Radical Michigan imam believed to have inspired London terror attack calls for Muslims to wage Jihad in US
An extremist Michigan cleric whose hate-filled sermons were said to have inspired the London Bridge terrorist attack has called on American Muslims to wage Jihad against the “infidel West” — and blamed the US led by “senile Pharaoh” Biden for what he called a “genocide in Palestine.”
Ahmad Musa Jibril, 51, a radical Islamist preacher who was born in Dearborn, is seen in videos posted on social media arguing that Muslims in the US should turn away from what he described as a watered-down “American-Zionist Islam” that ignores the idea of Jihad.
“Yes, there is holy war in Islam, it is Jihad,” Jibril lectured in one clip posted on X by an account associated with the fanatical imam.
“This may be a surprise to many who grew up in the West, especially those who were born or grew up post-9/11, because of the growing number of hypocrites, who are spreading the American-Zionist Islam, and it has nothing to do with Islam, that version of Islam is and Islam that suits the enemies.”
In another video shared on a Telegram channel associated with Jibril, the hardline Palestinian-American preacher addressed the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, saying it should be viewed as a “wake-up call” for young Muslims in the US to start “normalizing” Jihad.
“Jihad must be a common, normal term on your tongues, on your social media, and in the mosques and elsewhere,” Jibril said.
In Islamic tradition, jihad is generally used to reference a righteous struggle against internal and external obstacles, according to the group Learning for Justice. While it can involve fighting against oppressors, the violent “holy war” perception is largely a misinterpretation perpetuated by extremists.
Jibril also did not mince words when discussing President Biden, whom he labeled a “terrorist,” and his administration’s policy toward Israel.
“You have seen that senile Pharaoh of our time, he has lost his mind of everything, except his loyalty and support for Jewish occupiers,” the extremist cleric seethed, adding that the US “is more to blame for the genocide in Palestine that the occupying Jews.”
Jibril claimed that with the war raging in the Middle East following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, now is the time for young people to understand that “the infidel West, particularly the US, are the enemies of Muslims.”
He also suggested that Muslim mothers should “nurse their infants with the love of Jihad and the ambition to become a mujahid and a martyr.”
One of the sickening rants shared on X on Nov. 25, caught the attention of the Middle East Media Research Institute, a Washington, DC-based watchdog.
“The comments are particularly inflammatory at a period where passions are already heightened,” Alberto Fernandez, vice president of the Institute, told The Post Friday, referring to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
“Rather than downplaying violent interpretations of Jihad, he seeks to heighten them. Rather than downplaying the difference between Muslim and non-Muslim, he seeks to heighten them – actually mocking Muslims who ‘seek to make a suitable Islam, for the kafir’ (meaning infidel West).”
The spread of “radicalizing” content on social media is especially dangerous for impressionable young audiences, Fernandez also told Fox News Digital.
“If that’s the stuff that they’re saying openly, what are they saying that is not open?” he warned.
Fernandez also warned that the war has been acting as an “accelerant” for spreading radical ideas about Islam.
“It accelerates something which is already happening, which is a kind of ideological war which is occurring. So, it drives interest, and it drives people becoming more extreme,” Fernandez said.
It was previously reported that security experts had named Jibril as one of the most influential online recruiters for ISIS at the start of the terrorist group’s ascent nearly a decade ago, according to Newsweek.
Jibril, who preaches an ultra-conservative Salafist version of Islam, had used his platform to call on young people to travel to Syria and join the ranks of ISIS.
A survey conducted by The International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence in 2014 indicated that more than half of the likes and follows on the X and Facebook accounts operated by Jibril at the time were ISIS members.
“[The] question of impact is important. Eight years ago Jibril was one of the TWO most influential Muslim figures in English influencing fighters to join ISIS and Al-Qa’ida in Syria,” Fernandez told The Post, referring to the report from the UK-based organization.
In April 2014, 60 percent of foreign fighters in Syria also followed Jibril’s X account, the report added.
One of the perpetrators of the deadly London Bridge attack in June 2017 was said to have listened to Jibril’s sermons, before he and his two accomplices mowed down pedestrians and then went on a stabbing spree in the heart of the British capital.
The terrorist attack, which left eight people dead and dozens injured, was later claimed by ISIS.
The disturbing revelation of online radicalization sparked fierce debate about the role of social media and extremism.
However, after conducting a review in June 2017 following the London Bridge massacre, YouTube refused to remove Jibril’s hateful videos, concluding that the content didn’t advocate violence, the Detroit Free Press reported at the time.
The social media giant, owned by Google, said that Jibril’s rants could be classified as Islamic teachings such as interpretations of Islam’s holy book, the Quaran, the outlet said.
“As a former jailbird, Jibril is careful in his use of words but the goal seems obvious. It is to polarize and sharpen differences,” Fernandez told The Post.
In 2004, Jibril was convicted of 42 criminal counts, including conspiracy, fraud, money laundering, and possession of firearms and ammunition. He was sentenced to more than six years in a high-security federal prison, from which he was released in 2012.
Active accounts associated with Jibril on social media currently have amassed more than 31,000 followers.
The Post has reached out to YouTube and Facebook about the accounts.