The recent case of Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, who murdered one soldier and injured another at a Little Rock military recruiting center last year, reflects several trends in the growing danger of extremism on American soil.

The New York Times reports that Mr. Muhammed—née Carlos Bledsoe–was born a Baptist. Shortly after beginning college, he converted to Sunni Islam and dropped out of school. He became increasingly devout, and was active in Nashville’s Somali community where he began wearing Arab-style clothing, gave up alcohol, and changed his name.

He eventually went to Yemen to study Arabic. He overstayed his visa, was deported, and ended up in a U.S. prison.

Mr. Muhammad told his father that while in prison he met Islamic radicals who told him that the American government had forsaken him. “We are your real brothers,” they said…

Read more…

“This was an unpredictable and isolated episode, impossible to anticipate and guard against.” - Muqtedar Khan, University of Delaware.

Men like Professor Khan single out Major Malik Hasan as being a unique case; unpredictable and inexplicable.

A recent article in the Los Angeles Times shows that if we look to the root causes of incidents like this, they may not be as impossible to foresee as Professor Khan believes. Sometimes, an influential cleric, mixing political and spiritual messages, can influence others to commit terrible crimes in the name of God. Such is the case with Anwar al Awlaki, an American born cleric now living in Yemen.

Anwar al Awlaki is an extremist whose sermons have helped radicalize terrorists from Atlanta to New Jersey to London, including cases in which the U.S. military was targeted. A well-spoken Yemeni American, Awlaki has emerged as the leading ideologue for a homegrown generation of young militants who conspire over the Internet. Read more…

There is no question one can be both a proud Muslim and a patriotic American. Just ask Lamia Lahlou who joined the U.S. army in response to the 9/11 attacks. “I love America, so I fight for it — that’s my jihad,” she said. Morrocan-born Lahlou served honorably in Iraq, fighting for the country she loves.

For Ms. Lahlou and other American Muslims who have served in the armed forces, there is no contradiction between their faith and their service to their country. Unfortunately, Major Nidal Hasan, who was responsible for the recent Ft. Hood attack, was unable to similarly reconcile his faith with his role in the military.

Although it remains unclear exactly what motivated Major Hasan to breach his loyalty to his country, it’s been alleged that he may have been influenced by political Islam in his place of worship. Read more…

Today we posted about extremists who want their version of Islamic law to supersede Western law.  Yesterday, the following story appeared in the Detroit News, which gives a concrete example of men pursuing this on American soil.

The leader of a Detroit mosque who allegedly espoused violence and separatism was shot and killed Wednesday in an FBI gun battle at a Dearborn warehouse…  A federal complaint filed Wednesday identified Abdullah, 53, also known as Christopher Thomas, as “a highly placed leader of a nationwide radical fundamentalist Sunni group.” His black Muslim group… wants to establish a separate state within the United States governed by Sharia [Islamic] law,

In the complaint filed in the case, Abdullah allegedly told an informant, “We’ve got to take out the U.S. government.” 

As discussed in previous posts, home-grown terror does not emerge from a vacuum.  Somewhere along the way, these ideas are introduced and reinforced.  Unfortunately, one of the places this is happening is in the mosques.   The words of other clerics who share Abdullah’s views may not be as inflammatory as what he told his flock (11 of whom are in custody).  But the effects may ultimately, in the long-term, be as dangerous in their impact on American society.  

You can read the whole story here.

Many Americans would like to believe that terror groups no longer threaten the United States, eight years after the attacks of 9/11.  Do not count the FBI and NY law enforcement among those with that mistaken belief.

This week the FBI and NY City Police Department collaborated to arrest alleged ringleader Najibullah Zazi, and two other men in a plot to perpetrate a terror attack using explosives.

The case on Zazi was opened over a year ago, in August 2008.  Zazi has admitted having ties to Al Qaeda, and received weapons and terrorism style training in Pakistan. 

Zazi has been a legal resident in the US since 1999, and currently resides in Denver.  He recently took a road-trip to NYC which set legal authorities into action.

FBI and police suspect that over 3 teams of at least 4 men apiece were being organized for an attack.  Zazi’s computer which was confiscated by authorities was found to contain bomb making instructions and video of NY City’s Grand Central Station, as well as information on the city’s stadium facilities.

A New York City Imam is also being held by authorities.

A CBS news report quotes NY City Attorney General Eric Holder stating that the plot is “very serious”.  ABC news cites a senior law enforcement agent stating, “I’ve never been so worried.”

Hats off to the FBI and NYC Police for continuing to keep our country safe.  But lets not be fooled into believing that grave terror threats do not exist because of the heroic efforts of our law enforcement. 

Radicals remain intent on perpetrating attacks that threaten national security and the American way of life.

Private William Long, killed last week in Arkansas

Apparently, reports are surfacing that the Muslim convert who murdered an army recruiter was involved with a small mosque in Columbus, Ohio where other terrorists may have worshiped and socialized.

