Ali al-Timimi: “Paintball jihad” imam convicted

Is this one of those omens I was talking about?

While on trial for allegedly inciting his followers to wage war against the US, Ali al-Timimi must have known his chances of vindication were slim when his defense attorney Edward B. MacMahon admitted that his words rose “to the level of hate speech” and that “Muslims around the world believe that the United States is their greatest enemy.” al-Timimi, 41-year old US-born imam who was said to have “rock star” status among Muslim youth (move over, Hamza Yusuf), has been active in conservative Muslim circles, and most notably organized an all-male delegation to the 1996 World Conference on Women in Beijing to make sure the “proper” Islamic view on women was presented.

While serving as an imam in Falls Church, Virginia, Timimi got caught up in what the government calls a “Virginia jihad network” that has already netted 10 convictions (remember Randall “Ismail” Royer?), most for involvement in anti-India and pro-Taliban activities immediately following 9/11. This week, al-Timimi was convicted of (mis)leading several young Muslims to take up arms for various Islamic causes – although he never did so himself. “By his treasonous criminal acts, he has proven himself to be a kingpin of hate against America,” said US Attorney Paul McNulty (somewhat melodramatically) in a statement.

The convictions – which were aided by testimony from many of the aforementioned “paintball jihadists” currently in prison – carry a mandatory minimum sentence of life in prison without parole, but Judge Leonie Brinkema left open the possibility that she will toss out some of the counts. With few exceptions, most Muslim organizations who commented on the matter came to al-Timimi’s defense, claiming that al-Timimi was entitled to his views, no matter how repugnant (and apparently, no matter how damaging to the American Muslim community). “All this man has done is exercise the rights all American citizens have,” explained MacMahon in court. “He has uttered words, folks, mere words.” (“When Tony Soprano says go whack some guy,” rebutted Assistant US Attorney Gordon Kromberg, “that’s not protected speech.”)

But life in prison for words spoken isn’t close to what British citizen (and non-Muslim) Hemant Lakhani will be getting for his conviction, also last week, for trying to import and sell shoulder-fired missiles for use by terrorists in the US. Caught red-handed on videotape, Lakhani will get a maximum of 25 years.

Shahed Amanullah is editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com.