ISIA: Isis In America

[Lenno]

North Carolina Muslim charged with threatening non-Muslims, had AK-47 and ammo

February 21, 2017 3:14 pm By Robert Spencer 14 Comments
“Don’t go to Cary tomorrow….For too long the kuffar [non-Muslims] have spit in our faces and trampled our rights. This cannot continue. I cannot speak of anything. Say your dua [prayers], sleep, and watch the news tomorrow. It will only be the beginning.”
For Garrett Grimsley, it looks more like the end, at least for now. But the key question is this: where did this apparent convert to Islam learn his understanding of Islam? Who taught him? Or are authorities, as also, content to wave away that uncomfortable question with the claim that he was “radicalized on the Internet”?

“Cary man accused of threatening non-Muslims, WTVD, February 21, 2017:

CARY, North Carolina (WTVD) — United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina said Tuesday it has charged a Cary, North Carolina man with communicating threats against non-Muslims.
Garrett Grimsley, 27, went before a federal magistrate Tuesday morning in Raleigh.
According to the affidavit filed with the criminal complaint, Grimsley posted an online public message earlier this month stating “don’t go to Cary tomorrow.”
In a private message to a witness, Grimsley allegedly wrote: “For too long the kuffar [non-Muslims] have spit in our faces and trampled our rights. This cannot continue. I cannot speak of anything. Say your dua [prayers], sleep, and watch the news tomorrow. It will only be the beginning . . .”
A search of Grimsley’s apartment by the FBI, SBI, and the Cary Police Department revealed an AK-47 assault rifle, four 30-round magazines, and approximately 340 rounds of 7.62 millimeter ammunition….

[Lenno]

Michigan: Mega-mosque being forced on Christian refugee community

February 21, 2017 2:42 pm By Robert Spencer 11 Comments
“Too much traffic, too little parking, the city planning commission decided by a 9-0 vote against the mosque in September 2015. But in December, the mosque sued the city and the Obama Justice Department joined in, claiming the real reason the mosque was denied was because the city was caving to anti-Muslim bigotry in the community. Now, a settlement deal is headed to the Sterling Heights City Council on Tuesday evening. If the council votes to sign the deal, it could be very costly for the city.”
Attorney General Sessions should put a stop to this. The Obama DoJ used its might to crush local opposition to mosques, even when the objections were based on legitimate concerns regarding zoning and other matters. And of course all discussion of Muslim Brotherhood ties and the jihad threat was ruled “Islamophobic.” Sessions needs to stop the persecution of the people in Sterling Heights and elsewhere who don’t want to see a mega-mosque transform their communities.

“Mega-mosque being forced on Christian refugee community,” by Leo Hohmann, WND, February 21, 2017:

A city of 130,000 people in southeastern Michigan is under the gun of Islamic pressure following its denial of a mega-mosque in a residential neighborhood populated largely by Christian refugees who fled Islamic persecution in Iraq.
Sterling Heights already has two mosques, but a third, the American Islamic Community Center, applied for a permit and was rejected after it was determined its proposed use was incompatible with the residential area. Too much traffic, too little parking, the city planning commission decided by a 9-0 vote against the mosque in September 2015.
But in December, the mosque sued the city and the Obama Justice Department joined in, claiming the real reason the mosque was denied was because the city was caving to anti-Muslim bigotry in the community. Now, a settlement deal is headed to the Sterling Heights City Council on Tuesday evening. If the council votes to sign the deal, it could be very costly for the city.
Local residents fear it’s a bad deal, something similar to the Obama DOJ-orchestrated deal forced upon nearby Pittsfield Township, Michigan, last year. That town had to pay out $1.7 million to local Muslims to whom it had denied a permit for an Islamic school, and township employees were ordered to undergo sensitivity training to assure they never again discriminate against Muslims.
Sessions to the rescue?
Attorney General Jeff Sessions could cancel any similar deal from taking effect in Sterling Heights, but only if he is aware of it and acts quickly.
“If the city council is found to be cooperating with the Obama DOJ staff who are expediting this consent order to stick it to the Sessions/Trump team, then this city will go nuts,” said Dick Manaserri, spokesman for Secure Michigan, a group formed to educate the public on Shariah law and how it differs from American law.
In last November’s presidential election, Donald Trump carried Sterling Heights, normally a Democratic Party stronghold, by 56 to 44 percent over Hillary Clinton. He also carried Macomb County, home to Sterling Heights and also a Democratic-oriented county.
But Trump’s new AG, Sessions, is apparently not yet fully in control of the Justice Department, which includes many holdovers from the Obama administration.
“Why else would Jeff Sessions not dismiss the Obama DOJ lawsuit against Sterling Heights?” Manaserri asks. “We have been told by legal experts that he has the power to simply dismiss the lawsuit. A consent order typically implies wrongdoing with the application of penalties.”
When the planning commission denied the mosque permit in September 2015, hundreds of Sterling Heights residents gathered outside City Hall to celebrate. That celebration was caught on video, and critics cited it as evidence the city was somehow biased against Muslims.
Tom Mitchell is a resident of Sterling Heights whose family has been there since 1965. He’s seen the city’s transformation over the past couple of decades under the control of what he calls “progressives.” He avoids the world “Democrat” because the city’s elections are technically nonpartisan.
“I feel that with the left taking over, they are destroying this community. I don’t want to become another Dearborn or a Hamtramck. And our elected officials are enabling this takeover,” he said.
Hamtramck, just a few miles south of Sterling Heights, became the nation’s first city with a Muslim-majority city council in 2016, and a large portion of Dearborn resembles a Middle Eastern country with signs in Arabic and women walking the streets with their faces veiled.
He said it’s not a matter of discrimination. Churches have been denied building projects in the past because their sites were too close to residential housing. They didn’t get the federal government to sue the city; they simply picked another site.
“I truly believe this one man, Mr. Sessions, has the power to throw out any consent decree that was engineered by Obama’s Department of Justice. That is our hope,” Mitchell said. “In fact, I know of hundreds of us who are praying for that opportunity to get it in Jeff Sessions’ hands, before Tuesday night, because once it’s signed, how do you overturn that? Signing it is tantamount to a consent that we’re a bunch of bigots here in Sterling Heights.”…

[Lenno]

222017Parents ignored and ridiculed for speaking out against New Jersey Middle School that is proselytizing for Islam in the classroom

Chatham Middle School in New Jersey has no problem teaching 7th grade students that “Allah is the creator of everything, the ‘only’ true God” as well as the tenets of Islam, using videos to explain the Five Pillars of Islam, Muslim prayer rituals and revisionist history, while forbidding any mention of the Bible in class.

Daily Wire One of them, Nancy Gayer, voiced displeasure that her son’s fourth grade PowerPoint presentation from years ago was shut down because it briefly cited a line from the Bible in advertising for his efforts to gather gloves and hats for poor children.

The line was “Caring for the poor is lending to the Lord, and you will be well repaid.” Gayer said that the teacher told her son that it “belongs in Sunday school, not in the classroom.”

Gayer then took the matter to the school district, but the superintendent told her that the teacher’s actions were correct due to the district’s policy of prohibiting “proselytizing” in the classroom. However, the students in a 7th Grade Social Studies class were shown a 20-page Powerpoint presentation and several videos about Islam (below) — but were not taught about any other religion.


Another mother, Libby Hilsenrath, echoed Gayers’ sentiments, pointing out that the seventh grade class went into detail about the various aspects of Islam, but did not teach Judaism and Christianity.

She also brought forth further course material that could be seen as proselytizing for Islam, which included a video providing an introduction to Islam that quoted excerpts from the quran.

However, the superintendent, Michael LaSusa, refused to eliminate the course because “it is part of the New Jersey curriculum core content standards to teach students about the various religions of the world.” He also refused to meet with Gayers and Hilsenrath. Both have since been smeared as “Islamophobic” by various people in the area.