ABC Reports:

“Columbus has been identified as the jumping off point for Somalis residing in the United States, including Somali Americans, to become radicalized and then head overseas to wage jihad.”

Many media outlets reported that this was just a mentally deranged guy. Well whether or not he was all together with it, this was not a random attack. He went to a mosque where others were potentially radicalized and then he made a very specific plan:

“Prior to his drive-by shooting at the Little Rock recruiting center, Muhammad had used the Google Maps application to investigate recruiting centers in at least five other states, as well as Jewish institutions, a day care center, a post office and a Baptist Church, according to a report issued Tuesday by the Department of Homeland Security, ABC News has learned. Recruiting centers in New York, Atlanta, Louisville and Philadelphia were on a list of possible targets, based on evidence found in Muhammad’s home, according to the report.

Muhammad allegedly confessed and is now pleading not guilty to the shooting. Naturally.

What is going on here? Why is everyone not speaking about this? This is happening right here in Little America, to our soldiers and we pretend like this isn’t a serious and deeper issue. Now is the time to stop pretending.

Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, formerly known as Carlos Leon Bledsoe

Taha Abdul-Basser, an Islamic Harvard chaplain and a Harvard grad (’96), just made a big stir on the blogosphere with comments about capital punishment for Islamic apostates.

Taha Abdul-Basser

Reading some of the press, you might be left with the impression that Mr. Abdul-Basser was espousing vigilante justice and random killings.

It’s not true.  If you read his full statement, he was discussing capital punishment only in the context of state authority.  His words were:

“This [capital punishment] can only occur in the domain and under supervision of Muslim governmental authority and can not be performed by non-state, private actors.”

Listen, Texas and Louisiana are governmental authorities, and they impose capital punishment.  There isn’t a Muslim government at Harvard, for the time being.

The problem, however, is two-fold.

First, these states mete out this punishment for murdering people, not for free thinking.

Second is that a popular belief in the Muslim world today is that a worldwide Caliphate should be established.  That translates as a Muslim governmental authority throughout the world – including the United States.  Popular US Islamic personalities such as Abdul Alim Musa and Imam Johari Abdul Malik – the first Islamic chaplain at Howard University, espouse this belief loudly and clearly.

That makes Mr. Abdul-Basser’s comments much more relevant.

So, does Mr. Abdul-Basser pray for a worldwide Caliphate - the rule of Islamic law over the United States?

If so, that is tantamount to advocating the execution of thousands of US Muslims for the heinous crime of free thinking!

If so, the Harvard chaplain would be advocating the state-sponsored, Sharia-justified slaughter of thousands of Americans for exercising a right and privilege that we now take for granted in the US - freedom of religion.

Groundbreaking News
Early this morning, newspapers across the country and the world featured articles on the latest installment of homegrown terrorism. Four terrorists were arrested for plotting to blow up synagogues in the Bronx and to shoot down military planes at the Newburgh, NY airport.

This story is the definition of homegrown jihad. Three of the four terrorists were American born. Much of the coverage has failed to mention that they are in fact Muslims. Some detail that three of the four converted after recent stints in prison. All mention that they are from Newburgh.

The four terrorists met up with FBI informant at the Masjid al-Ikhlas mosque. (the Islamic Learning Center of Orange County).

This mosque was previously named “Al Jihad Al Akbar”.

The mosque also has links to the Muslim Brotherhood and the ISNA which is an unindicted co-conspirator of the Holy Land Foundation trial. Only one week ago, head of ISNA, Ingrid Mattson was said to speak at the Newburgh mosque. The ISNA is also listed as an organization in the FBI Manifesto exposed in The Third Jihad.

The head of the mosque is Imam Salahuddin Muhammad. He is also an Imam in the New York Prison System.

He was hired to be an Imam in the New York Prison System by Warith Deen Uman, who is quoted in The Third Jihad as saying:

“Brothers, be prepared to fight, be prepared to die, be prepared to kill.  It’s a part of the being, and this ain’t a brother just saying this, this is history, this is the Koran, nobody can deny it.

“You think that there’s no terror in Koran, it’s called irhab.  Read it in the 56th (sic) of the Koran.  There’s no lack of translation, there’s no mistranslation, there’s no one sheikh says one thing, no, it’s very clear.  When you fight, you strike terror into the, into the heart of the disbeliever.”

Imam Salahuddin Muhammad has been known to circulate radical propaganda produced by Wahhabis within the prison system.

Three out of four of terrorists were converted to Islam during or after prison, according to the New York Post.

New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly was quoted in The Third Jihad:

“About 18 percent at last count of prisoners in the New York State are Islamic.”
This is several times higher than the national percentage of Muslims to the general population.

Newburgh is located in upstate New York. This region is home to well-known Radical Muslim enclaves, such as Islamberg.

Watch The Third Jihad