The very right-wing Washington Times is reporting that FBI sources are telling them that Nidal Malik Hasan was in contact with other people identified as Islamic extremists besides al-Awlaki, who are located in both the US and overseas.
Maj. Hasan made some of the contacts while visiting known jihadist chat rooms on the Internet, according to one of The Times’ sources, a senior FBI official. He said that several people with whom Maj. Hasan was in contact had been the focus of investigations by the FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Force.
….Both officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case, said some of the names of those with whom Maj. Hasan was in contact will likely be released soon.
The FBI official said that could happen during pending congressional hearings into the massacre.
A military intelligence official adds:
“Those connections, except for Awlaki, could be explained innocently. But all of them together form a very concerning picture.”
“I may run into contact with shady people through coincidence, through social events, etc.,” he said. “But at some point you start saying like, ‘Huh? Why are you coming in contact with all these charming people?’ “
Sometimes the Washington Times does journalism, so this is worth noting.
Abu Noor Al-Irlandee 1:19 pm on November 12, 2009 Permalink |
This is “journalism,” John? Some unnamed people are claiming that he had undescribed “contacts” with unnamed people who “may have been the subject of investigations.” Wow.
By the way, the one guy you guys seem to be judging as someone no “innocent” person could have contacts with, al-Awlaki, is I am pretty sure the second most popular speaker (in terms of purchase or download of audio lectures) amongst Western Muslims (to Hamza Yusuf) over the last 10 years.
This doesn’t mean that all the people who listen to al-Awlaki agree with everything he says, I actually haven’t heard anyone defend the Ft. Hood incident or his alleged endorsement of it, but let me put it this way.
To say al-Awlaki’s recently expressed views are on the fringe of the community is accurate, but to try to characterize him as a fringe figure is just not correct.
I’m just saying this because I’m sometimes not sure if Muslims who run in progressive circles or who don’t attend mosques regularly or ISNA conventions or whatever just have a different experience of the Muslim community in America but one would be wrong to underestimate the following and influence of al-Awlaki among a large cohort of western Muslims.
null 1:41 pm on November 12, 2009 Permalink |
Whoa, I had no idea. Hamza Yusuf & Zaid Shakir are names I’m familiar with from the US Muslim blogosphere, but I’m really surprised to hear that al-Awlaki is/was a well known figure. The first I’ve heard of him is since Fort Hood.
abunoor 1:56 pm on November 12, 2009 Permalink |
Null,
That’s why I mentioned it, because I was not entirely clear what the perception was of others here at TI. Of course my own perception is undoubtedly shaped by my own circles, which is why I hedged by statement a little.
It would be hard to come up with any objective measure. I tried to point towards cd sales or something like that, but it should be noted that al-Awlaki has made it clear for several years that he did not support copyright enforcement of Islamic materials and I don’t think there’s been any attempt to rein in piracy of his audio, which is widely available for free over the internet.
He has very popular and well received sets about the Lives of the Prophets and the HereAfter as well as on the Lives of Prophet Muhammad, Abu Bakr, and Umar. As he has become more radical after leaving the United States, he has also done sets on fiqh of jihad which are less widely listened to, but are also available.
Allah knows best.
null 2:04 pm on November 12, 2009 Permalink |
Thank you for that. Are you familiar with his lectures? Are his sets on the lives of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and the Companions the traditional stories we all know, or do they have a ‘radical’ spin to them?
abunoor 2:55 pm on November 12, 2009 Permalink |
Null, I am familiar with them. Largely the material will be familiar to you if you’ve studied seerah or history of the Khulafa’ Rashidun. The earlier material has a “revivalist” take on the material which is noticeable but not jarringly so. (I guess everything depends on what we are comparing it to)
The most recent set out of these historical ones to come out actually was the Seerah of Prophet Muhammad (saw) which is divided into the Meccan and two sets on the Madani period. The first two sets came out a little while ago, the final set more recently. This was during a time where Awlaki was emphasizing the importance of jihad and it certainly shows in the sets but to be honest, it would be relatively hard to get around the fact that the history of the Prophet’s ten years in Madinah involved several military campaigns and certainly most traditional seerah books will focus a good deal of attention on these campaigns. (The whole science of seerah or biography of the Prophet Muhammad (saw) was actually more commonly known as Maghazi literature or history of battles). Of course this is true of much of classical history (Muslim and other than Muslim) in general that it focused on political rivalries and military battles.
abunoor 2:56 pm on November 12, 2009 Permalink |
I would actually recommend the series on Lives of the Prophets to any Muslim. It is well put together.