A Former Muslim Speaks About the Fort Hood Massacre

http://www.newenglishreview.org/custpage.cfm/frm/52498/sec_id/52498

 

New English Review

A Former Muslim Speaks About the Fort Hood Massacre

by Mohammed Asghar with Jerry Gordon (December 2009)

 

Background:

 

Former Muslims, those who by choice have left Islam, were like most Americans shocked by the mass shooting of innocent soldiers and civilians at Fort Hood, Texas on November 5^th, resulting in more than 13 killed and 30 seriously wounded. Major Nidal Hasan, an Army psychiatrist was a self acknowledged devout Muslim who was overhead by his victims at Fort Hood screaming “Allahu Akbar” as he jumped onto a table and sprayed 100 lethal rounds into the lines of soldiers and civilians waiting to undergo medical and dental examinations. In 2007, at the Uniform Services Unified University of Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland, Major Hasan gave a presentation to his medical officer colleagues, “The Koranic World View as it relates to Muslims in the U.S. Military.” Hasan’s presentation clearly stated the Islamic War doctrine of Jihad and warned of ‘adverse events’ if Muslim service personnel weren’t released from active service as ‘conscientious objectors.’ 

 

To understand what compelled Major Hasan to undertake his lone Jihad against fellow soldiers and Americans at Fort Hood, we asked several co-founders of Former Muslims United (FMU), who are apostates from Islam, for their views. Their unique perspective may provide Congressional investigators with clues as to why Major Hasan committed this grave act.

 

This comprehensive response is from Mohammed Asghar, a naturalized American citizen from Bengladesh and co-founder of FMU, who has undertaken a lifelong review of the Quranic ideology of Jihad. He thus can explicate canonical reasons why Major Hasan committed his lone jihad and whether we can expect more of such incidents, both in our military and in our country.

 

Introductory remarks: 

 

Major Nidal grew up listening to real and imaginary ‘horror’ stories about the Jews’ atrocities from his parents and other Muslims he lived with in his formative years. He must have read the Quran in Arabic. He must have learned how Allah had treated the Jews before the advent of Muhammad – the Prophet of Islam - and, how Allah had wanted the Prophet to deal with the Jews of Medina where Islam really began.

 

To Allah, the Jews of Medina were an oppressive people; ungrateful for the favors he had granted them in the past. Due to their mischief and disobedience to Allah’s commands, they lost his favors as well as the right to live on Allah’s earth, which Allah bequeathed to Muslims.

 

Allah has, through the Quran, invalidated all other religions and replaced them with Islam. It is his only “perfect” and “approved” religion and whoever would want to enter heaven on the Day of Judgment, must practice only this religion during their sojourn on earth.

 

Though Major Nidal received his education, and training, in the United States, the cost of which was borne by US taxpayers, he never had the intention to fight for, and defend, the United States of America. He trained to fight for Allah and his causes and to propagate Islam and defend the teaching of the Quran.

 

This may be inferred from his calling card. It read:

 

Major Nidal Hasan Malik

SoA (SWT)

Psychiatrist

(Source: FOX Television News of Nov 13, 2009).

 

The letters “SoA” denote Soldier of Allah. 

 

Gordon: Do you believe that Major Hasan’s actions were in accord with Quranic Jihad beliefs?

Asghar: Major Nidal’s actions were in accord with many Quranic injunctions. These call upon Muslims to kill those who hinder them from Allah’s way, and “prosecute” them; the latter act being graver than slaughter (the Quran; 2:217 et al). In the Quranic parlance, not respecting the Islamic ways of life and being disrespectful of Islam’s various tenets and practices is tantamount to prosecution and the oppression of the Muslims!

Most Muslims living in non-Muslim countries feel “persecuted and oppressed” in many ways. For instance, many Muslims feel insulted, when they have to go to stores to buy their groceries that sell alcohol. Most Muslims feel insulted, and become angry, when they find the non-Muslims (also known as kafirs), eating their lunch before them, while they are fasting in the month of Ramadhan. Most Muslims feel greatly dismayed and insulted, knowing that their Christian neighbors eat pork, and seeing their women moving freely before their eyes with their bodies not fully covered.

