The Institute of Jihadi Research:

Here are some thoughts I have about the horrendous reporting job by an AP writer who interviewed Muslims from Dar al-Hijrah Islamic Center where the now deceased Al-Awlaki once imamed.

Relief, anger at mosque where al-Awlaki preached

By MATTHEW BARAKAT
Associated Press

AP correspondent Matthew Barakat outside the Dar al-Hijrah Islamic Center reports a statement from the mosque claims Anwar al-Awlaki was a model U.S. citizen until he went to Yemen.

AP correspondent Matthew Barakat outside the Dar al-Hijrah Islamic Center reports the mosque says Anwar al-Awlaki was an upstanding citizen.

FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) -- At the Washington-area mosque where Anwar al-Awlaki preached a decade ago, there were few tears over the death of the influential al-Qaida figure who more than anyone gave the Dar al-Hijrah Islamic Center its unwanted association with international terrorism. But some found the way he was killed to be un-American.

(Really? Awlaki is the figure who tied Dar al-Hijrah Islamic Center to terrorism? Obviously, Barakat did not do any real investigation of the Mosque for had he done so he would have found that just about every imam at this mosque is under or has been under indictment for terror related activities. Or what about Major Hasan? Or What about the 9/11 hijackers? What a lame piece of investigation. Now, Barakat does mention Hasan and the hijackers later in this article but only in passing. BIP)

Most worshippers at Dar al-Hijrah for Friday services said they were glad that al-Awlaki was gone - that he besmirched not only their mosque but all of Islam by calling for the deaths of innocent Americans. Others rejected both al-Awlaki's calls for violence against Americans and the U.S. airstrike that killed him in Yemen early Friday, saying he hadn't even been charged with a crime.

(Really? This sounds like Ron Paul. Awlaki was the head of AQAP. Everything AQAP did and every person it harmed or killed would be by Awlaki’s command or implicit allowance. No crime? BIP)

And a small few were unrepentant in their support of al-Awlaki, though most were unwilling have their names attached to their views.

(Interesting how Barakat decides to not post any numbers even anonymously. BIP)

"I like justice to be done the normal way," said Tarik Diap. "If you're guilty of doing something, you have the law, you have courts. This is, for me, you're killing someone without proving innocence or guilt."

(I guess being the leader of the largest affiliate of AQ is not enough? BIP)

Hassan Mohamed, 62, said no allegations against al-Awlaki had been proven.

(Muslims do not live in reality. BIP)

"I don't know why he should be killed," he said. "I don't approve of my government going around the world to kill innocent people."

(What? So we gone from claiming that Awlaki’s innocence or guilt has not been proven to the statement that the man was innocent. Can these people really be this ignorant? BIP)

Leaders of the mosque issued a statement saying that although al-Awlaki "encouraged impressionable American-Muslims to attack their own country," they deplored "extra-judicial assassination" and believed the drone attack "sends the wrong message to law-abiding people around the world."

(How does this send the wrong message to “law-abiding citizens” unless they too believe Awlaki was innocent? Have you noticed how Ron Paul and these Muslim apologists keep throwing around the word assassination? The word is usually used only for people in leadership roles specially in some government. But if Awlaki was innocent then what possible leadership role did he occupy? If he was not innocent then he was the leader of AQAP, a jihadi organization, with blood on his hands as we have been arguing. BIP)

The mosque said al-Awlaki, born in the U.S. to Yemeni parents, was known for his "interfaith outreach, civic engagement, and tolerance" when he served as imam at Dar al-Hijrah from January 2001 to April 2002. It said he did not begin preaching violence until later, after he was arrested and allegedly tortured in Yemen.

Opinions varied on what kind of preacher al-Awlaki was when he served in Virginia. Most said they did not find him to be overtly political or radical.

(Of course not but this only makes sense to those who understand Islam. Islam is neither a religion per se nor a political per se. It is a combination of both called a theocracy. If Awlaki was preaching against Jews and Christians that is the norm. (At Tawbah 9:29) If Awlaki was preaching jihad that is the norm. (At Tawbah 9:5) His listeners would not have believed him to be overly political or radical because they accept his beliefs. BIP)

But Wadi Adam Lahrim, 34, of Fairfax, said al-Awlaki "did voice his opinions regularly about U.S. involvement in the Middle East. He encouraged the community to speak up against it."

(Of course he did because every halah Muslim knows it is haraam to kill Muslims. BIP)

Lahrim said that al-Awlaki was an appealing figure to U.S.-born Muslims because he understood their culture. "He didn't just teach hate. He did teach (positive) aspects of the religion ... and he was able to communicate better than some other imams," he said.

(This is loaded and Barakat does nothing to explain Lahrim’s retort. Da’wah and jihad are not aspects of hate to the Muslim but merely the means by which Allah will convert jihiliyyah and purge the earth as a mosque for Islamic domination. Notice the term positive is in parentheses. Did Lahrim actually say this word or did Barakat add his own little commentary. But this does not rule jihadism because for a jihadist jihad is positive. So said Mohammad who claimed that Allah sent him to fight everyone until all admit there is no god but Allah. BIP)

Dar al-Hijrah Islamic Center is among the largest and most influential mosques on the East Coast, but has been stung by its associations with al-Awlaki and other targets in the U.S. fight against terrorism. Two of the Sept. 11 hijackers worshipped there briefly when al-Awlaki was imam. Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Hasan, the suspect in the Fort Hood, Texas shootings that left 13 dead in 2009, attended services there occasionally.

