Sanaa, Yemen (CNN) -- His anguish apparent, the father of Anwar al-Awlaki told CNN that his son is not a member of al Qaeda and is not hiding out with terrorists in southern Yemen.
"I am now afraid of what they will do with my son, he's not Osama Bin Laden, they want to make something out of him that he's not," said Dr. Nasser al-Awlaki, the father of American-born Islamic cleric Anwar al-Awlaki.
As recently as Sunday, Yemeni officials including provincial governor Al Hasan al-Ahmadi claimed that al-Awlaki was hiding out in the southern mountains of Yemen with al Qaeda.
"He's dead wrong. What do you expect my son to do? There are missiles raining down on the village. He has to hide. But he is not hiding with al Qaeda; our tribe is protecting him right now," insisted al-Awlaki's father in an exclusive interview with CNN.
"My son is (a) wanted man, he's cornered, that's the problem I am facing," al-Awlaki said.
The al-Awlaki family comes from the large and powerful Awalek tribe of southern Yemen. It has many connections to the government of Yemen, including the country's prime minister, who is a relative of the al-Awlaki family.
Recently, Yemeni officials have also claimed that Anwar al-Awlaki had contact with Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab during his stay in Yemen in late 2009. When asked if his son met with the man charged with trying to blow up a U.S.-bound plane on Christmas day, al-Awlaki's father said it's not likely.
"I have no idea but I don't believe it," he said.
But the United States has independent intelligence verifying that AbdulMutallab met with al-Awlaki somewhere in southern Yemen before the Christmas Day bombing attempt, according to a U.S. security official with knowledge of the intelligence.
Even if al-Awlaki is hiding out with his tribe in the mountains of southern Yemen, the official added, authorities have no doubt that he is a member of al Qaeda and is now one of the top five or six operatives in Yemen for the terrorist organization.
The official said al-Awlaki's transformation from inspirational leader to operational recruiter for al Qaeda was first picked up in the early part of 2009.
This official also noted that the United States believes he is still involved in trying to recruit more bombers to launch attacks.
His father, the elder al-Awlaki, is an accomplished academic and had held several positions within the Yemeni government, including minister of agriculture. He first went to the United States as a Fulbright Scholar in the late '60s, and his son Anwar was born there in 1971.
Al-Awlaki says he is doing what he can to coax his son out of hiding, but does not want to jeopardize his son's life.
"I will do my best to convince my son to do this (surrender), to come back but they are not giving me time, they want to kill my son. How can the American government kill one of their own citizens? This is a legal issue that needs to be answered," he said.
"If they give me time I can have some contact with my son but the problem is they are not giving me time," he said.
Al-Awlaki acknowledged his son has espoused some controversial views but all of them, he said, would be protected by freedom of speech provisions in the American Constitution. He denied his son has done anything to encourage terrorists to commit violent acts.
"He is a preacher, you cannot tie Anwar to acts of terrorism," said al-Awlaki.
Al-Awlaki's name surfaced in November when U.S. officials revealed he and Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan -- the U.S. Army psychiatrist accused of fatally shooting 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas, on November 5 -- had exchanged e-mails. The intercepted e-mails between the two, officials said, had not not set off alarm bells.
The cleric recently told Al Jazeera's Arabic-language Web site that he met Hasan nine years ago while serving as an imam at a mosque in the Washington, D.C., area. He said he lauded the Fort Hood attack because it was aimed at troops, whom he accused of fighting an unjust war against Islam.
"It is a military target inside America and there is no dispute over that," Anwar al-Awlaki said. "Also, these military personnel are not ordinary; they were trained and ready to fight and kill oppressed Muslims, and commit crimes in Afghanistan."
When asked why his son would praise Hasan, Nasser al-Awlaki said he did not agree with his son's views.
"I don't think that's right what he said about Major Hasan's actions, but my son has been very upset by the violence against Muslims," said al-Awlaki.
Al-Awlaki does concede his son's views did seem more radical after he spent time in a Yemeni prison from 2006 to 2007 for suspected ties to terrorism. He was released for lack of evidence.
"They put him in jail for 18 months and I detected a change after he got out of prison, he began to get away from the mainstream," al-Awlaki said.