 

All of the above and other factors empower Muslims to kill the non-believers in Islam. Major Nidal fulfilled his desire because he was in a position to do so, as he could easily obtain guns and shoot down those who, in his judgment, were not Soldiers of Allah and as such, he had the right to kill them.

 

Gordon: What identified Major Islam as a devout Muslim intent on committing Jihad?

Asghar: Major Hasan’s action was in accord with the concept of Jihad, as it has been laid down in the Quran. Though the Jews and Christians are called the People of the Books, even then they are Unbelievers, as they do not believe in the prophethood of Muhammad. For this refusal of theirs, Muslims must kill them “for the sake of Allah.”

 

Major Nidal carried out the carnage for the sake of Allah – an act that would earn him a berth in heaven in his next life. This is the most important motivation for Muslims to kill the unbelievers, wherever they get a chance to do so.

 

There are at least 109 verses in the Quran that call Muslims to war, and to kill those who do not believe in both Allah and Muhammad. One verse reads:

 

8:12: “Remember thy Lord inspired the angels (with the message): "I am with you: give firmness to the Believers: I will instill terror into the hearts of the Unbelievers: smite ye above their necks and smite all their finger-tips off them."

 

This verse inspires Muslims to put their enemies to violent death. The kidnappings and beheadings of kafir journalists and others have their roots in it.

 

Gordon: Why is violence towards unbelievers sanctioned in Quranic Islam? 

 

Asghar: In my understanding, Islam has had two faces. The first face of Islam, which I call the Meccan Islam, does not really call for the killing of the unbelievers. Their punishment is left in the hereafter to Allah. This Islam died after Muhammad migrated to Medina.

 

There, Islam got a new face, thanks to the rich and obstinate Jews of the city. Though their number was not huge, they were expert artisans, and good at making weapons of war. Many of them were also farmers, and the techniques they used for farming made them rich. A good number of them were also money lenders.

 

Since most of the pagans of Medina were indebted to the Jews and relied upon them in matters of religious importance, the Jews’ prided in themselves and believed that they were very strong and unbeatable. Their overconfidence made them arrogant and oblivious to the realities that were developing around them after Muhammad and his followers arrived in their city.

 

The Medina Jews did not pay much attention to Muhammad, or to his immediate and long term needs. They not only refused to acknowledge him as a prophet of Allah, they also refused to support him and the lives of his followers from Mecca with alms (Sadaqa). Finding himself in a very precarious economic situation, Muhammad tried to reach an understanding with the Jews that would have required them to give him a certain status and some money, thereby enabling him to turn his Islam into a sect of Judaism. But the Jewish rabbis did not pay heed to his subtle overtures. Instead, they increased their opposition to him. These actions infuriated Muhammad and he became a violent man.

 

The Quran mirrors the violence that Muhammad resorted to in order to make himself successful against the Jews of Medina. He slaughtered 700-900 of them, claiming that they supported his Meccan enemies.

 

Gordon: Is Islam a state religion and political ideology?

 

Asghar: In my opinion, Islam started as a political ideology, with the economic factor being a major component.  It was primarily aimed at the rich people of Mecca, including the custodians of the Ka’aba.

 

As it happens with any political movement, Muhammad needed some followers to spread his message and to defend him from those who would be opposing his ideas.  As it also happens in our own time, Muhammad used money to gain supporters in Mecca.

 

As most of the people who wanted to become his followers were slaves and poor Pagans, they dared not join his movement as fast as he wanted them to for fear of losing their livelihood. So Muhammad needed something powerful to cow the rich Meccans and to back up the promises he was making to his would-be followers.