(Wait! Doesn’t this tell you something? If all the imams are so peaceful and innocent then why does this mosque have the reputation for turning out Jihadists? Are you telling me that the Muslims who are a part of this mosque are that ignorant? Or is it the norm. If so, there are two conclusions. First, the members are lying through their teeth. Second, Barakat ought to be kicked out of the journalism profession for doing such a poor job of investigating.BIP)

Al-Awlaki became a powerful al-Qaida tool for recruiting in the West after leaving the mosque. U.S. officials have said they believe he inspired Hasan's actions, and that he helped orchestrate the attempted Christmas 2009 bombing of a Detroit-bound aircraft, among other allegations.

(Believe? Of course Awlaki inspired Major Hasan and the emails between the two prove it.BIP)

Khalid Abutaa was among those happy to hear the news that al-Awlaki was dead.

(But why is he happy? Have you noticed that Barakat has not once told the reader why those who are happy that Awlaki is dead are happy that he is? Are they happy because he was a jihadist bent on destroying America? Are they happy because he is guilty of being a jihadist and the head of AQAP? Or are they happy because he is in the highest of the 100 levels of paradise, has circumvented the Islamic purgatory, has received his 72 virgins and presented the names of the family members Allah must allow into paradise? Funny, Barakat does not address this.BIP)

"It's good. It's good for Muslims. It's good for humans," said Abutaa, a retired chef. "In our religion, we're not supposed to kill nobody."

(Amazingly, Barakat does not even touch this obvious lie. Whole chapters of the Qur’ an are given to fighting and killing. There are numerous words in the Qur’ an which signify killing incognito. How many millions of people has Islam killed and is killing as it spreads across the world and this Muslim has the audacity to claim that Muslims are not suppose to kill? BIP)

Jouwad Syed, of Alexandria, Va., recently moved to the area and only recently began attending the mosque. He said he was initially leery of joining because of the reputation and links to al-Awlaki. But he had also heard positive things about the mosque's outreach and charitable programs. "We're not glad he's dead, but at the same time, it's helpful" because the links to al-Awlaki got in the way of the mosque's outreach efforts.

(Actually, this sounds very much like the Muslim Brotherhood who also is adverse to AQ’s tactics even though many of AQ’s high level members are Brothers. The MB works through “civilization jihad” while AQ works through jihad of the sword. The mosque’s outreach programs are designed to spread Islam through “civilization jihad.” But because Barakat did not do his homework many of his readers will be led to believe a lie.BIP)

Indeed, the mosque endures some level of hostility from the general public. On Friday morning, as a crowd started to gather outside the mosque before midday services, a bicyclist rode by and shouted, "Yeah, they got your little buddy, didn't they?" then spit on the ground before pedaling off.

(Oh, Islamophobia in action! Poor little Muslims. The truth hurts and of course, we can’t have the truth about Islam and this mosque in particular go mainstream. The problem is that the Islamophob was right as always! BIP)

Several worshippers who were critical of the U.S. airstrike would not provide their names. One man said he had known al-Awlaki to be peaceful and believed he had been unjustly targeted. The mosque's outreach director, Johari Abdul-Malik, previously denounced al-Awlaki's proclamations from Yemen.

(So? This is tayyiqa at work! BIP)

"He had an allure. He was charming," Abdul-Malik told reporters in 2009, shortly after the Fort Hood shootings that al-Awlaki praised. "To go from that individual to the person that is projecting these words from Yemen is a shock."

(Right! Either Malik is ignorant or a liar. Since he is a Muslim I will go with a liar based on history.BIP)

"I don't think we read him wrong. I think something happened to him." The Sept. 11 hijackers who worshipped at Dar al-Hijrah, Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi, met al-Awlaki earlier in San Diego, where he was imam at al-Ribat al-Islami mosque.

Most of the mosque's worshippers are students and recent immigrants, so few of them knew al-Awlaki, said Magdy Hefnawy, the mosque's president. He said he understood why the United States sought to kill or capture him. "This is our home here and we don't need anyone coming in here and harming this country," said Hefnawy, a native of Egypt. "We condemn everything he did because this is not the way of Islam. We are peaceful people."

(Does anybody see the word ikhwan on his forehead! Egypt? Any bets? BIP)

Edgar Hopida, a spokesman for the San Diego chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, attended al-Awlaki's classes at al-Ribat and said nothing he heard prepared him for the violent rhetoric the cleric went on to preach from Yemen. But he opposes the way the U.S. responded.

(Ok, now we are in Muslim Brotherhood territory and the Brothers have no love lost for the death of an AQ operative. Just look at the English verison of the Muslim Brotherhood website. It has a section devoted to their ideological differences with AQ. BIP)

"Our main concern is with the fact that our government committed an extrajudicial killing on one of its own citizens without due process," Hopida said. "... He was just marked for assassination, which is against our foundation as Americans."

(Really? Why is killing the enemy against our foundation as Americans? The fact is that assassination is a moral issue and there were and are many politicians in our system who do not have the stomach for it. Does it always work? No. But it does really disrupt totalitarian organizations like AQAP because these type of organizations find it very difficult to groom new leadership. But remember this. A person who argues Awlaki was assassinated will have to explain what leadership role he occupied. The only answer is the head of AQAP. But all this could have been clarified if only Barakat would have acted like a true investigative reporter. But alas I do sometimes forget this is AP. BIP)

---

AP videojournalist Bill Gorman in Falls Church and Associated Press writer Julie Watson in San Diego contributed to this report.

Reply · Report Post