The father also warned that the aggressive hunt for his son and al Qaeda operatives in Yemen using missile strikes will only serve to recruit more members to the organization.
"I don't want those American cowboys to destroy Yemen," said al-Awlaki before conceding that the hunt for al Qaeda in Yemen is now a global concern.
"He has been wrongly accused, it's unbelievable. He lived his life in America, he's an all-American boy. My son would love to go back to America, he used to have a good life in America. Now he's hiding in the mountains, he doesn't even have safe water to drink," al-Awlaki said. http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/...her/index.html
They won't rest until they rid this Ummah of its scholars and scientists
يُرِيدُونَ أَن يُطْفِؤُواْ نُورَ اللّهِ بِأَفْوَاهِهِمْ وَيَأْبَى اللّهُ إِلاَّ أَن يُتِمَّ نُورَهُ وَلَوْ كَرِهَ الْكَافِرُونَ {32} [Pickthal 9:32] Fain would they put out the light of Allah with their mouths, but Allah disdaineth (aught) save that He shall perfect His light, however much the disbelievers are averse.
Text without context is pretext If your opponent is of choleric temperament, seek to irritate him
That is not a refutation, that is a difference in opinion both evidence based!
The conflict lies in the state of application!
i dun wanna argue with you...but this is Haqq...u can look at whatever evidences i throw at u in your own interpretations...if ur adamant about what u say is right...then thats personal...it doesn't change other's opinions about this individual and people like him..
Re: They now targetting Al-Awlaki, pls keep him in your du3a
format_quote Originally Posted by Abdul Qadir
i dun wanna argue with you...but this is Haqq...u can look at whatever evidences i throw at u in your own interpretations...if ur adamant about what u say is right...then thats personal...it doesn't change other's opinions about this individual and people like him..
I don't go by opinion, I go by facts and there is nothing personal about that!... therein lies the difference really between the herd and the Shepards!
You are free to keep him out of your du3a. But you have no say over what others know or do!
Text without context is pretext If your opponent is of choleric temperament, seek to irritate him
Re: They now targetting Al-Awlaki, pls keep him in your du3a
format_quote Originally Posted by Abdul Qadir
i dun wanna argue with you...but this is Haqq...u can look at whatever evidences i throw at u in your own interpretations...if ur adamant about what u say is right...then thats personal...it doesn't change other's opinions about this individual and people like him..
you are talking about the Talafis? They permit everything by the "will of Allah." Stop slandering the voices. Which scholars on "Haqq" have denounced him. If its Abu Khadija, then I aint surprised dude. By the way, Dr. Al-Jabroo is giving that fatwa from the air conditioned office at Medina University, what would he know of the serenity of fighting the invaders in his country?
Show me the fatawa from ibn Uthaymeen.
Last edited by CosmicPathos; 02-05-2010 at 05:38 PM.
Help me to escape from this existence
I yearn for an answer... can you help me?
I'm drowning in a sea of abused visions and shattered dreams
In somnolent illusion... I'm paralyzed
Re: They now targetting Al-Awlaki, pls keep him in your du3a
format_quote Originally Posted by Wa7abiScientist
Show me the fatawa from ibn Uthaymeen.
it beats the purpose coz if ibn Uthaymeen(rahimullah) were to say anything against ur favour then he would automatically be classified as a "talafi" or whatever...
Re: They now targetting Al-Awlaki, pls keep him in your du3a
format_quote Originally Posted by Wa7abiScientist
By the way, Dr. Al-Jabroo is giving that fatwa from the air conditioned office at Medina University, what would he know of the serenity of fighting the invaders in his country?
Re: They now targetting Al-Awlaki, pls keep him in your du3a
format_quote Originally Posted by Abdul Qadir
certainly he knows better than you...
I do not think so especially after he called Al-Awlaki a khariji. Speaks tons about his knowledge of the real world. And how surprising! He gave a ruling on Al-Awlaki by listening to some pissed off caller who might be lying? LOL Show me the tape where al-Awlaki used that example of slave girl to spread killing? He is not dumb and idiot as your ilk and that caller makes him out to be.