 

He found that powerful backer in Allah. Allah was a Deity that was well known to all the people of Mecca and they also feared the havoc he could subject them to, if they did not do what he wanted them to do. To convince the pagans that he had Allah’s backing, Muhammad declared himself to be a prophet of Allah, with the mission to communicate his wishes and orders to them.

 

Islam became a state religion and a political ideology after Muhammad converted most of the people of the Arabian Peninsula to Islam. Abdullah Yusuf Ali, one of the respected savants of Islam, openly admits this fact. He says that “verses 1-29 {of Sura 9} were a notable declaration of a state policy.”

 

 

Gordon:  What is meant by the will of Allah?

 

Asghar: The “Will of Allah” is the main mantra of the Islamic theology. It covers all aspects of a Muslim’s life. It makes clear that had it not been Allah’s will, our universe would not have come into existence. The existence of all lives on earth is the result of his will. No human, Jinn, animal and any inanimate thing could, or can, breathe or do anything without Allah’s will. All the good things happen, and murders are committed only when Allah so wills. It is on account of this reason that every Muslim is obligated to say “Insha Allah – If Allah Wills” before doing anything in his or her life.

 

Islam means submission to Allah’s will and whoever does not submit to his will is not a Muslim. Whatever Muhammad had communicated, or commanded his followers to do through his words, acts and deeds are also considered to be Allah’s will. Muhammad’s words, acts and deeds are collectively known as Hadiths.

 

As stated earlier, Allah was the name of the principal deity of the Meccan pagans. Mohammed conveyed his words to them as being “Revelations” from the same Allah they had been worshipping for millennia.

 

For Muslims, Hadiths are the second most important doctrinal teaching of Islam. They are as good as the sayings of Allah, for Muhammad is believed not to have said, or done, anything in his lifetime without Allah’s permission. So his words are as sacred as the words of the Quran.

 

Gordon:  What keeps 1.3 billion Muslims believing in Quranic Islam?

 

Asghar:  Muslim children are taught that the Quran is the literal word of Allah. Whoever does not follow it, or violates what is written in it, will face Allah’s wrath not only on earth, but also after death. Those Muslims who follow its words will in their next life enter heaven wherein they will live forever, with all pleasures being made available to them by Allah. The details of the pleasures are succinctly described in the Quran.

 

Those Muslims who would not abide by the words of the Quran would burn forever in hellfire.

 

The details of the punishments that the sinner would suffer in hell, as described in the Quran, will make anyone shudder with extreme fear. It is the allurements of heaven and the fear of the punishment of hell that keep so many Muslims glued to the teaching of the Quran, even though most Muslims have never read it in their lifetime. Most Muslims depend on their Mullahs to learn about what is written in their sacred scripture.

 

Gordon: Is the Islamic law of Sharia in conflict with the U.S. Constitution?

 
Asghar: To me, sharia is the constitution of the Muslims. Its stipulations come from the Quran and the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad.

 

In other words, sharia is a constitution given to Muslims by Allah, who is infallible. Conversely, the U.S. Constitution was framed by some humans, and they were fallible. Their thoughts, wisdom and far-sightedness cannot match that of Allah.

 

Since Muslims are required by Allah and his apostle to lead their lives according to the Quran and hadiths, sharia takes precedence over all man-made laws and constitutions. Therefore, they cannot, and must not, follow the latter, as it would be tantamount to disobeying Allah and his prophet.

 

It is for this reason that Muslims cannot take oaths to uphold our Constitution, nor can they be bound by its stipulations. If some Muslims agree to follow and abide by it, they do so out of compulsion, for Islam permits Muslims to lie and cheat, if it is necessary, to further the cause of Islam. Like Allah, they can also “deceive” the Unbelievers for the sake of Islam (cf. The Quran; 3:54).

 

 

Gordon:  Is Sharia law in violation of Article 3 of the Constitution proscribing sedition?

Asghar: Of course, sharia violates Article 3 of our Constitution. Sharia forbids Muslims from following or living under the non-Muslim rulers. If it is not an act of sedition, I wonder what else would qualify as a seditious proclamation!