“We were labeled as bigots immediately following the Board of Ed meeting in an op-ed,” and then all over Facebook with people who knew us or didn’t know us. Xenophobic, Islamophobe, I mean it went as far as the KKK, which I don’t know what that has to do with this.”

Below videos go into great detail about Islam using cartoon figures.

“Unfortunately I was stared down at a grocery store too,” Gayers added, “and I believe I was in the express line with just 10 items but yet I was still stared down. It was pretty unnerving.”

The op-ed that Hilsenrath referenced was a letter to the editor on Tap Into Chatham by resident Susan O’Brien, who called Gayers and Hilsenrath’s concerns as “at worst veiled bigotry and at best sad and ignorant.”

“I believe that ignorance breads fear and fear breeds hatred; the more we understand about other cultures and religions the better we are equipped to deal with the issues we face in today’s world,” O’Brien wrote.

O’Brien did not attend the Board of Education meeting and nowhere in her letter did she address the glaring inconsistency of the district’s religion in the classroom policy.

Tucker Carlson (below) interviewed the two mothers. Too bad he doesn’t mention that proselytizing for Islam in public schools is part of Common Core, funded by the nation of Qatar.

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MORE HERE: Islam in public schools

TO PARENTS reading this, find out if your children are being indoctrinated with Islam in their primary/middle schools and do something about it. School boards have been forced (by parents) to get rid of history books and courses that promote Islam with barely a mention of other religions.

[Lenno]

Muslims at University of Texas Arlington: “Stuff Jews in the oven”

February 22, 20173:35 pm By Christine Williams 11 Comments
Muslim students mocking the Holocaust, inciting violence against Jews, delegitimizing the existence of Israel, and pushing a false Palestinian and “Islamophobia” victimhood narrative has become commonplace. The media is trying desperately to portray President Trump as responsible for antisemitism in the U.S.; in reality, they should be looking at Students for Justice in Palestine and its allied groups.
And now this hatred has even entered schools for the youngest children. Nancy Salem, who is quoted in the article below, taught at The Children’s Courtyard in South Arlington, Texas. Salem was also “a member of the UTA chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine and a supporter of the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement,” and “used her now-disabled Twitter account to post such remarks as: ‘How many Jews died in the Holocaust? Not enough…HAHAHAHA.'”
Salem was suspended from her teaching job; but she should be fired and charged with a hate crime, as should have been the case with a Toronto-area school teacher, as reported by Jihad Watch….

A Toronto-area schoolteacher who called a jihadist who crushed the skull of a four-year-old Israeli girl a hero and martyr is back in the classroom, after receiving a mere rap on the knuckles for her abhorrently violent Facebook postings. A spokesperson for the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School said that Nadia Shoufani returned to work at St. Catherine of Siena Separate School before Christmas. She was not charged with a hate crime, according to the announcement, and she is being entrusted with the well-being of children. Why should any Canadian child have to sit in a classroom led by a murder-minded, hate-filled teacher? The school administration should be prioritizing the well-being of the children.

“‘Stuff Jews in the Oven’ Among Antisemitic Social Media Posts Flooding Pages of University of Texas-Arlington Students, Covert Campus Watchdog Finds”, by Lea Spyer, Algemeiner, February 15, 2017:

