The Radical Imam Series - Introduction

Following the shooting at Fort Hood, a blog post appeared on a website which allegedly belonged to Shaykh Anwar Al-Awlaki. The post praised the shooter as a hero, stated his course of action was the only acceptable course of action, reasoned that Muslims are caught in conflict by living in America, and concluded that more and more Muslims must begin to leave the West.

I did not stand next to Al-Awlaki as he wrote these words. I have no idea if these words come from his thoughts or another. I do not know the state of mind in which he currently exists. I do not know if he faces duress from any external forces. I believe Al-Awlaki is currently in Yemen but even of that I am not sure.

I wish to address his specific message, regardless of its origin and motivation. Al-Awlaki is not simply another unknown mullah from overseas regurgitating the Bush-Cheney clash of civilizations dialogue from their opposing perspective. Rather, he is a name well recognized in the United States. He is a talented story teller, able to bring to life the stories of Muslims and Prophets who lived centuries ago. His descriptive prose, mindless tangents, and vast sums of knowledge have made his lectures popular and widely available in the U.S.

As such, I fear that these remarks might carry more weight within our community. It is necessary that we go beyond simply condemning the remarks and pushing them aside. We must confront the remarks and enlighten our youth and those less educated of the integral fallacies in its teachings.

Over the next series of posts, I wish to address these remarks and the concept of radical imams generally. My desire is not to indict or condemn Al-Awlaki as an individual. As I've already indicated, I do not have the necessary information to begin to form a judgment on Al-Awlaki. These posts only address the message which is allegedly tied to the shaykh.

I will address his post one subject at a time in the interest of brevity. This post will serve only as an introduction to this topic and supply the text of the message allegedly posted by Al-Awlaki.

As for the text of the message, it reads as follows:

Nidal Hassan is a hero. He is a man of conscience who could not bear living the contradiction of being a Muslim and serving in an army that is fighting against his own people. This is a contradiction that many Muslims brush aside and just pretend that it doesn’t exist. Any decent Muslim cannot live, understanding properly his duties towards his Creator and his fellow Muslims, and yet serve as a US soldier. The US is leading the war against terrorism which in reality is a war against Islam. Its army is directly invading two Muslim countries and indirectly occupying the rest through its stooges.

Nidal opened fire on soldiers who were on their way to be deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. How can there be any dispute about the virtue of what he has done? In fact the only way a Muslim could Islamically justify serving as a soldier in the US army is if his intention is to follow the footsteps of men like Nidal.

The heroic act of brother Nidal also shows the dilemma of the Muslim American community. Increasingly they are being cornered into taking stances that would either make them betray Islam or betray their nation. Many amongst them are choosing the former. The Muslim organizations in America came out in a pitiful chorus condemning Nidal’s operation.

The fact that fighting against the US army is an Islamic duty today cannot be disputed. No scholar with a grain of Islamic knowledge can defy the clear cut proofs that Muslims today have the right -rather the duty- to fight against American tyranny. Nidal has killed soldiers who were about to be deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan in order to kill Muslims. The American Muslims who condemned his actions have committed treason against the Muslim Ummah and have fallen into hypocrisy.

Allah(swt) says: Give tidings to the hypocrites that there is for them a painful punishment – Those who take disbelievers as allies instead of the believers. Do they seek with them honor [through power]? But indeed, honor belongs to Allah entirely. (al-Nisa 136-137)

The inconsistency of being a Muslim today and living in America and the West in general reveals the wisdom behind the opinions that call for migration from the West. It is becoming more and more difficult to hold on to Islam in an environment that is becoming more hostile towards Muslims.

May Allah grant our brother Nidal patience, perseverance and steadfastness and we ask Allah to accept from him his great heroic act. Ameen

The message above is something I would expect from a neo-conservative's personal blog, obviously switching the Muslim and American actors. I condemn these remarks as vigorously as I would condemn those remarks.

May God guide us all and save us from the destructive power of ignorance and misdirected hatred.