 

But sharia is only for the Muslims. It can be imposed on non-Muslims only after they have been converted to Islam. Many Muslims, including their women, want to live under Sharia in the belief that by doing so they would come closer to Allah and their Prophet without whose intercession many of them would not enter heaven on the Day of Judgment.

 

On the other hand, many Muslims oppose sharia, for they have seen the extreme brutalities it inflicts on Muslim men and women in Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and other Muslim countries.  

 

 

Gordon: What in your view should be done to contain propagation of extremist Muslims beliefs among Muslims serving in the military?

Asghar: Our politically correct leaders created Muslim military chaplains to minister to the Muslims in our Military. Muslims need chaplains or Imams to give them lessons on Islam and what it requires of them, especially in terms of the propagation of Islam among the unbelievers in our armed forces.

 

Where do the Muslim chaplains or Imams get their education? Which school of Islamic jurisprudence do they follow? Do they really know or understand what is written in the Quran? What is their attitude towards the Americans way of life, and do they subscribe to the American fundamental belief in the freedom of speech and religion? And last, but not least, do these chaplains train their Muslim disciples to proselytize the non-Muslim soldiers to Islam?

 

These are important questions to which I have no answers. Muslim chaplains and their disciples, like Major Hasan, are even now influencing many of our military personnel. Many of them might have secretly become Muslims. Whether or not they, too, would kill innocent soldiers in days to come it is too early to say.  But I am sure they will become a major problem for the commanders of our armed forces. A day may come, when the Muslim soldiers could refuse to take up arms against the Muslim terrorists, as Islam forbids Muslims from killing fellow Muslims.

 

We can, however, minimize the spread of Islam amongst our soldiers, if we:

 

·         diligently monitor the activities and the sermons of the Muslim chaplains;

 

·        try to “introduce” these chaplains to the true teachings of the Quran in the “hope” that their acquaintance with “facts” might change their minds. This may not yield the result we would want to see, but it is worth giving a try. The former Muslims can play an important role in this effort: and

stop “importation” of Muslim Imams from oversees, thus reducing the risk of flooding our armed forces with the indoctrinated agendas of the fierce soldiers of Allah.

 

 

Gordon: Has outreach to Muslim groups had a chilling effect on government counterterrorism programs?

Asghar: We have been able to “avoid” further attacks on our soil due to the commendable jobs our intelligence agencies have been doing from the time all of them were brought under a single command. It was also made possible by the colossal amount of money we have been spending on protecting our homeland from Muslim terrorists’ attacks. Even though I was never a fan of our former President George W. Bush, still I admire his decision to bring all of our intelligence gathering agencies under one roof as well as his decision to destroy the training grounds and the shelters of the al-Qaeda leadership in Afghanistan. As a result of his campaigns in Afghanistan, al-Qaeda has become fragmented, and its leadership significantly weakened.

 

Today, al-Qaeda is not under the direct leadership of a single high command. It has split into many factions and each one of them has been operating in various countries under local leaders. Of course, Osama bin Laden still remains their beacon and the source of inspiration, even though many of the al-Qaeda operatives do not know for sure whether or not he is still alive.

 

I believe our intelligence officials were not happy when they were put under one single command, but their unhappiness disappeared after they realized how important it was for them to protect their country from the terrorists’ attacks. Their responsibility to protect the country helped them overcome whatever reservations they had when President Bush announced the merger of all the intelligence gathering units into one single entity.

 

No, I do not think our government’s outreach programs with Muslims are having a chilling effect on our counter terrorism efforts. In fact, our intelligence gathering community would be very happy, if the program succeeds as it will supply useful information.

 

But I am not sure that the outreach programs of the government would produce any good result. If the outreach program is aimed at stopping the Muslims from thinking about a world where only Muslims would live, this program would not work. Muslims can never waive their right to own the whole earth and to rule it with the help of sharia.