“Jews only live once” and “stuff Jews in the oven” are among the offensive comments flooding the social media pages of current and former students at the University of Texas, Arlington (UTA), a dossier recently released by a covert campus watchdog group revealed.
According to the document, compiled by Canary Mission – which anonymously monitors anti-American, anti-Israel and antisemitic activity on US college campuses — 24 UTA students and graduates have likened Israel to Nazi Germany, called for violence against Jews and both denied and championed the Holocaust in Facebook and Twitter posts.
Majority of the posts come from former and current students affiliated with the school’s chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Muslim Student Association (MSA).
In 2014, UTA student Mariam Ghanem — an SJP activist and member of MSA — compared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Hitler, and tweeted a cartoon equating Nazi soldiers and IDF officers.
In 2013, Ismail Said Aboukar — a member of UTA’s SJP and MSA and a proponent of the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement — referred to the Nazi genocide of the Jews as “#LiesToldInSchool.”
Aboukar also said the “world would be sooo much better without jews man [sic].”
Nancy Salem — a student activist with UTA’s SJP and a supporter of BDS — retweeted a riddle asking: “How many Jews died in the Holocaust?” The answer: “Not enough, HAHAHAHA.” And another: “How was the copper wire invented?” Answer: “They threw a penny between two Jews.”
The postings uncovered by Canary Mission represent just a “fraction of the hatred and intolerance that SJP and its members harbor on campuses across North America,” the group said, and pointed out that of the 24 students whose online rhetoric is blatantly antisemitic, 19 are affiliated with SJP and 12 with MSA.
As The Algemeiner reported in October, a study released at Brandeis — called “Hotspots of Antisemitism and Anti-Israel Sentiment on US Campuses” — showed that “one of the strongest predictors of perceiving a hostile climate towards Israel and Jews is the presence of an active Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) group on campus.”
Following the publication of this article, a UTA spokesman told The Algemeiner, “As one of the most diverse campuses in the nation, inclusion and respect are at the very core of the values of UTA. UTA condemns statements of hate while acknowledging the principles of free speech and open expression. We welcome and encourage the sharing of ideas, thoughts and opinions, but we also expect respect and civility from students, faculty and staff.”…….

[Lenno]

Robert Reich Blames Trump for Muslim Sweden Riots

February 22, 2017
Daniel Greenfield
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These aren't alternative facts. This is alternative logic.

Trump's lies have consequences. 48 hrs after his comments on Sweden, riots broke out in an immigrant community. https://t.co/1k2BOl2jdw
— Robert Reich (@RBReich) February 21, 2017

Trump referenced Muslim migrant violence in Sweden. Then Muslim violence was reported on in Sweden. Despite the media's attitude, this was not some sort of new event. This Muslim no-go zone had seen even worse Muslim violence and disorder than this in the past.
So what exactly is Robert Reich, Bill Clinton's former Labor Secretary who got paid $235,791 a year from a public university at UC-Berkeley to teach a course on “Wealth and Poverty”, contending?



That Trump somehow caused the riots, even though no one is seriously claiming that they had anything to do with him? After calling Trump's comments a lie, Reich blames him for the truth of what actually happened.
But Reich some time ago descended into conspiracy theories and the bizarre realms of alternative logic. A former cabinet member insists on Twitter that Trump won't last a full term and is mentally ill. This might be a classic case of projection.
The left doesn't want to deal with the truth and it seeks out people who will pander to its delusions. It's easier not to deal with Muslim violence. And to shoot the messenger.

[Lenno]

Muslim Leader Says Only Beat Your Wife if Flowers Don't Work

February 23, 2017
Daniel Greenfield


The Muslim version of Valentine's Day is just much more unpleasant.

Muslim community leader Keysar Trad says an angry husband can beat his wife as 'a last resort'.
The president of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils made the remarks after Sky News presenter Andrew Bolt quoted a verse from the Koran, saying: 'It is permissible for him [the husband] to beat her [the wife] light with his hands.'
The controversial Muslim leader, who has previously called for polygamy in Australia, said he had studied the text with 'a number of Islamic scholars' to reach a conclusion about the meaning of the verse.

Trad suggested counseling and chocolates and flowers first. Before the beating.
That comes from the President of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils who is still apparently seeking Wife No. 2.

WHEN his wife was away in Lebanon for several months with their six children, Keysar Trad was lonely and considered taking a second wife.

Well obviously. Sadly the search doesn't seem to be going so well.

From emotional 'love poetry' to brutal instant messages - a Muslim leader has opened up about the 'heartbreak' he has felt in his search for a second wife.
But the prominent Islamic community spokesman has been left crushed by two women who he courted - but eventually rejected him.
'You wouldn't believe how heartbreaking it is,' he said. 'It’s always very very devastating.'

