North Dakota officials: Muslim shooter was not motivated by religion, but feds had report about him

SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2023/07/north-dakota-officials-muslim-shooter-was-not-motivated

BY ROBERT SPENCER

SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2023/07/fargo-muslim-community-refuses-to-bury-muslim-who-killed-cop-says-nobody-knew-him;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

The fact that the Muslims in Fargo refused to bury Mohamad Barakat is not the unalloyed good news that it likely appears to be to those who deplore “Islamophobia.” The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) was similarly celebrated and gained worldwide headlines — and praise — for its announcement in 2017 that 130 imams in the United Kingdom were refusing to perform funeral prayers for the London jihad mass murderers.

Now, maybe both the Fargo Muslims and the MCB had the best of intentions, but the fact is that the prophet of Islam, Muhammad himself, is depicted in hadiths as forbidding funeral prayers for martyrs. Islamic law forbids such prayers as well. Withholding funeral prayers is actually an honor that is reserved for those who die while committing jihad. In one hadith, Muhammad ordered two martyrs to be “buried with their blood (on their bodies). Neither was the funeral prayer offered for them nor were they washed.” One of the martyrs’ sons recalled: “When my father was martyred, I started weeping and uncovering his face. The companions of the Prophet stopped me from doing so but the Prophet did not stop me. Then the Prophet said, ‘(O Jabir), don’t weep over him, for the angels kept on covering him with their wings till his body was carried away (for burial)'” (Bukhari 5.59.406).

The Qur’an says that those who have been killed while fighting for Allah are not dead, but alive: “Do not think of those who are killed in the way of Allah as dead. No, they are living. With their Lord they have provision.” (3:169)

Based on the hadith in which Muhammad orders the bodies of the martyrs not to be washed and funeral prayers not to be said over them, as well as others like it, Islamic law states that it is “unlawful to wash the body of a martyr … or perform the funeral prayer over him.…[A] martyr (shahid) means someone who died in battle with non-Muslims.” (Reliance of the Traveller, G4.20)

Meanwhile, the Muslims at the local mosque say they never saw Barakat, and nobody knows him. This may be true, but we have seen deception from mosques that jihadis attended before. After a Muslim who supported the Islamic State shot a police officer in Philadelphia, the local mosque leaders initially denied knowing him, but then it turned out they were lying, and the jihadi attended the mosque frequently. The same thing happened after jihadis attacked our free speech event in Garland, Texas: the mosque they attended in Phoenix denied knowing them, but it turned out they were regular members.

Also, the fact that Barakat didn’t frequent the local mosque, if true, establishes precisely nothing. The Express reported in January 2016 that an Islamic State manual, “Safety and Security Guidelines for Lone Wolf Mujahideen,” told jihadis: “You should make sure to not look particularly attached to religion. A man who works on a secret operation should meddle [sic] in the general population. If you can avoid having a beard, wearing qamis, using miswak and having a booklet of dhikr with you, it’s better. Also. you shouldn’t be going too often to places like mosques, Islamic institutes or Islamic libraries. You should also wear western-style clothes as to appear neutral and not draw attention to yourself.”

Was Mohamad Barakat engaged in that kind of deceptive operation? Maybe, maybe not. But is the clueless and corrupt FBI even pursuing that as a possibility to be investigated, or would that be “Islamophobic”?

“Local Muslims condemn ‘evil’ gunman, refuse to help bury him,” by C.S. Hagen, InForum, July 20, 2023:

FARGO — In a show of solidarity with the Fargo Police Department, a group of about 10 Muslim refugees and immigrant leaders placed flowers at the memorial for slain officer Jake Wallin on 25th Street South this week.

Along with bringing Somali food to Fargo police headquarters on Thursday, July 20, the gestures were to show respect for law enforcement, but also to condemn the attack by gunman Mohamad Barakat who killed Wallin, seriously wounded two other officers and injured a bystander.

The Forum spoke with more than a dozen members of the local Muslim community who all said they did not know 37-year-old Barakat.

Despite his first name, which is common among Muslims, area leaders in the Islamic faith rejected any affiliation with Barakat, who they said did not attend the Fargo mosque or the one in Moorhead.

In fact, a family member’s request made to local mosque leaders to handle Barakat’s funeral arrangements has been refused, said Sajid Ghauri, an adviser to the Moorhead mosque, known as the Moorhead Fargo Islamic Center.

“We have no clue whether he was even Muslim because his action doesn’t show that. So with that being said … we refused to do a funeral or burial in this area,” Ghauri said. “Even if he’s a member, he can’t mess with our community like that.”

On July 14, Barakat armed himself with a homemade grenade, gasoline, explosives, a .223 caliber long rifle, 1,800 rounds of ammunition, four other handguns and additional rifles, a tactical vest and double-stacked, large-capacity magazines, North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley said during a press conference on Wednesday, July 19.

Stopping short of calling the shooting an act of terrorism, Wrigley said Fargo Police Officer Zachary Robinson was the “last man standing for what was coming next and what this assailant was armed for.”

Mayor Tim Mahoney agreed with Wrigley during the press conference saying Barakat’s attack was not finished.

“It is clear to us our officers were ambushed in this attack. Had Zach not neutralized the shooter we would have many more casualties. He was planning on war and mayhem in our community,” Mahoney said.

Ahmed Makaran, executive director of ESHARA, or the Ethnic Self Help Alliance for Refugee Assistance, came to the makeshift memorial for Wallin on Tuesday. Makaran has been meeting with city leaders and the Fargo Police Department to offer help in any way he can, he said.

No one in the local Muslim community knew Barakat, or had even heard his name, Makaran said.

“We have a lot of Mohamads and Ahmeds here, but we have not even seen his picture. And that is an unknown fear. People see the name and think it is like every other Muslim. But with good communication we can make this unknown fear go away,” Makaran said.

Other Muslim leaders said connecting Barakat’s name to the religion of Islam makes as much sense as linking the name John to Christianity.

Ghauri said he talked to about 50 Muslim people in the area and so far has not found anyone who knew Barakat.

“You cannot attach this to any religion. That person has what looks like a Muslim name, but his actions were not Muslim,” Ghauri said….

“Islam is a peaceful religion that condemns the use of violence against innocents, including police officers, firefighters and other first responders performing their duties. Further, it is the civic and religious duty of Muslims to cooperate with law enforcement and protect the lives of all civilians,” Ghauri said….

Adde and others are concerned about how the wider Fargo-Moorhead community will react to Friday’s violence.

Already, a newly-placed poster found Monday along 10th Street South advertised the Patriot Front, saying “Reclaim America.”

High up on a wall behind the stage in Broadway Square a similar message was also spray painted.

The Patriot Front is a white nationalist hate group that formed after the deadly “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil rights nonprofit that tracks hate groups.

In 2022, there were at least three instances of vandalism with the words Patriot Front on businesses and tunnels in the Fargo-Moorhead area….