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| Minnesota mosque suspected behind Somali terrorism |
| 2008-12-19 |
| Mohamud Ali Hassan once told the Somali grandmother who raised him that he'd become a doctor and care for her. The Somali immigrant, who moved to the "Land of 10,000 Lakes" when he was 8, had good grades at the University of Minnesota and called Muslims to prayer at his mosque, where he also slept during the holy month of Ramadan. But on Nov. 1, Hassan disappeared, as have a dozen other boys and young men here — two days after another young Muslim from Minnesota blew himself up as a suicide bomber in Somalia. Hassan, 18, called his grandmother to say he was back in Somalia, where an Islamist militia is trying to take over the Horn of Africa nation. What he was doing there, he did not say. Now the FBI is asking questions, as are members of the Somali community. The Abubakar As-Saddique Islamic Center denies any wrongdoing, but many here suspect that the mosque and its imam are radicalizing their youth to become jihadists in an Islamic holy war overseas or perhaps even in the United States. "They are very powerful, whoever got into his mind and got him to do this," says Hassan's grandmother Fadumo Elmi, 83. "We were forced out of our country one time. We don't want to be forced out of here." Details of the disappearances are few, but what little is known is cause for concern, says Abdizirak Bihi, a community activist who represents six families of young men who disappeared in early November. Among them was Bihi's nephew, Burhan Hassan, 17, a high school junior. All were good students, had no problems with the law, Bihi says. All were raised by single mothers and spent a lot of time in the Abubakar As-Saddique Islamic Center. The center is the largest mosque in the Twin Cities. Bihi worries it is preaching a radical Islamic ideology to vulnerable young men. Shirwa Ahmed, 19, who left in August with no notice to his family, was among five terrorists who blew themselves up Oct. 29 in an attack that killed 24 people in Somalia, Bihi says. "We are wanting the government and politicians to investigate who is responsible for sending our kids and we are requesting the American government to help us to get us back our kids." Bihi says. Other Somali immigrants worry the disappearances may foretell dangers for their adopted nation. "That kid that blew himself up in Somalia could have done it here in Minneapolis," says Omar Jamal, executive director of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center in St. Paul. Special Agent E.K. Wilson of the FBI in Minneapolis would not say whether his agency is investigating the mosque. Bihi and Elmi said the FBI has talked to them and others about the missing. Wilson said the FBI knows that Muslims here have been going overseas to fight. "We're aware that a number of Somali men have traveled from around the United States including Minneapolis to potentially fight overseas," Wilson said. A lawyer for the Abubaker As-Saddique Islamic Center denied any involvement in planning or financing the men's travels or any political indoctrination. "The mosque has taken a position that it would never take a stand on any political issues," says lawyer Mahir Sherif in San Diego. "We do not support terrorism or any kind of suicide bombing or act of violence." He said federal authorities last month prevented the mosque's religious leader, Sheik Abdirahman Ahmed, from flying to Mecca. Yusuf Shaba, who writes about Islamic ideology and radicalism for the Warsan Times, a Somali-English monthly newspaper published in Minneapolis, says he decided to speak out about what he considers Islamic indoctrination at Minneapolis mosques because he doesn't want his sons to follow the same path he did. Shaba, 34, joined Al Ittihad Al-Islami (Islamic Union) at age 16 and was wounded at age 19 in Somalia. Al Ittihad was Somalia's largest Islamic terrorist group in the 1990s. Shaba says jihadists generally recruit young men from among two groups: those shunned by their families because they've turned to drugs, gangs or alcohol; and the sons of families who forbid exposure to Western culture and allow them to socialize only at the mosque. Shaba says he and his three teenage sons attended a program two months ago at Abubaker As-Saddique Islamic Center, where a former Somali warrior sat in a circle with other young people and delivered a passionate recitation of his experiences during the Somali civil war. Some mosques also screen videos about the war in Afghanistan and about Muslim victims of perceived injustices in such places as Nigeria and the Palestinian territories. "They give them all the grievances that Osama Bin Laden has," Shaba says. "They talk about nothing but jihad and it's the best thing that can happen to a Muslim." When the brainwashing is done and the teachers are confident students will do anything asked of them, the teachers give them tazkia, or clearance, to get more specialized training in the United States or abroad, Shaba says. "The people who trained us encouraged us to not get married, to sever our ties with our families, so that when the mission comes we won't worry about family." Shaba says similar activities occur at Minnesota Da'wah Institute in St. Paul, another mosque. Sheik Mahamud Hassan, the institute's imam, says nothing like that is happening as his mosque. "It's liars," he says. "I'm not missing any members." Elmi wrapped herself in her shawl and sobbed as she thought of Hassan in her one bedroom apartment in a Minneapolis public housing high rise. Outside, snow covered the parking lot and temperatures were below zero. They moved to the United States in 1996, when Hassan was 8 and after his father was killed in the civil war. Hassan was obedient, but after going to the mosque, "He was completely changed." "I thought the mosque would be a much safer place than the night clubs and bars," she said, crying. "I don't want God to curse me because I say something bad about the mosque." |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #15 What Frank G. and Mike N. said. |
