Dawah is Islamic proselytizing. And while Ahmed said he was “misguided,” he also rejected the authority of the U.S. legal system to determine his guilt or innocence. After all, the fundamental aim of jihadist warfare is to impose Sharia law, one way or another. An update on this story. “Terror suspect gives his own closing argument,” by Bill Rankin for the Atlanta Journal Constitution, June 4:
An Atlanta terrorism defendant used his closing argument Thursday to recite from the Quran and tell a federal judge that using U.S. law to defend himself would put him in rebellion against God.
Syed Haris Ahmed told U.S. District Judge Bill Duffey that by delivering the message of Islam, he hoped “the promise of protection from evil will apply to me.”
Still, Ahmed, 24, tacitly acknowledged a likely guilty verdict against him was on its way, saying, “I may not get a chance at a public hearing for a long time.”
Only once during his rambling address did Ahmed appear to offer an explanation to the charges against him. “I was misguided,” he told Duffey.
The former Georgia Tech student is charged with conspiring to support terrorism in the United States and overseas. If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison.
Ahmed, wearing a white skull cap and black vest, waived a jury trial so he could give his closing argument — a statement of his Islamic belief. During his talk, he nervously clicked a ink pen and, on several occasions, politely asked a court reporter if he was speaking too fast.
Ahmed told Duffey, who listened intently, that the Quran is more authoritative than the Bible and that “Muslims actually are, I believe, closer followers of Jesus than Christians.”…
More information: “Terror suspect quotes Quran in closing argument,” by Greg Bluestein for the Associated Press, June 4:
[…] He said no one harassed him about his beliefs during his 10 years living in Georgia, and said he only wanted to help the public understand his faith.
He spoke of linguistic similarities between Hebrew and Arabic, quoted from the Quran and the Bible, and delved into some of the shared beliefs of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
“The Christians of America, my message is this: We worship the same God,” he said.
How about that, Allah is a Trinity? Seriously, though, that line of discourse comes straight from Qur’an 29:46, which says, “And argue not with the People of the Scripture unless it be in (a way) that is better, save with such of them as do wrong; and say: We believe in that which hath been revealed unto us and revealed unto you; our Allah and your Allah is One, and unto Him we surrender.” In other words, it is a reinforcement of the notion that Jews and Christians “corrupted” a pre-existing Islamic monotheism.
Duffey, who did not issue an immediate ruling, sat motionless with his eyes firmly fixed on Ahmed as he spoke. After the defendant finished, Duffey said Ahmed had veered from a written statement he had submitted and noted the smirk on his face.
But the judge allowed Ahmed to continue, partly to remind him he lives in a “remarkable” country.
“This is not a case about your faith, nor is it a case about my faith,” he said. “This is about your conduct.”
Well, there is the matter of Ahmed’s motive.