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Piers Morgan missed important opportunities interviewing Imam Suhaib Webb

Last night Imam Suhaib Webb of the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center (ISBCC) was interviewed by Piers Morgan on CNN.  The ISBCC is an affiliate of the Islamic Society of Boston where the Boston Marathon suspects attended on occasion.  I just had to make note of some of the big opportunities Piers Morgan missed where he could of asked Webb some rather relevant followup questions:

Piers Morgan interview with Imam Suhaib Webb April 22, 2013:

Joining me is Imam Webb of the Islamic Society of the Boston Cultural Center. Welcome to you, Imam Webb. You're actually imam of a local mosque affiliated with the one that Tamerlan Tsarnaev attended. From all that you've now gleaned about what went on with him, were we seeing somebody who was being radicalized very quickly?

IMAM SUHAIB WEBB, ISLAMIC SOCIETY OF BOSTON CULTURAL CENTER: I'm not sure I can answer that question but definitely someone standing up in a Friday prayer and questioning a preacher who is talking about Martin Luther King Jr. might draw some flags but I don't think would necessitate calling law enforcement.

MORGAN: Now, he made two protests on two different incidents. He branded people a kafir, a non-believer. Clearly he was getting quite intense about his religion.
 
WEBB: Yes, I think that's where a qualified scholar or leader would need to step in and talk to him and see kind of what his mindset was, and from there, make a call on kind of what direction he was taking his religiosity.

Missed Opportunity:  I believe he called the Imam kafir for comparing Martin Luther King to the Islamic prophet, Mohammad, isn't that right?   Did the Imam talk to him about this outburst?  Have you spoken to the imam at your sister mosque about this?

MORGAN: What has been the reaction in the mosques, both yours and the one of course that Tamerlan Tsarnaev attended?

WEBB: With regards to what?

MORGAN: Well, to what's happened. Obviously he's been --

WEBB: Our reaction to what?

MORGAN: Your reaction to the discovery that somebody attending one of the mosques has been the perpetrator of this appalling bombing.

WEBB: Well, I think first and foremost as Bostonians, our hearts and prayers are with the community. And then there's a sense of anger and frustration that someone who would frequent one of our faith institutions would carry out such acts, so people seem to be very angry and upset with what he's done.

MORGAN: Is there any new system that you can put in place to raise more warning flags about characters like Tamerlan? Because it just seems to people that he's been plotting this in his head by being inspired by Islamic fundamentalists on videos that he;s found on the Internet, to commit an appalling act of terror, and yet he's been going to this mosque --

WEBB: Indeed.

MORGAN: -- hanging around with people. Somebody must have spotted that he was getting more intense, potentially dangerous, because we know the Russian authorities were wary enough about him to contact the FBI.

WEBB: Indeed, but I have to say, I don't think most mosques or churches or synagogues are law enforcement agencies. They don't have the same access that they would have.

Missed Opportunity:  Actually, those who attend a mosque together on a regular basis may have more access. When he called the Imam a kafir he revealed a bit of his fundamentalist views. Do you agree? Could this be a sign of radicalization or rigid fundamentalist believes?  Did his outburst cause concern?  It's been reported Tamerlan was in company of another Boston area Muslim convert by the name of Mihsa who practiced a strict form of Islam. Do you know who this person is?  I believe he has a red beard.   I wonder, Imam Webb, - do you advise your fellow Muslims to contact the FBI if they see something odd?  Does you mosque discuss radical Islam and its danger? Do you go over the warning sign?  Or, do you tell them not to talk to the FBI, say as CAIR does?

WEBB: But I think what's important is that the mosque here in Boston, the other mosque didn't appeal to his theology, so I think the way to address that -- there was an interesting Harvard study that said only 2 percent of the imams worldwide who called for global jihad had actually degrees from Islamic educational institutions that are considered respectable. So I think one of the best ways is through properly trained scholars who can mediate and talk to people and see where they're coming from and try to address some of those radical ideas that they have. He wasn't radicalized in Boston. It appears now that he was radicalized online.

Missed Opportunity:  Say, what was the name of the Harvard Study?  What year was it done?

Missed Opportunity:  You said 2% of imams who call for global jihad had degrees from proper Islamic institutions. How many imams would you say this represents 10 - 100 - 1000?  How many imams in total have called for global jihad? You don't know?  Hummm... The study referred to 2% of the total, right?  It seems odd you don't know the total. Didn't the study mention the total?  Do you see this global call for jihad by imams as a major concern for most non-Muslims?  Shouldn't the Imams who disagree with the call for global jihad stand up?  What is being done collectively?  Can you give me an example of a written statement from a collective of Imams specifically denouncing the call for global jihad?  What?  What do you mean you can't?