| Posted by: Jolutch Mussolini7800 2008-12-19 21:59 |
| #14 I'm originally from the Twin Cities and the growing Somali population is part of why I moved away. The other part being weather. Franks right, there's a trouble brewin' in them parts. Go ahead and call me racist. Pretend I'm denoucing them over where someone in their family was born (I.E 'Those eggplant heads!')and not because of their culture. Rantburg aint no nanny and ifn y'alls looking for a reason to be offended, thisn a good place to find it. |
| Posted by: Mike N. 2008-12-19 19:55 |
| #13 Tell me, has any single mosque that *has* been found to be involved in aiding terrorism *ever* come straight out and said they were? |
| Posted by: crosspatch 2008-12-19 19:54 |
| #12 "i'm not inssane yet." Glad you cleared that up, rabid. ;-p The ads appear because some ad-placing computer somewhere (Google? Who knows?) notes this post and thread talk about muslims and mosques and places muslim-oriented ad on the page. Unfortunately for the computer (and the ad sponsor), the computer has no way of knowing that we're not exactly praising mosques, etc. I think Fred get a couple of cents for the ads, though. I don't know if he gets paid for just the ad, or only if we click on it. (On Tim Blair's site a year or two ago, we tried to break the bank of PETA by clicking on their ads as they appeared on Tim's site in response - I think - to a discussion about sheep. ;-p) |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2008-12-19 19:20 |
| #11 rabid, Fred gets money from running these "commercials". He does splict them. This is money spent to advance the truth about the War on Terror. Sod off. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2008-12-19 19:14 |
| #10 .5mt, i 'm not inssane yet. look again it's muslima.com, or do some of the mods have a fetish they're not talking about? j.k guys |
| Posted by: rabid whitetail 2008-12-19 18:57 |
| #9 hmmm after reading about the wide-spread Somali taxi-driver protests against carrying passengers with booze, seeing-eye dogs, and demanding wudu baths, as well as the complaints requiring segregated prayer rooms at Minnesota colleges (IIRC) - I think there's a general stench permeating that communities' rep in the twin cities. Do you deny that? Do you also deny that most are uneducated "refugees" who have few skills, great impacts on local costs and services, and likely few contributions? Do you also deny that their birth rate greatly exceeds the local rate for native-born? "Mom" and sjb, your point would be greatly improved if you sharpened the focus to real violations. There are plenty of gratuitous group-slams that should be and are condemned here. Usually the mods catch em. Your nannying on this one is misplaced and I refuse it. It IS Rantburg, and "you're NOT my MOM, man". Get a grip and focus |
| Posted by: Frank G 2008-12-19 18:49 |
| #8 Amen to #7. The articles here frequently describes real evil, and the perpetrators need to be brought to justice. But the sweeping generalizations against entire communities, and every racist reference to ragheads, mooks, etc, lowers the quality of the debate on this site. The bit*chy stuff on Wednesday's burg about the cholera epidemic in Zimbabwe was also appalling. Get a grip and speak civilly, or shut up. |
| Posted by: mom 2008-12-19 18:22 |
| #7 RE: #6 Could we drop the racist insults that have been popping up here so often recently? They do nothing to add to the discussion and lower the quality of the information that can be found here. Actually, I would say that most Somalis made good immigrants. This is a rather small minority, although one that needs to be controlled. I just feel sorry for the grandmother, who clearly seems to have tried to do what was best for the kid in the only way she knew. |
| Posted by: sjb 2008-12-19 17:58 |
| #6 Somalis aren't good immigrants. They use the wealth of the West to destroy it. And they breed like flies. |
| Posted by: Harcourt Glomogum3991 2008-12-19 16:10 |
| #5 Rabid Ima only see Military on the Move Ads.... You been hanging out in bad places what give you deh kinky kookie maybe? |
| Posted by: .5MT 2008-12-19 15:41 |
| #4 have muslims taken over the burg? what's with the muslim matrimonials ad too the side here? |
| Posted by: rabid whitetail 2008-12-19 15:34 |
| #3 and where else have we heard about young men of muslim leanings being raised by their Grandmothers? |
| Posted by: USN, Ret. 2008-12-19 13:36 |
| #2 i think every mosque is behinf terrorism. guess God will have too strike me down for that one |
| Posted by: rabid whitetail 2008-12-19 12:05 |
| #1 "I don't want God to curse me because I say something bad about the mosque." No worries Elmi. Been doing it myself for decades. Sometimes I even relieve abdominal bloating as I motor by. Other than male pattern baldness, no other noticeable effects, |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2008-12-19 09:54 |