Robert Spencer: Man Bites Dog: Muslims Turn In Jihadi

WKBW reported last Monday that a Muslim in Lackawanna, New York named Arafat Nagi “pleaded guilty today in federal court to a charge of attempting to provide material support and resources to a foreign terrorist organization. In his plea, Nagi admitted he tried to support ISIL by personally traveling to Turkey in an effort to enter Syria and fight on behalf ISIS.” And the big news was that a Muslim had ratted him out: “Officials handling his case stated on August 28th, 2014, a community member told the FBI that Nagi talked about violent jihad to many people in the Lackawanna community and ‘it was common for Nagi to get into verbal complaints over his jihadi beliefs.’”

In a similar vein, the Buffalo News informs us that “the case against Arafat M. Nagi began more than three years ago, fueled by a tip from a community member upset about Nagi’s vocal support for violent jihad.”

So is the Muslim community in Lackawanna, New York “moderate,” patriotic and determined to cooperate with law enforcement officials to root all the jihadis and jihad sympathizers from its ranks?

That cannot be concluded from the case of Arafat Nagi. This was a man who made his determination to commit jihad violence so obvious that Muslim community members had no choice but to act. WKBW continues: “The FBI’s further investigation uncovered Nagi pledged allegiance ro [sic] ISIS and group leader Abu Bakr al Bagdadi. Investigators say he traveled to Turkey on twice — in October 2012 and July 2014 — with the intent to meet ISIS members. Before traveling to Turkey, he bought ‘a large number of military combat items, including a tactical vest, army combat shirt, body armor, Shahada Flag, combat boots, backpack, burn kit, a hunting knife, machete and night vision goggles.’ Once in Turkey, he purchased a SIM card, activated a Turkish cell phone number, and Facebook-messaged other people who were prepared to help Nagi enter Syria to join ISIS.”

It gets worse: “The FBI raided his Lackawanna home back in 2015. The investigation into Nagi’s alleged involvement with ISIL was long and methodical and lasted several months. It began when the FBI says a grand jury subpoena connected a Yahoo e-mail account to the Lackawanna address. Nagi returned to the U.S. in September after being overseas for two months, and the FBI says his phone number was the same as the phone number used for the Yahoo account.”

And worse still, aside from all his jihad plotting, Nagi was (in accord with the Qur’an’s command to beat disobedient women) violent toward his daughter. “Lackawanna Police arrested Nagi in July 2013, on charges he threatened to kill his daughter. Police say a witness was with Nagi’s daughter when Nagi pulled up next to them and displayed a large knife. Nagi’s daughter ran inside her home and called 911. The witness told police Nagi stated he was going to shoot and behead his daughter. Nagi was charged, but it’s unclear what became of those charges.”

What indeed?

We hear a great deal about how the Muslim community in the U.S. rejects and abhors jihad violence, yet the Hamas-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the most influential Muslim group in the U.S., routinely distributes fliers telling Muslims not to cooperate with law enforcement.

Only rarely do we hear about Muslims informing law enforcement about jihadis such as Arafat Nagi, and Nagi was making his jihad sentiments so blazingly obvious that he forced their hand: if they hadn’t informed on him, it would have cast suspicion on a larger segment of the community, since he was apparently telling anyone who would listen to him about how he was going to wage jihad against the Infidels.

Oh, and why wasn’t he under constant or at least regular surveillance after threatening to kill his daughter? Isn’t that a matter of concern to law enforcement? If law enforcement officials were allowed to study Islam as the motivating ideology of jihad terrorism, they might have surmised that his willingness to kill his daughter was a manifestation of adherence to Islam that could also suggest involvement in jihad activity. In that case, they might have caught him much sooner, even without the community’s whistle-blowing.

But of course, to draw such conclusions would have been “Islamophobic.” And so it goes, in our republic of willful ignorance.

Robert Spencer is the director of Jihad Watch and author of the New York Times bestsellers The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades) and The Truth About Muhammad. His new book is Confessions of an Islamophobe. Follow him on Twitter here. Like him on Facebook here.