Even though the Islamic State has lost most of its territory in Iraq and Syria, and with it the appearance of enjoying the favor of Allah upon its claim to be the caliphate, that claim still has a potent appeal for jihad groups worldwide, as well as for many individual Muslims. In Sunni Islamic law, only the caliph is authorized to declare offensive jihad; in the absence of a caliph, jihad can only be defensive (although that can be and has been interpreted elastically enough to include 9/11). In my book The History of Jihad From Muhammad to ISIS, I detail how the great Islamic caliphates of the past — the Umayyads, Abbasids, Ottomans, and others — pursued jihad relentlessly against Infidel states. Jihadis still think about those glory days, and want to relive them.
Where did Naser Almadaoji learn his understanding of Islam? Are authorities investigating the local mosque? Or would that be “Islamophobic,” and they’re content to wave away the question by trotting out the moldy oldie that he was “radicalized on the Internet”?
“Beavercreek neighbors stunned by news of ISIS-related arrest,” by Chris Stewart and John Bedell, WHIO, October 25, 2018:
BEAVERCREEK — Neighbors were shocked to learn that federal investigators had charged a Beavercreek teenager with trying to help an ISIS affiliated group.
Naser Almadaoji, 19, was arrested at a Columbus airport on Wednesday with tickets to Kazakhstan. He planned to go from there to Afghanistan to support ISIS, according to U.S. Attorney for the Southern District Benjamin Glassman.
In Beavercreek on Thursday, James Fisher, who lives near Almadaoji, said, “I’m extremely shocked that somebody that close to me is thinking about joining a terrorist group like that. In my opinion if they don’t want to be here, then why are they here?”
“But this is kind of scary thinking that someone that close to me is a possible terrorist,” he added of Almadaoji.
Fisher said the of people living at the house: “They kind of keep quiet. I see them, but because of the direction where it’s at, I don’t have any contact with them.”…