U.S. Mosques

A new study has identified dozens of mosques across the U.S. as “incubators for jihad against America.” More than 80% of the mosques surveyed had texts on-site which advocate violence at varying degrees. 

The survey looked at 100 mosques around the U.S., with membership totals ranging from 10 to 1,700. 

Read more about the survey here. 

Is this a legitimate reaction? Why do you think this is happening?

"For more than 30 years, the Muslim community in this Nashville suburb has worshipped quietly in a variety of makeshift spaces -- a one-bedroom apartment, an office behind a Lube Express -- attracting little notice even after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. But when the community's leaders proposed a 52,900-square-foot Islamic center with a school and a swimming pool this year, the vehement backlash from their neighbors caught them by surprise. Opponents crowded county meetings and held a noisy protest in the town square that drew hundreds, some carrying signs such as "Keep Tennessee Terror Free."

Full article here.

"Those Islamists and their apologists who argue for "religious toleration" are arrogantly dishonest. They ignore the fact that more than 100 mosques already exist in New York City .

Meanwhile, there are no churches or synagogues in all of Saudi Arabia. In fact no Christian or Jew can even enter Mecca. And they lecture us about tolerance.

If the people behind the Cordoba House were serious about religious toleration, they would be imploring the Saudis, as fellow Muslims, to immediately open up Mecca to all and immediately announce their intention to allow non-Muslim houses of worship in the Kingdom. They should be asked by the news media if they would be willing to lead such a campaign."

Watch clip

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Does he have a point?

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…

“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.

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.

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 belief.

[caption id="attachment_98" align="aligncenter" width="270" caption="Private William Long, killed last week in Arkansas"][/caption] 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.

[caption id="attachment_99" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, formerly known as Carlos Leon Bledsoe"][/caption]

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. [caption id="attachment_76" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Taha Abdul-Basser"][/caption] 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.