The whole thing is probably a little more heartbreaking for Wife No. 1.

'It's like they've beaten me to a pulp, every single one of them,' Mr Trad said.

You can't blame them. They did it before he could do it to them.

[Lenno]

THAT LONG? Supremacist headbag-wearing Muslim White House/National Security Council employee out after 8 days

In 2011, I was hired, straight out of college, to work at the Obama White House and eventually the National Security Council. I am a headbag-wearing Muslim woman––I was the only headbagette in the West Wing––and the Obama administration always made me feel welcome and included.

The Atlantic I spent much of 2016 watching with consternation as Donald Trump vilified our community. Despite this––or because of it––I thought I should try to stay on the NSC staff during the Trump Administration, in order to give the new president and his aides a more nuanced view of Islam, and of America’s Muslims.

I lasted eight days.

When Trump issued a ban on travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries and all Syrian refugees, I knew I could no longer stay and work for an administration that saw me and people like me not as fellow citizens, but as a threat.

I notified Trump’s senior NSC communications advisor, Michael Anton, of my departure, since we shared an office. His initial surprise, asking whether I was leaving government entirely, was followed by silence––almost in caution, not asking why. I told him anyway.

I told him I had to leave because it was an insult walking into this country’s most historic building every day under an administration that is working against and vilifying everything I stand for as a Muslim. I told him that the administration was attacking the basic tenets of democracy Islam. I told him that I hoped that they and those in Congress were prepared to take responsibility for all the consequences that would attend their decisions.

He looked at me and said nothing. (Trying hard not to look happy)

It was only later that I learned he authored an essay under a pseudonym, extolling the virtues of authoritarianism and attacking diversity as a “weakness,” and Islam as “incompatible with the modern West.”

When evangelist Franklin Graham declared that the government had “been infiltrated by Muslims,” one of my colleagues sought me out with a smile on his face and said, “If only he knew they were in the halls of the West Wing and briefed the president of the United States multiple times!”

Read the many pages of this pathetic Victimhood drivel HERE

[Lenno]

Virginia: Sudanese Muslim migrant wanted to start sleeper cell for the Islamic State

February 23, 2017 6:12 pm By Robert Spencer 3 Comments
Sudan was one of the seven countries on Trump’s ban list. But no, it is very very important that the U.S. show that it wasn’t “racist” and “Islamophobic” by bringing in Mahmoud Elhassan. Note also that :as soon as he came to the United States” he began looking for fellow jihadis. Impressive vetting process! “Sudanese […]


Muslim House Democrat IT staffers owed $100,000 to Hizballah-linked fugitive

February 23, 2017 12:04 pm By Robert Spencer 5 Comments
These are the Muslim IT staffers who compromised the computers of the House Intelligence and Foreign Affairs Committee. Who screened these men? Did anyone? Or were they hired because House Democrats wanted to show that they weren’t “Islamophobic”? “House Dem IT Staffers Owed Money To Hezbollah-Connected Fugitive,” by Luke Rosiak, Daily Caller, February 21, 2017: […]

Brookings’ Will McCants thrilled that McMaster in denial about jihadis’ motivating ideology

February 23, 2017 5:49 pm By Robert Spencer 8 Comments
Who is applauding the appointment of H. R. McMaster as national security adviser? Leading the applause are mainstream counterterror analysts whose policy recommendations are based on false premises and have failed time and time again. But even as the world is in flames because of their wrongheadedness, they still keep pushing the same failed analyses […]

[Lenno]

MUSLIM Jihadi Terrorist Attacks in US More Than Double in one year;Tactics & Targeting Expanding.

Intel Center The number of jihadi terrorist attacks in the US is now at the highest it has ever been and is continuing to rise based on attacks tracked in the IntelCenter Database (ICD). The current rate of attack in 2016 is at one attack every 37 days. In 2016 there have been nine attacks as of 28 Nov., which more than doubles the previous record of four attacks in 2015. Seventy-one percent of attacks in the US since 2002 have occurred in the past four years.

