They’re just not sure, you see. They have so very many students. But don’t worry: even if Abdulmutallab did attend a class or two there, they teach about “reclaiming Islam from jihadists, focusing specifically on the issue of preventing terrorism.” So he could not, repeat, could not, have learned his jihadism in Houston. Got that?
If that is so, then Shaykh Waleed Basyouni should have no problem releasing his books and curricula for public inspection…right?
“Houston school checking possible link to terror suspect,” by Susan Carroll and Mary Flood for the Houston Chronicle, December 29 (thanks to Weasel Zippers):
A leader of a Houston Islamic educational institution said Tuesday that the organization is investigating a report that the Nigerian man accused of trying to bomb an airliner on Christmas Day attended classes here last year.
Shaykh Waleed Basyouni, vice president for the AlMaghrib Institute in Houston and imam of the Clear Lake Islamic Center, said he has asked staffers to look into a report that 23-year-old Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab had attended classes in Houston during a trip to the U.S….
A Houston FBI spokeswoman had no comment on whether the suspect may have attended an Islamic class in Houston in 2008.
As word spread that Abdulmutallab might have attended the institute, Basyouni asked for patience as members of the staff comb through class rolls, saying “we have a very, very large student body.”
And apparently no computers.
The international institute is a nonprofit that teaches Islamic studies. It has a student body totaling more than 20,000, Basyouni said, and conducts seminars in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom.
Many classes are held over double weekends, which could account for a stay in Houston of two weeks in August 2008….
Basyouni said the institute teaches students to protect and care for their countries, and to “be a good citizen.” He said he recently lectured on reclaiming Islam from jihadists, focusing specifically on the issue of preventing terrorism.
“It’s just sad to see people so radicalized to that extent,” he said….
Yes, so very sad, Basyouni!