Missed Opportunity:  I noticed (since I did some research) that you have on your own website (SuhaibWebb.com) a glowing review of a presentation given at a conference on th book about Jihad by the highly controversial martyrdom-approving Sunni cleric Yusef Quaradawi.  This presentation, by the way, is also on the Muslim Brotherhood's English Website Ikhwanwebb. Is this wise, Imam?

Missed opportunity:  Did you attend a fund-raiser a few days before 9/11 for Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, otherwise known as H. Rapp Brown, who was convicted for killing a sheriff deputy?  Why were you there?  I read an FBI document about this fundraiser. Anwar Awlaki was there, as well, right?

MORGAN: Imam Webb, thank you for joining me.

WEBB: Thank you, sir.

End - Transcript from CNN

Last week, Webb was replaced (by Bretbart.com) as a speaker at the Boston Marathon Memorial Service the night before but Piers Morgan didn't bother to bring that up either. Another missed opportunity, Piers - geez. On the 21st, Suhaib Webb tweeted a link to this article stating. "They are liars."

There's just one problem, though, this very short article is accurate the best I can tell.  Webb was replaced the night before, he even tweeted about it. The Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center is linked to the Islamic Society of Boston and is referred to as the sister organization on the ISB website. Both are linked in the Islamic Society of North America (probably written in their constitution about their permanent affiliation to ISNA) who was named an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation terror-funding trial (documented court evidence). This was the largest Hamas terror-funding case to date.  There you go again, Piers, missing another opportunity.

Shame on you, Piers Morgan.

 

Also see:

Bomb suspect influenced by mysterious radical

Mass. Mosque: Bomb Suspect Had 2 Recent Outbursts

2/18/11: Suhaib Webb's "virtual mosque" praised Yusef Qaradawi's book on jihad as a masterpiece!

What is New about Al-Qaradawi’s Jihad?  Ikhwanweb (same article)

Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center – Timeline  Pluralistic Project

FBI document on a fundraiser that Webb and Awlaki attended on 9/9/01 (FIOA by Judicial Watch)

Suhaib Webb's "virtual mosque" praised Yusef Qaradawi's book on jihad as a masterpiece!

Imam Suhaib Webb is being groomed to be a rising American-born Imam.  He was born William Webb and raised in Oklahoma as a Christian until he converted to Islam as a teenager. Webb studied Islam at the hard-line Al-Azhar University in Egypt thanks to the Muslim American Society. This is the same place where the Imam at the Islamic Society of Tulsa, Dr.Mohamed Al Gobashy (ElGhobashy) studied (update 10/2011 AlGobashy suddenly is not the Imam in Tulsa anymore). Webb said he found Islam through hip hop music which was laced with the teachings of Islam due to the Nation of Islam and Malcolm X, according to a 2008 interview (archive page) at Egypt Today. Webb's move to Egypt in 2004 was sponsored by the Muslim American Society, which began as an arm of the Muslim Brotherhood here.  Webb lives in California now but comes to Oklahoma, from time to time  (update 1/2/2012:  Webb is now Imam at the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center)

In December Webb's website posted a paper presented at a conference about Yusef Quaradawi's "Figh of Jihad."  Qaradawi rose to a leadership position within the Muslim Brotherhood, according to the paper.  We learn here that a large number of Muslim jurists are propoents of offensive jihad - meaning it is a legitimate act to attack non-Muslims for their disbelief in Isalm!  This same paper is also posted on the Muslim Brotherhood's English website called Ikhwanweb (see below). 

Let's face it, the Muslim jurist who believe in offensive jihad against non-Muslims play a major role in forming extremist views.

Qaradawi was banned from entering the U.S. for his fatwas that approve martyrdom against Israel, which included the killing of Israeli women and children!  Yet, guest author, Rashid Al-Ghannushi, called Qaradawi's book on jihad a masterpiece (see title). The author is a well-known Islamist who wrote in the beginning paragraph jihad is “the summit of Islam with wildly different views:

Those views, moreover, have an effect on relations between Muslims themselves, with their governments, and with non-Muslims, in view of the awakening witnessed across the Muslim world, both at the level of faith and the level of practice. This has led to a greater connection between Islam as a religion (creed, rituals, morals) and an ideology of great influence on the thought and behaviour of Muslims, socially and politically, or what is known as “political Islam”, in which jihad occupies a central position in one way or another.

"...As for “political Islam”, he (Qaradawi) grew up inside one of its groups, the “Muslim Brotherhood”, occupying leading positions within it...

