Jihad Joe

Jihad Joe Read Online Free PDF

Book: Jihad Joe Read Online Free PDF
Author: J. M. Berger
husband in his new faith, taking the name Alia.
    Rashid studied zealously under Shaykh Daoud Ahmed Faisal, a Moroccan immigrant and the founder of the State Street Mosque. He learned how to pray in Arabic and studied the rules and the rituals of Islam. Among them was the concept of jihad. Rashid understood jihad to be fighting in self-defense, but the definition of what constituted self-defense wasn’t always clear.
    Rashid was a restless soul, but for a time he was content with adventuring at home, immersing himself in books about ninja techniques and idolizing martial arts superstar Bruce Lee. He once told an acquaintance that Lee’s meditative techniques were very similar to Islamic prayer—both called for clearing the mind in order to take focused action. 34
    During the day, he worked as a medical technician, surrounded by the seriously ill and dying, which earned him the nickname “Doctor Rashid,” or simply “Doc.” 35 He tried to comfort those he met. At night, he and Alia were active in their community, struggling to clear their neighborhood of drug dealers and muggers who menaced the neighborhood’s children. Colorful stories circulated about Rashid’s nighttime patrols of the community in ninja attire. His wife recalled that the reality was more like a highly organized neighborhood watch.
    â€œAnd we did, did little patrols, you know. I had sometimes the observation thing up by the window, and we’d check it out,” she said. “But it wasn’t like we were out there like those gangbusters. It was just we live here.”
    According to investigators, Rashid found other, less innocuous outlets for his adventurous streak, which he kept from his wife. He was known as someone who could obtain guns and other weapons, which he trafficked among his associates in the Black Nationalist movement in Philadelphia and among Brooklyn Muslims, who were stockpiling arms on the pretext of providing security at Al Farook and other area mosques.
    Even that was not enough to sate his desire for action. In 1988, after a conversation with a friend about the jihad in Afghanistan, Rashid decided that he wanted to get involved. “What made me go was a combination of things. The killing of innocent people. [It] just seem[ed] right,” he recalled during an e-mail interview in 2010. 36
    His first challenge was convincing Alia. “I don’t see why you should go there and go to jail,” she said. Rashid was undeterred and continued to bring it up. In his dramatic but questionable account, he remembered telling her, “You can’t outrun death. You got to die. So you best try to go back to Allah, with all of the good deeds that you can, sincerely.” 37
    Alia was unconvinced and looked into it further. Her main concern was that Rashid was going to end up in jail. What did the U.S. government think about the jihad? After she read about the issue extensively, it seemed to her that the government approved of the fight. It also seemed to be acceptable from an Islamic standpoint. Her husband became single-minded about the subject, and eventually Alia capitulated.
    With the decision made, Rashid arranged for some time away from his job and went to the Al Kifah office on Atlantic Avenue. There, he spoke with Fawaz Damra, the imam of the affiliated Al Farook mosque. A Palestinian, Damra hadcome to the United States in 1984 and took over at Al Farook in 1986. He helped establish the Al Kifah office there on behalf of Abdullah Azzam. 38
    Rashid gave Damra $500 and got a green light for the trip. He still had to buy his own airline ticket, which he did with Alia’s assistance. In June 1988 he left the United States and flew to Pakistan. With his typical enthusiasm and love of theater, Rashid boarded the flight dressed in full army fatigues. When he disembarked at the airport in Islamabad, a Pakistani approached him and suggested he switch to more discreet apparel.
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