On Wednesday, Samy Metwally, imam of one of the largest mosques in Ottawa, said the number of people coming to see him to convert to Islam has increased. Metwally says he is concerned about the numbers that have spiked since the October 22, 2014 terror attack in Canada's capital.
On that date, Michel Zehalf-Bibeau went to the War Memorial near the Parliament buildings and shot and killed Cpl. Nathan Cirillo who was standing guard. Zehalf-Bibeau then ran towards the buildings, commandeered a cabinet minister's car, drove up to and then ran inside the Centre Block. He ran right past the rooms where Conservative and NDP members were holding caucus meetings and was shot dead by Kevin Vickers, the Sergeant-at-Arms of the House of Commons and a former RCMP officer.
This terrorist attack came two days after Martin Couture-Rouleau sat in the parking lot of a strip mall in St. Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec where a military office was located. When he saw three soldiers walking through the lot, he aimed his car at them. One solider managed to jump out of the way, another was injured and a third, Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent, was killed.
Both Zehalf-Bibeau and Couture-Rouleau were converts to the religion of peace.
Unlike other religions, such as Roman Catholicism and Judaism, converting to the Muslim faith is quite simple. All a person has to do is recite the Shahada in Arabic (There is no god but Allah and Mohammed is his messenger). As Larry the Cable Guy might say, that is how you get 'er done.
Metwally said since October 22, between 15 and 20 men in their 20s and 30s have come to his mosque to convert. What troubles the imam is although he welcomes them back after their conversions, they never do come back. This of course leads him to suspect they have no real interest in Islam and are converting solely to carry out terrorist acts.
The iman said he has never before seen so many men seeking to convert in such a short time.
As sincere as Metwally might be, what he says gives credence to the argument that acts of terror such as the two October incidents in Canada have very little to do with Islam. Converts have no interest in the Muslim faith other than to use it as a cover to attack a society they hate for other reasons or for a chance to go to Syria or Iraq to fight because it sounds like fun. There may be something to this argument but it has to be remembered that those bent on killing and torturing are not lining up to convert to Mormonism. No matter what a person's reasons for joining the Islamic State or committing terrorist attacks in the West, there is a direct tie between Islam and this terrorism no matter what Barack Obama and others say. Once a person adopts and acts on this ideology, whether they are devout or casual Muslims is irrelevant.
A newspaper article was published on January 3, 2015, about terrorism in Canada. What makes this article stand out is that it did not appear in a Canadian publication but in the New Delhi Times. Headlined "Mosques in Canada inciting hatred against the country," the article makes the point that Canadian authorities are well aware of "malicious jihadist and anti-Canadian propaganda" that comes out of these mosques but the authorities are prevented from entering these religious centres due to laws and the nature of multiculturalism. The piece concludes by saying unless the authorities can gain "back door access" into these mosques, they will never be able to improve the security of the country.
Language is not going to prevent murder. Authorities need to gain access to the country's mosques.
It must be assumed Metwally is correct and there was a noticeable increase in conversions in his mosque following the two terrorist attacks on Canadian soil. Surely his mosque is not unique and it must be inferred the same pattern is emerging in other mosques throughout the country.
Canadians who realize what happened in Ottawa and Quebec were terrorist acts directly related to Islam and not the product of poor mentally ill individuals understand we are likely to get hit again. Whether another attack happens in Canada or in another Western country like France, the number of converts is likely to continue to increase.
Canadian security personnel and police have to be able to keep track of not only the hatred that is disseminated in mosques but be able to discover these young men (and women) who decide to convert to Islam, especially following a terror attack in the West. Whether it will ever happen remains to be seen.
It's not enough for Canada that Prime Minister Harper uses stronger language (we are at war with jihadis) than President Obama does. Language is not going to prevent the murder of another Patrice Vincent or Nathan Cirillo. Authorities need to gain access to the country's mosques.