Small arms and bladed weapons were the most common tactics, which was driven by a significant increase in inspired attacks. The rise in inspired attacks also resulted in a shift with 62% of attacks occurring in areas not previously thought to be at significant risk from terrorism. Military/Police and recreational sectors were the most frequently targeted with a more detailed breakout putting police personnel, military facilities and civilians the most at risk. New York had the most attacks during the period, however, the attacks were spread out over a total of 14 states.

The dramatic rise of attacks is expected to continue to climb throughout 2017 with both inspired and directed attacks occurring. In the new environment, inspired attacks are expected to remain the greatest in volume with the largest geographical spread with directed attacks being less frequent and favoring high-profile targets in traditional locations such as New York City and Washington, DC. However, it is incorrect to presume that inspired attacks are confined to lower casualty counts. As both the Nice and Orlando attacks in 2016 demonstrated, a well-executed low-tech inspired attack can result in far more casualties than some sophisticated directed attacks.


Bladed weapons, small arms and vehicular assaults are expected to be the most common inspired tactics with VBIEDs and other more sophisticated tactics largely remaining within the toolbox of directed plotters. Police and military personnel are expected to remain the most at risk group for inspired attacks.

An analysis of the 21 attacks that occurred from 2002 to 28 Nov. 2016 revealed the following:

• New York had the greatest number of attacks at 14% (3) with California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio and Texas tied at 9% (2). Arkansas, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Virginia each had 5% (1).

• The most commonly used tactic was Small Arms at 38% ( followed by Bladed Weapons at 24% (5) and IED at 19% (4). Vehicular Assault came in next at 9% (2) followed by Suicide Bombing and VBIED at 5% (1). Bladed Weapons and Vehicular Assault are expected to continue to rise as the fastest growing method of attack based on current US and global trends.

• A total of 86 people were killed and 446 injured. The average number of people killed per attack is four and the average number injured is 22.

• The most targeted sector is Military/Police at 29% (6) followed by Recreation at 19% (4). Aviation, Civilians and Education came in next at 10% (3) with Shopping, Government, Rail, Restuarant and Political all coming in at 5% (1).

• A more granular look at targeting showed that Police Personnel, Military Facilities and Civilians were the most targeted at 14% (3). Sporting Event and Educational Facility came in next at 10% (2) with the remainder of attacks tied at 5% (1) for Civilian Airliner, Airport, Government Facility, Landmark, Large Gathering, Nightclub, Restaurant and Train Station.

• If you look at just 2002 – 2014, only 25% of attacks occurred in areas not previously thought to be at significant risk of terrorism. However, from 2015 – 28 Nov. 2016, the number leaps to 85%. This concerning development represents a significant shift in where terrorist attacks are occurring.

Historically, significant attacks by jihadi groups were almost always focused in high-profile areas. This meant the focus of counterterrorism efforts could be concentrated in major cities where there were typically more resources available. While the threat of attacks in smaller cities and towns, could not be ruled out, there was a much lower risk of such attacks occurring. This is no longer the case. The recent wave of inspired and supported attacks has made a reality what many in counterterrorism feared and talked about for decades.

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[Lenno]

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Army appoints Muslim chaplain to 7th Infantry Division’s 14,000+ mostly Christian troops

