FBI Kills Muslim Imam–What Really Happened?

By Imam Abdullah El-Amin, Muslim Media News Service (MMNS)

The recent killing of Imam Luqman Abdullah in an ambush by the FBI is rife with controversy in varying reports by the FBI, U.S. Attorney’s office, eyewitnesses, and the people who knew the imam personally.  The reports do have one thing in common though.  No one found or acknowledged any evidence of a terrorist threat or any planning to take over the U. S. Government by Imam Luqman or his followers.

Imam Luqman’s murder comes on the heels of a 3 year investigation that used FBI-planted provocateurs using electronic wiretaps to secretly tape conversations and take pictures of what they say were “suspected Terrorists.”

Imam Luqman Abdullah was known by the general community as a very generous, kind, and amicable person.  The Masjid Al Haqq, under his leadership, sponsored a soup kitchen and other charitable acts operating out of an area in one of the most impoverished areas in Detroit.  The majority of the people in the neighborhood are either unemployed or in a low-paying job that is incapable of providing a decent living environment.  Still his community tried as best they could to live and fulfill their Islamic duty to provide for those less fortunate than they.

The FBI knew the economic situation of the followers.  They knew these brothers were unsophisticated, uneducated, and emotional.  This three year investigation is summarized by a 45 page complaint using statements gathered by three Federal informants.  It is ironic that during this investigation there is a lot of emphasis on a used truck that the FBI informant says the imam tried to seduce him to get a false vehicle Pin Number for.  The rest of the “so-called “stolen goods were actually supplied by the FBI; including pay-off money.  These goods included supposed stolen furs, stolen lap-top computers and stolen firearms.  None of these items were actually stolen.  They were supplied by the FBI.  So you can imagine a scenario where a person goes from allegedly trying to steal a used truck to handling large shipments of furs and pallets of laptop computers, when in actuality these people had no capacity to operate or run such an operation.  The masjid these brothers attended did not even have running water or heat for an entire winter.  With such a meager existence, they couldn’t even take over their block – much less the U.S. Government.

I am not saying this to denigrate the brothers of Masjid Al Haqq.  I’m saying this to paint the picture of what appears to be intentional entrapment and excessive overkill.  Whatever the purpose of the FBI going to these extremes to kill Imam Luqman, whether it  was to further discredit Islam or trying to put more emphasis on African American Muslims because since 9/11, most of the spotlight was on Arabic and Asian Muslims and now the campaign has spread wider.

It is also ironic the way the imam was killed.  The imam and four other brothers were ordered to lie on the ground and be still.  The other four men did as they were told and laid down.  Imam Luqman did not.  He just stood there and refused to lie down on the ground.   At this point, the FBI unleashed a vicious dog to attack the imam.  The imam had a firearm on him and pulled it out and shot the dog.  At this point, the FBI unleashed a barrage of gunfire at the imam and he was hit multiple times by numerous bullets.

First of all it was pointed out that if any one of us was the target of a vicious dog with fangs bared running toward you, and you had a means to protect yourself, I believe any one of us would have a natural instinct to protect yourself.  It brings to mind the vicious dogs that were unleashed on innocent unarmed protesters during the civil rights era of the 60’s.  And these people were only trying to eat a hot dog at a lunch counter.

By their own admission, the FBI knew there was no real threat to the United States.  They knew they were only committing petty crimes, mostly because of poverty.  Because the infiltrators knew the mindset of the imam, it may have been known how he would react.

Here’s something else to ponder.  While the imam lay dead or dying, a medical evacuation helicopter was brought in and landed in the lot to..….rush the dog for medical treatment.  They rushed the dog to hospital, blocked traffic in front of the doggie hospital by setting the helicopter down in the middle of the street.  And they had just finished killing a human being by fabricated evidence and what appears to be a set-up.

There is another sad chapter in this story that many people seem to miss.  Imam Luqman was a husband and the father of 10 children, the youngest a 13 year old girl.  They are hurting big time and don’t know when or if any relief and comfort will come.

Public opinion is heavy on the side of Muslim victims by Muslims and non-Muslims alike.  Mudher Hamudi, an Iraqi native says he feels there was a better way to deal with the situation. “Taking of a human life without good reason is against decent living,” he said.

A different twist was added by Brother Lawrence Ziyad, a retiree of Chrysler Corporation.  He says Imam Luqman could have handled the situation differently.  “Imam didn’t abide by the law,” he says.  “The government went in to arrest Imam Luqman; not to kill him.”

Derrick Mustafa says he doesn’t have ill feelings of the police or government officials.  He says the Muslim guys made a mistake and got caught-up in a trap.  He feels an investigation is in order to get to the bottom of this perplexing event.

Everyone wonders why the FBI didn’t arrest the guys and send them to prison since they knew they were petty thieves and had no chance to overthrow the government.  As said, they couldn’t even keep the water on.

Many say the imam and his followers were attacked because of America’s fear of Islam.  So why are they so afraid of Islam that they will go to such extraneous means to attack and discredit it?   Islam is now said to be the fastest growing religion in the world and the majority of the 1 ½ billion Muslims are peaceful, God-fearing, normal human beings.  Sure, we have our fanatics and crackpots just like every other religion.

So what is there to be learned by this tragedy?  We all know that nothing happens without the permission of ALLAH.  ALLAH has allowed Imam Luqman to lose his life undoubtedly for the better good.  Imam Luqman was not stupid.  He was also very aware of the deviousness of some law enforcement.  How then was a FBI informant able to get so close to him?  It is reported in the 45 page complaint that one informant in particular traveled to distant states regularly with the imam.  He became so close to him that it seems he was the imam’s right-hand man. 

This should be a warning to Muslims.  Everyone that says As Salaam Alaikum and prays five times a day is not necessarily your friend.  We Muslims are sometimes the most gullible people in the world because we have good hearts which the Devil uses to his advantage.  The case of Imam Luqman is good example of how the Satan works as described in the Holy Qur’an.

The Devil says he will come up on your right side.  He did so when he came to the masjid and immediately started to make salat and talk good “Muslim talk.”

He slid up on their left side when he slid “stolen” goods up to the impoverished Muslims and told them how easy it would be for them to make money, of which the Muslims had none.

He snuck up behind them when he infiltrated and informed on them without their knowledge and he also came right up in front of the brother’s faces and told who they were.

ALLAH’S word is true.  When someone comes to the Muslim and tries to entice him to do things that are out of the favor of ALLAH, the Muslim must resist the temptation – no matter how easy and sweet it sounds.  You know it is displeasing to ALLAH.

Imam Luqman did not die in vain.  Let us get a lesson from his murder.  Let us remember to keep ALLAH first, even in front of ourselves.

As Salaam alaikum
Al Hajj Imam Abdullah El-Amin