After the Fort Hood attack, there has been much confusion not only
among the non-Muslims but also the Islāmic community. Some Muslims do
not know what to think about Imam Anwar Al-Awlaki any more. Some of them
who, up until November 5 2009, held the Imam in great respect, found
themselves questioning their allegiances and reviewing their moral and
religious alliances. As soon as the United States media started focusing
on him, many of so-called Muslim blogs from around the world condemned
the Fort Hood incident and even went so far as to call Imam Anwar a
non-Muslim. I believe it would be a good idea, therefore, to review the
facts and analyze them in the light of the Qur’an and the Sunnah to see
where our Deen stands on this issue. Is Imam Anwar really outside the
bounds of Islam or are his opponents the hypocrites ?
Before we study the incident and it’s aftermath, we should cover a
little background information on Imam Anwar Al-Awlaki (especially for
those of us who don’t quite know him yet).
Who is Imam Anwar Al-Awlaki?
Imam Anwar Al-Awlaki was born to Yemeni parents in the United States.
His father, Nasser al-Awlaki, worked in the US from 1957 to 1977. In
1978 the family returned to Yemen, where Imam Anwar received his Islāmic
Education. Al-Awlaki returned to Colorado in 1991 to attend college.
He holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Colorado State University and
an M.A. in Education Leadership from San Diego State University.
Al-Awlaki served as Imam of the Denver Islāmic Society from 1994–96.
He, then, served as Imam of the Masjid Ar-Ribat al-Islami mosque in San
Diego, California, from 1996–2000.
To those who know him well, he is famous for informative audio
lectures on several topics covering the History of Islam and the Seerah
of the Prophet . He has also
released several audio lectures on the topic of Jihad based on the
Qur’an and Sunnah of our Prophet .
Since some people question his Islamic education and background, note
that he has studied under several scholars of Islam and has received
Ijazas (Scholarly Permission) to speak about Quran, Sciences of Quran,
Hadith, Sciences of Hadith, Tafsir (Interpretation of Qur’an) , Fiqh
(Jurisprudence), Usool Fiqh and Arabic from:
Shaykh Hassan Maqbooli al Ahdal
Shaykh Hussein bin Mahfoodh
Shaykh AbdulRahman Shumailah al Ahdal
Shaykh Hamud Shumailah al
Ahdal
His knowledge, therefore, is very thorough and he does not speak
without ample evidences derived from the Qur’an and Sunnah.
Criticisms of the Imam
Before we review the media’s interpretation of Imam Anwar’s status,
let’s see what Allah said:
O Prophet! Fear Allah, and
hearken not to the Unbelievers and the Hypocrites: verily Allah is full
of Knowledge and Wisdom. (33:1)
We should avoid trusting the Hypocrites and the Unbelievers.
The Imam is usually criticized in the public media for his strict
adherence to the fundamentals of Islam. The media calls him a
‘Fundamentalist’ for that reason. He is also criticized for speaking
publicly against apostasy in the Muslim world. In simple words, they
hate him because he does not accept any sources of knowledge except the
ones ordained by Allah .
He is also criticized a lot for his ideological support of Major
Nidal Hasan, the Fort Hood shooter. This issue is discussed in detail
below. To those hypocrites who hate Imam Anwar because of what United
States media has said, it should be cleared that Allah said:
And obey not (the behests) of
the Unbelievers and the Hypocrites, and heed not their annoyances, but
put thy Trust in Allah. For enough is Allah as a Disposer of affairs.
(33:48)
We need not worry about the annoyances of the hypocrites and the
Unbelievers because there is no substance in their claims. Allah warns us clearly
about the intentions of the hypocrites, and we should take Allah’s word
for it. The good thing is, these people aren’t hard to find:
When it is said to them: “Come
to what Allah hath revealed, and to the Messenger.: Thou seest the
Hypocrites avert their faces from thee in disgust. (4:61)
When we say that we should adhere to Allah’s commandments and those
of His Prophet , they call us
‘Fundamentalists’ and ‘Extremists’ and shy away from the truth.
These are some of the signs of Hypocrites described in the Holy
Qur’an. In this light, we should distance ourselves from the news
transmitted through Hypocrites or the Non-Muslims. I should explain here
that by Hypocrites I mean everyone who claims to be a Muslim but
believes in principles that are against the Qur’an or the Sunnah of our
Prophet .
The Fort Hood Incident
To keep this post brief, I will not go into the detail history of
Major Nidal Hasan, the man accused of killing 13 US soldiers in an army
base at Fort Hood, Texas. We will just cover the specifics of the
incident and analyze it in the light of Qur’an and the Sunnah. What
Major Nidal Hasan did when he was 12 years old is not of relevance when
judging whether the incident is legal or illegal according to Islam. To
those Muslims who claim that Major Nidal Hasan was a Kaafir for
joining the US Army and hence whatever he did is against Islam, I
should remind them: Umar , one of the
greatest leaders of our Ummah, was actually planning on assassinating
our Prophet before he
converted to Islam. This is to show that a persons past actions can not
be used to judge him or her. Some one might have spent their entire
life in sin, but if Allah , decides in His
infinite mercy to guide this person, he might end up guided aright a
few minutes before death approaches. On the other hand, just because
someone has been a good Muslim all his life, does not mean that all his
actions would always be right. That is why we should refer all our
judgments to Allah’s words and those of His Prophet .
The place where the incident took place, Fort Hood, is the largest
(in population) US military base in the world. This is the location
where soldiers are shipped to Afghanistan and Iraq from. While some
Muslims might not know about the details of America’s “War on Terror”,
it is obvious to everyone that the US and it’s allies are killing
Muslims around the world. The people dying in Afghanistan and Iraq on a
daily basis at the hands of the Americans (and their allies) are not
criminals, they are Muslim men, women and children. The evil committed
by the US at secret prisons such as Abu Ghraib is also no secret today.
Their raping of Muslim women in Iraq, and their insolent destruction of
Muslim lands isn’t hidden either. It suffices to say that Muslims are
under attack. Some people might tell you that ‘they are after oil’ or
that ‘it’s not a religious conflict’, but facts are clear to anyone who
cares to check that it is a religious conflict. In fact Allah says:
Never will the jews or the
Christians be satisfied with thee unless thou follow their form of
religion. Say: “The Guidance of Allah,-that is the (only) Guidance.”
Wert thou to follow their desires after the knowledge which hath reached
thee, then wouldst thou find neither Protector nor helper against
Allah. (2:120)
This ayah does not speak about some specific groups of Jews or
Christians. It simply tells us that they will never be satisfied with us
until we follow their form of religion. No matter how many peace
treaties we seem to have with them, their efforts would always be to
take us away from the path of Allah . If you are still
not convinced that this is a religious war consider the evidence in
this video:
. He has also
released several audio lectures on the topic of Jihad based on the
Qur’an and Sunnah of our Prophet 
said:
, one of the
greatest leaders of our Ummah, was actually planning on assassinating
our Prophet 