February 28, 2017February 28, 2017 / creeping

Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot!
Source: Army places Muslim chaplain in charge of ministering to 14,000 troops | McClatchy DC
In January, Lt. Col. Khallid Shabazz received the call every Army chaplain dreams of, the call that validates years of intense study and hard work toward keeping the U.S. military in good spiritual health.
He was offered the job of chaplain for an entire division, an honor for anyone in his field but a milestone in his case. After a ceremony this summer, Shabazz will become the first Muslim division-level chaplain in the history of the U.S. military – a Muslim spiritual leader for more than 14,000 mostly Christian soldiers.
Shabazz, who’s dedicated his life to working across religious lines, found it hard to keep calm as he received the news at his desk on Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma, Washington.
“I’m on the phone saying, ‘Thank you, I appreciate it. I’ll serve honorably,’ and then I hang up the phone and I’m jumping all around like a little kid,” Shabazz, 48, recalled in interviews in February. “I was running around the office saying, al hamdulillah, al hamdulillah, praise be to God!”
To get a sense of what a long shot this might’ve seemed like to Shabazz, consider the numbers: He’s one of only 10 Muslim chaplains in the entire U.S. military; of the Army’s 1,400 or so chaplains, just five are Muslim.
“When you get the call saying you have been bestowed a division, the news is kind of like, unearthly,” Shabazz said. “The list is so small and it’s such a tough cut.”
With four months until the ceremony that will make him chaplain of the Army’s 7th Infantry Division at Lewis-McChord, Shabazz has plenty of time to think about taking on such a visible role in an age of open anti-Muslim hostility. He’d like to think his transition will be as smooth as those of his Christian peers, but he knows that not everyone will welcome him as warmly as the senior officers who gave him a standing ovation when the news was announced at a meeting on base.
“For me, a regular old guy from Louisiana, I look to the heavens and say, ‘Why me?’ ” Shabazz said. “As the day gets closer, I’m sure I’ll have more anxiety and think about it more. I’m extremely proud to have been on this journey for 20 years and never would’ve imagined that I’d be chosen to be the first.”
“Islamic guy in a leadership position?” he said. “If I think about it too much, it’ll get overwhelming.”
Shabazz came into the world as Michael Barnes, born into a large Lutheran family in Alexandria, Louisiana, about three hours from New Orleans.
Faith was at the center of the household. His mother took the family to church three times a week and recited prayers with her children each night. Shabazz, a lifelong athlete with a 6-foot-5-inch, 255-pound frame, had to study catechism before he could play football and basketball on Saturdays.
Shabazz began studying Islam on his own, determined to correct the lack of knowledge revealed in his debate with the Muslim soldier. He’d work all day and then stay up well past midnight paging through the Bible and the Quran. He described it as going into a “cubbyhole.”
After two years, Michael Barnes, the devout Christian reared in a Louisiana church, decided to convert to Islam, taking the name Khallid Shabazz to complete his transformation. He said that there had been no single tipping point in his thinking, just a deep identification with Islamic tenets, such as the lack of a clerical hierarchy and the emphasis on charity.
“One of my favorite passages in the Quran asks if the man who thinks and the man who does are the same,” Shabazz said. “It’s the thinking component in Islam that really intrigued me. I am in control of my grace, and I don’t have to answer to the imam. I tell my congregation, ‘Listen, you have to do your own research.’ ”
…
“My job is not to convert anybody to Islam. God guides people. My only goal is to have people leave my office stronger than when they came in.”
Sometimes, though, soldiers do convert and turn to Shabazz for guidance as they enter Islam. One of the most unusual conversions came just three months ago, Shabazz said. A master sergeant in the Special Forces – a man who’d come to no Friday prayers or study groups – showed up, crying, to meet with Shabazz. He told the imam he was ready to take shahada, the modest ritual to officially accept Islam.
“He said, ‘I heard you’re a good chaplain. I’ve been thinking about Islam for about three years,’ ” Shabazz recalled. “I took him down to the mosque, he took shahada and I’ve never seen him again.”
Much of Shabazz’s workload involves the rejection of Islam rather than the embrace of it. He writes a newsletter that goes to all the commanders on base and he offers cultural awareness classes in hopes of “getting out ahead,” staving off the anti-Muslim incidents that have made headlines at other bases. He writes memos in support of soldiers seeking halal meals or prayer breaks, hoping to bridge the communication gap with officers that existed when he was a young enlisted Muslim.
…
“Some of the challenges will be really changing perceptions, changing mindsets, showing that I am something other than what they see – the guy on TV, the boogeyman,” Shabazz said. “I have a real opportunity to be an ambassador for the Army and for my religion.”