 

Gordon: What is “stealth Jihad?”

Asghar: “Stealth Jihad” means that Muslims do not have to openly declare their intention to fight or kill anyone they deem to be an unbeliever, thus an enemy of Allah and His Prophet.

 

Stealth Jihad has its roots in the Quran. It says and I quote: “… fight and slay the Pagans wherever ye find them and seize them, beleaguer them and lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of war). …” (The Quran; 9:5).

 

So you see, Allah has instructed the Muslims to lie in wait and when the time or the opportunity is right, to jump on their target and kill him or them. Muslims have been doing exactly what Allah has asked them to do: they stealthily attack and kill their kafir enemies whenever and wherever they get the opportunity to do so.

 

Afghan émigré Najibullah Zazi, if proven to be a terrorist in a court of law, would fit the description of a stealth Jihadist. He lived in Colorado, earned his livelihood there, and, at the same time, he was working to wreak havoc by building and exploding a powerful bomb in New York City.

 

I believe there are many stealth Jihadists in our midst, but they are now lying low due to the activities of our law enforcement and counter terrorism agencies. They will raise their heads and try to inflict harm on us whenever they get an opportunity to do so. Therefore, we have to remain alert and report suspicious activities. This is our first line of defense against our enemies. Any lapse by our security apparatus could spell disaster.

 

Muslims are after the United States, as it is blocking their mission and hampering their efforts to Islamize the whole world. They have achieved great success in Europe; they expected to achieve a similar result in the United States. But their action on 9/11 derailed their mission and now they are trying to weaken America.  


Gordon: Most mosques in the US are financially supported by Saudi Wahhabist funding. Does that affect Muslims serving in our military?

 

Asghar: The action of Major Hasan answers the question. I am not sure whether the mosque he used to go to is funded by the Saudis or not, but the fact remains that every mosque teaches the same Quran that is taught in the Saudi funded mosques. All Imams use the same Quran to instill fear of Allah in the minds of their listeners and to motivate them to become Jihadists in order to fulfill Allah’s will.

 

Saudi funding plays no role in changing the minds of the Muslims. The real culprit is the Quran. For so long as it is read and followed, our military is likely to face many problems from its Muslim soldiers, including the carnage it witnessed recently at Fort Hood.

 

We are told that the Saudis, in particular, and other Muslims in general. are upset with the United States, as it did not treat them with respect and also it did not reciprocate the good will they have shown to the Americans. If this is so:

 

·         Why doesn’t the government of Saudi Arabia allow Christians to build any church on its soil, when we have permitted the Muslims to build thousands of mosques across our country?

·         Why is it Christians cannot go to public places in Saudi Arabia with a copy of the Bible in their hands, when the copies of the Quran are available in almost all book stores in our country?

·         Why can’t we stop the Muslim Imams from reading out those verses of the Quran that exhort the Muslims to kill the kafirs, when Saudi Arabia does not permit the Non-Muslims to hold their prayer congregations inside their own homes?

 

Gordon: How important is the development of specialists to instruct officials in Islamic war doctrine and what role could former Muslims play in such efforts?

Asghar: Military minds are trained to fight and win wars. Therefore, most, if not all, military echelons have never read the Quran. The same situation applies to most of our counter-terrorism experts.

 

In such a situation, I think our government should seek the services of former Muslims to help our decision makers understand the true nature of Islam; what it wants from its followers and how to counter their actions. But is our government going to listen to our suggestions and implement them? I have my doubts.

 

Gordon: Muslim Brotherhood front groups argue that Maj. Hasan’s actions were those of a deranged person and not a professing Muslim. What are your views?

Asghar: There is a saying, “a drowning man catches at a straw to save his life.” This saying fully applies to the Muslim apologists, including the Muslim Brotherhood.

 

 

They have realized that Major Hasan has fully exposed the true teachings of Islam. They could not say that he is an ignorant, uneducated and a poor man, hence his murderous act. When they do not have these excuses to defend his Islamic action, what else could they say to preserve the “good” reputation of Islam?