Qaradawi's lengthy book explores the varying interpretations of jihad and, to make a long explanation short, claimed verses in the Quran are not abrogated which could be considered a disadvantage for hardcore jihadists. Many scholars do believe the verses were abrogated, though.  The two types of jihad Qaradawi said are civil and military. The practice of military jihad only becomes an obligation upon Muslims when conditions arise such as an attack on Muslims, their land or their religion. Of course, this could be highly subjective depending on whose calling the shots.  Claiming certain land is Muslim land, such as Israel, seems to be based on Islamic conquest of it way back when, is a great example.   Who defines what is an attack on a Muslim or their religion?  Muslims who believe Islam's ideology of religious supremacy and that it should be the only ruling order is central to Islamism so I'm pretty sure they would call critics of it an attack on their religion.

Qaradawi is the chairman of the group that runs Islamonline whose article on Al-Qaradawi's Fiqh of Jihad briefy reviews a few of the sections.  In their Fatwa Section under the title of Palestinian Women Carrying Out Martyr Operations (archive copy), Qaradawi proclaimed the greatest of all jihad is a martyr operation:

"This is what is clarified by the following fatwa, issued by Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi the prominent Muslim scholar:

The martyr operations is the greatest of all sorts of Jihad in the Cause of Allah. A martyr operation is carried out by a person who sacrifices himself, deeming his life less value than striving in the Cause of Allah, in the cause of restoring the land and preserving the dignity..."

The only good news here is Qaradawi apparently does not condone offensive jihad/war like many other Islamist jurist do, according to Al-Ghannushi.  But, really that's little comfort.  Webb's disclamer he's not responsible for other opinions or view posted on HIS website is a total cop-out.  Face it, it's disturbing his website is used as a vehicle to praise Qaradawi's book on jihad.

-----

Also see: 

New Boston Imam Tied To U.S. Muslim Brotherhood

What is New about Al-Qaradawi’s Jihad? (Ikhwanweb)  A paper presented about Quaradawi's "Figh of Jihad"

Military Jihad: Between Daf’ and Talab (Defensive and Offensive Jihad)

Is it of a religious nature, meaning it is obligatory upon Muslims to fight non-believers until they embrace Islam or submit to its authority, which they call jihad al-talab, that is voluntary offensive jihad? Or is it of a political nature, necessitated by the need to defend the lands of Islam against transgressors and to defend Muslims against those who prevent them from freedom of faith, and the oppressed generally- which they have termed jihad al-daf`, that is necessary defensive jihad, which, if Muslims must engage it, should be engaged in with pure intentions, for God’s sake, and following strict ethical guidelines which cannot be neglected.

Classically, and in the modern era, jurists have been divided between two groups, which al-Qaradwi calls the hujumiyyin (proponents of offensive jihad) and difa`iyyin (proponents of defensive jihad)

...The hujumiyyin consider it an obligation for the Muslim nation to attack the land of the non-believers at least once a year in order to call to Islam and expand its territories. They hold disbelief per se as a sufficient reason to initiate war and legitimate killing, even if non-believers do not attack or harm Muslims, to the extent that Muslims would be sinful if they do not do so. The proponents of this view, a large number of jurists, most prominent of which among classical scholars is Imam al-Shafi`i, and among contemporary thinkers are Sayyid Qutb and al-Mawdudi, support their view with evidence from the Quran and the Sunnah, and from historical practice.

Radical Islam: Outspoken cleric, jailed activist tied to new Hub mosque [Boston]   Boston Herald 10/03

The Islamic Society of Boston, which has city approval to build a sprawling $22 million Islamic cultural center and mosque on Malcolm X Boulevard, has had a long association with Dr. Yusuf Abdullah al-Qaradawi, whose vocal support of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas prompted the State Department to bar him from entering the U.S. four years ago.

The local religious organization, now headquartered on Prospect Street in Cambridge, was founded by Abdurahman Muhammad Alamoudi - a high-profile Washington, D.C. activist who has publicly supported Hamas, Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations.

Alamoudi was arrested Sept. 28 at Dulles International Airport in Virginia and charged with making illegal trips to Libya and accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Libyan government in violation of U.S. law.

Last Thursday, Alamoudi was indicted for his dealings with Libya and portrayed by prosecutors as a key financier for militant Islamic groups and terrorist organizations.

Sheik Yusuf al-Qaradawi: Theologian of Terror  ADL

Yusuf al-Qaradawi :: The Investigative Project on Terrorism

The Qaradawi Fatwas :: Middle East Quarterly

Qaradawi Funding Hamas Efforts in Jerusalem

The politics of fatwa