Evidently he was not a convert to Islam, but was a lifelong — and observant — Muslim. “At least 12 killed in shooting at Fort Hood, Tex.,” by William Branigin and Carrie Johnson for the Washington Post, November 5 (thanks to Peter Collier):
[…] Hasan was a psychiatrist, according to acquaintances of his in Washington, and a Pentagon source said he was recently reassigned from Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington to work with soldiers at Darnall Army Medical Center at Fort Hood.
Hasan was a U.S. citizen, according to Virginia voting records, and his parents are Palestinians from the West Bank, according to his aunt, Noel Hasan of Falls Church. He was born at Arlington Hospital Center.
Hasan, 39, had lived in Montgomery County, Md., and Arlington, Va., in addition to Roanoke and nearby Vinton, Va. He graduated from Virginia Tech and earned his medical degree at Bethesda’s Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, records show.
Hasan attended the Muslim Community Center in Silver Spring and was “very devout,” according to Faizul Khan, a former imam at the center. Khan said Hasan attended prayers at least once a day, seven days a week, often in his Army fatigues.
Khan also said Hasan applied to an annual matrimonial seminar that matches Muslims looking for spouses. “I don’t think he ever had a match, because he had too many conditions,” Khan said.
“We never got into details of worldly affairs or politics,” the former imam said of his conversations with Hasan. “Mostly religious questions. But there was nothing extremist in his questions. He never showed any frustration. . . . He never showed any . . . wish for vengeance on anybody.”
However, a fellow Army officer who worked with Hasan told Fox News Channel that Hasan had expressed strong opposition to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“He would make comments to other individuals about how we should not be in the war in the first place,” Col. Terry Lee told the network. “He made those comments, and he stuck strongly to his faith, but as soldiers we have a duty to follow orders from our commander in chief, and our political views are set aside.”