This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/5112
November 23, 2011
November 24, 2011 - San Francisco, CA - PipeLineNews.org - In a piece appearing yesterday in the WashPost [see, http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/guest-voices/post/ny-bomb-plot-what-radicalizes-some-converts-to-islam/2011/11/21/gIQAmFq3hN_blog.html] former Pakistani government official and current occupant of the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at the School of International Service at American University, Akbar Ahmed, either intentionally or ignorantly assigns blame for the increasing radicalization of American Muslims [the latest example of which involved the weekend arrest on terror charges of Muhammad Yusuf [aka, Jose Pimentel], blaming it on the same baseless allegations we have become accustomed to hearing from the Islamist lobby.
According to Ahmed what drives American Muslims to jihad include:
"...they saw their religion, culture, and traditions mocked mercilessly..."
"...attacks on mosques and women wearing Islamic dress..."
"...widespread Islamophobia..."
"...some senior American political figures are either hostile to Islam or indifferent to it...."
"...unending American military entanglement in several Muslim countries stretching across Africa and Asia..."
Mr. Ahmed appears to be unfamiliar with the facts surrounding the arrest of Muhammad Yusuf and other jihadists. Additionally we find it revealing that he insists on referring to the perp as Pimentel rather than his chosen name upon having converted to Islam, Muhammad Yusuf.
As we detailed in Muslim Convert Muhammad Yusuf [aka Jose Pimentel] Busted In Al-Qaeda Terror Plot By NYPD Intel Team - FBI Refuses Involvement
Yusuf's motivation for his planned jihad was undeniable - Islamic ideology - his website [trueislam1.com] has a section [http://www.trueislam1.com/2011/04/verses-in-quran-that-command-us-to.html] that lists over 30 tracts from the Qur'an and other seminal Islamic texts which "command" Muslims to wage jihad. Additionally Yusuf's website has an outgoing link which contains a 9 page al-Qaeda bomb making manual, complete with a parts list and accompanying images to aid in their construction..."
What Mr. Ahmed is doing in this matter is obfuscating. Absent Shari'as "command" [Mr. Yusuf/Pimentel's wording] to commit to jihad, it is unlikely that Muhammad Yusuf would have undertaken his murderous plan.
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http://www.pipelinenews.org/index.cfm?page=ahmed11222011101%2Ehtm
This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/5112