanding that “what America was doing be confronted”.

While al-Awlaki claims he did not encourage Hasan to commit violence, he refused to provide copies of his email correspondence to the Post. He went on to say that the bloody rampage was acceptable under Islam, because “America was the one who first brought the battle to Muslim countries”.

Here we see the problem. Radical Muslims see themselves as Muslim before anything else. While I am an American first, Hasan — though an Army psychiatrist and American citizen — was a Muslim first, and his loyalty was not to America or even the people he knew, but instead to “Muslim countries”.

Herein lies one of the gravest dangers of fundamentalism. There are Muslims worldwide whose loyalty is not to their friends and neighbors, but to strangers who share their belief in a certain imaginary friend. There are Christians who fit the same mold. These are extremists, who are unpredictable and extremely dangerous. Many, like Hasan, can fake their loyalty until they have the opportunity to wreak havoc.

Al-Awlaki also condemned those “peaceful” Muslims who spoke out against the attacks:

They say American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan should be killed, so how can they say the American soldier should not be killed at the moment they are going to Iraq and Afghanistan?

Some say the majority of Muslims are peace-loving. Where’s the outcry? Are they shamed into silence by Al-Awlaki and others like him . . . or do they secretly agree?

Related articles:

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2. Iranian Cleric: Earthquakes caused by adultery, not by Deepak Chopra
3. Comic: Muslim Adam and Eve
4. Consistent Conservative: Delaware blogger opposes government-sponsored sectarian prayer
5. Pew Forum: The exploding global Muslim population

Mike Daniels is co-editor of Secular News Daily.

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