Two men who opened fire outside a contest for Prophet Mohammed cartoons in a Dallas suburb were shot dead by police Sunday night, authorities said. The event “Draw the Prophet,” was sponsored by Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer, in an effort to protect the 1st Amendment. The event offered a $10,000 prize and was said to be in response to the January 2015 attacks on the French magazine Charlie Hebdo. The event was located in Garland, Texas in the same location as a Muslim group held a “Stand with the Prophet” conference in January. A security officer was wounded and the two Islamists were killed, Nadir Soofi, and Elton Simpson. CNN reports the following about Simpson and Soofi, the two radicals:
Moments before the shootout, Simpson posted an ominous tweet with the hashtag #texasattack: “May Allah accept us as mujahideen.”
The tweet also said Simpson and his fellow attacker [Soofi] had pledged allegiance to “Amirul Mu’mineen,” which means “the leader of the faithful.” CNN terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank said that probably refers to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
In 2011, Simpson was convicted of making a false statement involving international and domestic terrorism. Prosecutors said he told FBI agents that he had not discussed traveling to Somalia to engage in “violent jihad” — when, in fact, he had, according to an indictment. …
[Simpson’s attorney in the 2011 case, Kristina Sitton, stated], “He was a very devout Muslim,” said Sitton, who sensed Simpson was trying to convert her and her staffers but never saw him as a threat. “… I can tell you with absolute certainty that I didn’t observe anything that had anything to do with radicalization.” … “He was a very kind-hearted, respectful young man,” the lawyer added. “He always treated me with respect.”
That view was seconded by the president of the Islamic Community Center of Phoenix, where both Simpson and Soofi worshiped. … Simpson “was a gentle person,” Shami said. “He always had a good attitude, a good demeanor.” Like others at the mosque, Shami said he was stunned to hear about the attack Sunday night. “They didn’t show any signs of radicalization or any signs of even thinking about those things in that manner,” he said. “So when that happens, it just shocks you. ‘How good did you know these people?’ That’s the question that people ask themselves.”
Simpson nor Soofi fit the profile for a “radical” Islamist. Soofi’s background is as peaceful as that of Simpson:
“He was raised in a normal American fashion,” Sharon Soofi said. “Yes, he was very politically involved with the Middle East. Just aware of what’s going on. I don’t know if something snapped or if Elton Simpson was just working on him.” Soofi’s father is Pakistani, and his mother is American, a source with knowledge of the family told CNN. After his parents divorced, Soofi and his brother moved to the United States in 1998 to live with their mother and gradually lost touch with many of their friends in Pakistan, the source said. In the 1990s, Soofi attended a prestigious private school in Islamabad. … Unlike Simpson, who had been convicted of a terror-related charge, Soofi was relatively unknown to federal investigators, a law enforcement official told CNN.
It seems that Soofi and Simpson were in Texas (they were roommates in Arizona) that day to protect the prophet Muhammad from the entrants in the cartoon contest who depicted Muhammad in visual images. The Qur’an contains no proscriptions of a visual image of the messenger; but there are hadiths (sayings of key Muslim scholars) which explicitly prohibit Muslims from creating visual depictions of their messenger.1 Anyone who depicts an image of the Muslim messenger is deemed to have committed a sacriledge worthy of death. In defense of the event, organizer Pam Geller is reported to have stated at the event:
“Enough is enough,” she explained. “They’re just cartoons. We’re holding this exhibit and cartoon contest to show how insane the world has become — with people in the free world tiptoeing in terror around supremacist thugs who actually commit murder over cartoons. If we can’t stand up for the freedom of speech, we will lose it — and with it, free society.”
The two radicals don’t fit the profile. They were not violent, angry, Muslims. They were not radicalized as recent converts. Both had been Muslims for years. So how do we explain their actions? One of them, Simpson, a peaceful, respectful man. The other, Soofi, a loving father. There is but one explanation for their actions: they followed the Qur’an and the hadith, the sacred writings of the “religion of peace.”
Islam is not a religion of peace. In fact, it is the cloak under which the antichrist covers in the end-of-days. The problem is that many of it’s own adherents do not see satan’s plan, much less the society so intent on protecting Islam. There may be many Muslims who are people of peace; but the Qur’an, the book upon which Islam is founded is not.
Jesus come quickly.
Blessings.
Jack
- Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith: 7.834, 7.838, 7.840, 7.844, 7.846 [↩]
Amen to that.