 

Gordon: Why do you believe the Army failed to detain Major Hasan prior to the Fort Hood shooting?

Asghar: Ours is one the largest armies of the world. Fort Hood holds a large number of our fighting men and women. Therefore, it is not possible for the top brass of the army to watch over the activities of all soldiers.

 

To help the Army Commanders maintain discipline, our army has Military Police and the Intelligence Units to monitor service personnel. I think the people in both these units did not take notice of Major Hasan’s activities and utterances and gave him a free hand to mold his life in accordance with the teachings of his religion.

 

The massacre carried out by Major Hasan should be an eye-opener for our army. It must now become more vigilant and keep a close tab on those they think are straying away from fulfilling their military obligations.  I hope what has happened at Fort Hood will not happen again. 

 

Gordon: What caused you to leave Islam?

Asghar: I left Islam over 25 years ago, when I found out that it is a violent and hateful religion. It has divided the human race into the Believers and Non-Believers; the former having the right to kill the latter for not believing in what the former believes in.

 

Before I left Islam, I was a moderately practicing Muslim, but an incident involving the burial of my mother provoked me to understand the religion I was practicing from my childhood.

 

My mother died in 1982 and my village Mullah refused to let me lay my mother in her grave as the garb I was wearing was, according to him, un-Islamic.  This appeared to me to be a weird belief and I began to read the Quran with the attention and care it deserves. What I discovered in it simply stunned me. I could not believe that its words came from the mouth of a Deity, who is believed to be Kind, Compassionate, Omnipotent, Omnipresent and Omniscient.  He could not say that women were the property of men and that Muslims should kill the Jews, because their distant cousins, living in the 7^th century Medina, had opposed Muhammad’s preaching.

 

I turned away from Islam and began talking about its precepts to my friends and relatives. Almost all of them became my enemies and they would have killed me if I had not left the country and taken up residence in the United States. I would be killed, if I were to visit Bangladesh now.

 

I now live in California. Here, a lot of Muslims know me and almost all of them hate me for my stand on Islam. But they do not argue with me, because whenever I talk about Islam, I always use quotations from the Quran to back myself up.

 

I have prevailed in many debates with many Muslims just because of the Quran. They cannot dispute what is written in it and, as such, I use it not only to defend myself, but also to change the minds of its adherents. My latter effort has brought me some success.  Due to my efforts, some die-hard Muslims have already turned away from Islam.  

 

Gordon: How can the talents of former Muslims be used to develop a more realistic counterterrorism program?

Asghar: Most former Muslims know much more about Islam than many Muslim Mullahs. They know how and what the Muslims think. They also know what induces Muslims to violence and which verses of the Quran put them on the path of mayhem, violence and murder.

 

Without knowing the Muslim psychology, it will be almost impossible for our government to deal with them effectively. Therefore, our government would do well to consult with former Muslims, such as Wafa Sultan, Nonie Darwish, Amil Imani, Mano Bakh, Ibn Warraq, and et. al., and formulate policies towards Muslims on the basis of their honest and truthful advice. Former Muslims will not be able to help our government to completely eliminate terrorism from American soil but, they can definitely help the government understand the intrinsic nature of Islam and the mindset of its followers.  

 

Understanding the Muslim mind will be a great victory for America and our government can achieve it with the help of the Former Muslims.

 

Gordon: Can we expect more Jihad events like the Fort Hood mass shooting by Maj. Hasan from American born Muslims?

Asghar: Yes, I expect further Jihadi events to take place in America. Fort Hood-like attacks cannot be ruled out. We do not know how many more Hasans there are in our armed services and what they are planning against this country. They are unpredictable and ungrateful. They will do anything to earn their entry into heaven by pleasing Allah and His Prophet.

 

 

Gordon: Thank you Mohammed Asghar for your comprehensive and enlightening comments.