If Bukhari knew his views, why didn’t he go to police long ago? From the Globe and Mail, with thanks to Sr. Soph:
TORONTO “” The oldest member of the group accused of hatching a foiled terrorist bomb plot on Toronto used a Mississauga strip-mall mosque to draw young and impressionable Muslim minds to an extreme version of Islam, says one of Mississauga’s prominent Islamic figures.
Qayyum Abdul Jamal, 43, was merely a volunteer at the Al-Rahman Islamic Centre for Islamic Education, occasionally cleaning and running errands, said Fahim Bukhari, the director of the Mississauga Muslim Community Centre.
The mosque’s management, however, was warned about Mr. Jamal by numerous people, including the local Liberal MP, said Mr. Bukhari, who often prayed at the mosque because it was founded by his uncle.
“He spends too much time with the youth. He’s 43 years old and he goes bowling with them. He goes to barbecues. He plays soccer with them,” said Mr. Bukhari, adding that five of the young men arrested on Friday were regulars at the mosque. “I’m not surprised by the raids. I knew his views.”
It’s a similar picture to the one painted by Mr. Jamal’s neighbours, who grew suspicious of the man and his family….
Mr. Jamal rarely smiled, they say, and his wife, Cheryfa Macaulay Jamal, 44, wasn’t much of a talker, either.
At first, the neighbours wondered whether their silence stemmed from a devotion to their faith; Mrs. Jamal, a white-skinned woman who neighbours believe is originally from Halifax, always wears a burka; Mr. Jamal usually wears a traditional Muslim cap. On their front door, there are three stickers, two with Arabic writing, the other in English. It states: “In the name of Allah we enter, and in the name of Allah we leave and upon our Lord we place our trust.”
As years passed, the neighbours said, they realized the Jamals’ behaviour could not be explained by religion. There are lots of Muslims in Mississauga, but not many like the Jamals.
“One thing I can tell you for sure — this guy was weird,” said Jerry Tavares, a neighbour. “There was one time I said, ‘Hi,’ and he just looked at me. That was it.”
Maybe it’s because you’re an infidel, Jerry.