Last edited by CosmicPathos; 02-05-2010 at 05:59 PM.
Help me to escape from this existence
I yearn for an answer... can you help me?
I'm drowning in a sea of abused visions and shattered dreams
In somnolent illusion... I'm paralyzed
Re: They now targetting Al-Awlaki, pls keep him in your du3a
format_quote Originally Posted by Wa7abiScientist
Hey American sis Umm squeakster, I hope that sh Anwar al-Awlaki does not need your personal duas. I also hope your allegiance is to Islam than to civilians or nationalities which seems quite unlikely after how you have slandered Sh Al-Awlaki.
How is it slander to quote what a reputable journalist (whom has access to him and has interviewed him in the past)?
And my allegiance is to Allah (swt) and Allah (swt) alone, thank you very much.
Re: They now targetting Al-Awlaki, pls keep him in your du3a
format_quote Originally Posted by UmmSqueakster
How is it slander to quote what a reputable journalist (whom has access to him and has interviewed him in the past)?
And my allegiance is to Allah (swt) and Allah (swt) alone, thank you very much.
There's a trend amongst some Muslims, not all, that there should be no criticisms of any 'famous' Muslim so long as there is a western force to be criticized instead. So of course you will have people here telling you that you are slandering him because he is being targeted by western forces it automatically makes him the victim. It's quite sad that people responded to your concerns the way they did Lol.
Re: They now targetting Al-Awlaki, pls keep him in your du3a
This thread turned out to be so refuting!! It wasn't created for that rather it was to show the plight of our fellow Muslim & request your du'a!!
Is this the type of response we should give to our fellow muslims??
No wonder we're treated in this way by the west, coz we fail to support our fellow bros & sis in the time of their needs.. Du'a takes nothing from us, it doesn't cost us a 'penny' to seek Allah's help for our fellow muslim..
Get Rid of the HATRED ppl!!
no1 knows when it'll b their day...
May Allah (swt) guide us & protect Imam Al Awlaki & his family from the hands of the 'mighty traitors', Aameen!!
''LIVE for the sake of ALLAH, LOVE for the sake of ALLAH, FIGHT for the sake of ALLAH, & DIE for the sake of ALLAH''
Re: They now targetting Al-Awlaki, pls keep him in your du3a
Imam anwar al awlaki has given loads of good lectures but he does have his views of support for suicide bombings, jihad against muslim gov'ts etc but lets ignore that as its irrelevant, he's still our muslim brother so we should be praying for him.
Someone said to the Prophet, "Pray to God against the idolaters and curse them." The Prophet replied, "I have been sent to show mercy and have not been sent to curse." (Muslim)
Re: They now targetting Al-Awlaki, pls keep him in your du3a
format_quote Originally Posted by Lynx
There's a trend amongst some Muslims, not all, that there should be no criticisms of any 'famous' Muslim so long as there is a western force to be criticized instead. So of course you will have people here telling you that you are slandering him because he is being targeted by western forces it automatically makes him the victim. It's quite sad that people responded to your concerns the way they did Lol.
There is no criticism or praise request in this thread, since that isn't the purpose for which it was created.
Certainly the west deserves much criticism for it seems to exempt itself from what it is staunchly and sanctimoniously preaches against not just by shutting any voice of dissent but raiding villages and bombing innocent civilians under false banners. No one likes Al'awlaki because he is a 'famous Muslim' It is so like an untrained westerner to lower things down to a sophomoric platform that goes great with his pork rinds and monday night football , and perhaps that precisely why alleged terrorist cells are popping up before you can blink. Perhaps if you managed some semblance of understanding you can stand somewhere closer to a solution than a deranged polar opposite.
Please don't feel free to give your superficial analysis and support those who share it, not out of being learned no, never, not out of having heard one side and the other, but through the same clumsy carpet bombing means we are so accustomed.
Again, the purpose of this thread is to offer du3a for him in his plight.. anything else will not be tolerated by me..
with that I hope a mod closes this thread, and I hope it reached enough of those who appreciate his scholarship!
Text without context is pretext If your opponent is of choleric temperament, seek to irritate him
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